Studio Pilates celebrates its 20th anniversary

This year Australian born company, Studio Pilates is celebrating its 20th birthday having started out as a single studio in Brisbane's Hawthorne, and now being one of Australia’s largest Pilates franchises.

Studio Pilates boasts 63 studios globally in four different countries (soon to be seven countries with 100 expected to be open and operational by the end of the year) as well as an education arm to the business, which has become one of Australia's biggest Pilates education providers.

Studio Pilates was co-founded by Chief Executive and former Olympic Swimmer Jade Winter (above right) and his wife and qualified physiotherapist Tanya Winter (above left) in 2002, who self-funded their first studio as 22-year-olds on a personal credit card after being denied a bank loan (12 months later they walked back into the same bank who offered them a $1.2 million loan).

Their approach to Pilates (designed by physiotherapists) garnered such a cult following, Jade and Tanya Winter spent between 60-90 hours each per week instructing classes. When not teaching, they were writing, photographing and filming instructor education manuals, which then became the foundation of Studio Pilates Education - which now offers over 15 courses and generates a high amount of revenue to the business.

With no business experience prior to starting Studio Pilates themselves, Jade and Tanya Winter worked extensively to build a franchise model that didn’t require prior knowledge or experience, so they could scale it successfully and mitigate any barriers that might prevent people from buying a business and in 2014 they opened their first franchise in Brisbane's Hamilton.

Since 2014, there are now 62 studios globally with 100 expected to be operational by the end of this year - proof that their turnkey business model is robust. Over 50% of franchisees own more than one studio thanks to the rapid payback period and fast return on investment.    

Studio Pilates International was also the first to implement the state-of-the-art audio-visual technology (demonstrations on TV screens around the studio paired with a voiceover) that's now used by many large franchises globally including F45 and Fitstop.

For more information on Studio Pilates go to studiopilates.com/