Modern life is often very stressful.  Medical research has indicated that stress is one of the underlying causes behind many major illnesses. 

Our bodies need some stress to function properly however we also need to be able to switch off and fully relax. In today’s world, this can be difficult to achieve.

Float Therapy or Reduced Environment Stimulus Technology (R.E.S.T) is a scientifically proven way to relax and assist recover from injury. It requires little or no effort and most people find it a very pleasant experience. It also offers many other therapeutic and health benefits.

Unlike many “fashion solutions” the scientific evidence supporting the benefits of Floating has attracted the attention of medical and professional bodies. This means that the technology has a solid and demonstrable foundation.

Float tanks and float rooms are expensive and take up more room that the average householder has available.   There is therefore a market for making the benefits of floating more widely available through float centres where people can float on an hourly basis.

The float centre market in North America has experienced a significant rate of growth over the last three years, despite the economic climate.   This is typically demonstrated by cities like Vancouver, BC where in 2012, there was only one float centre. In 2014 there were eight centres open in the Vancouver area with more due to open.

A number of float centres are now open 24 hour a day and as media coverage has increased so has the number of float centres has grown

A number of distinct market sectors have been identified in the UK that would benefit from access to float technology in addition to a several specific niche markets. These include:

• Professional sports people seeking performance benefits through relaxation and visualisation
• Highly stressed professions such as legal, accountancy, medical and management.
• Physical rehabilitation and injury recovery, physiotherapy, arthritis and spinal treatment
• Neurological benefits such as treatment of PTSD experienced by the military, firefighters and police
• Individuals who experience stress such as pregnant women, teachers, flight crews, doctors, students
• Neurological illnesses such as Parkinson’s and fibromyalgia sufferers and similar conditions.
• Hotel and fitness gyms, massage, airports and spa centres.

As float therapy becomes better known to the wider public, demand in the UK is expected to grow signifcantly. It is the founders opinion that the UK and European markets are approximately two years behind the USA. It is therfore felt that a real opportunity exists to become a major player in the UK and European float centre market.

Based on a number of other industries such as spas and alternative medical services against demographic and population distributions the diriectors believe that there is a potential UK market in excess of 1000 float centres. This does not include installations in gyms, Spas, staff facilities in large companies and hotel chains

The projections shown in our business plan indicate that an averagely well run float centre can be expected to generate a turnover in the region of £200,000 to £300,000 pa. This depends on the number of tanks in the centre but 3 to 4 tanks appears to be a workable average.  Operating overheads tend to be low so the profiatbility of each centre is projected to be reasonably high.

Floating UK propose to open the first centre in Hertfordshire. which has been chosen because of good demographics and fast connections to London whilst offering reasonable rents and good facilities such as parking.

The model that has been developed would also appear to be suitable candidate for a successful franchised product. It is the intention to consider this option after the first year with the aim of making the first farnchise sale 6-9 months later. It is felt that franchise sales amounting to 10-15 per annum would not be an unreasonable estimate.