While there are successful global brands in many industries, from fashion and beauty to hotel and restaurant chains, when you consider the health and fitness industry there are few, if any, brands that have been truly successful on a global scale.

After a phase of rapid expansion several years ago, Fitness First might be the closest a brand has come to enjoying the financial rewards of major global expansion. The business grew at a brisk pace across Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East – the latter under a licence – reaching a peak of over 500 clubs. But in recent years it’s sold its portfolio in Benelux, France, Spain and Italy and closed a significant number of clubs in the UK.

But it’s not only company-owned operations that have struggled: franchises have too. Curves, for example – once among the fastest-growing franchises in the world – has seen its estate shrink dramatically over recent years.

Was recession the only reason for these brands having to cut back, or did they just get too big, too soon? Is it simply not possible to scale a fitness brand globally? According to Tony de Leede, CEO of Fit n Fast in Australia, operating in overseas markets holds many challenges: “For example, the rejection rate on cheque-based accounts and credit cards in Asia is five to 10 times higher than in Western countries, so paid-in-full memberships are advisable.”

Are there any lessons to be learned from major global hotel chains, which seem to have achieved international expansion, even in very new markets, relatively easily? Or is this because their customers tend to be global travellers rather than local? Are the challenges for health clubs very different from hotels, as clubs must attract and retain an indigenous market?

Can clubs be global and local at the same time, and how do they adapt brand and service standards, management systems and recruitment to ensure their relevance in culturally diverse markets?