Zumba set to tone up TV channel’s figures

Harrogate-based High Street TV won the rights to the Zumba product, a four-DVD package with toning sticks, by the US-based manufacturer. High Street TV believes it will add £5m to company sales in the coming months.

The roll-out of the campaign is supported by Yorkshire Bank’s Bradford-based West Yorkshire Financial Solutions Centre (FSC) through its Investing for Growth initiative, which enables businesses to take loan repayment holidays, interest-only repayments and extended loan and credit terms to take advantage of growth opportunities.

The distribution deal comes as High Street TV, which was founded in 2008 by directors Andrew Malcher and Jim Coleman and broadcasts on Sky Channel 648, signed up BHS to trial an As Seen On High Street TV concession in its 180 outlets nationwide.

The company, which films from a Los Angeles studio and has household names including Alex Gerrard and Danielle Lineker as product ambassadors, is different to many of its competitors because shoppers can either buy a product they see directly from the channel or in a store as well as from the website.

High Street TV, which also sells homeware, cosmetics and DIY products through partner retailers including Tesco, Argos, Next and John Lewis, says that securing distribution rights to Zumba is a major boost to the business.

Chief executive Jim Coleman said: “Zumba is phenomenally popular. UK retailers are inundated with requests from shoppers seeking out a copy.

“Securing rights demonstrates that a growing number of high-volume manufacturers recognise the power of TV and online shopping. We are already selling several thousand Zumba DVD packages a week and estimate that it will add £5m to our company sales during the initial phase of this craze.

“Stock-flow finance is crucial for large-scale retailing. Yorkshire Bank first provided this facility for our peak trading season that enabled us to sell over 150,000 fitness products at retail in a three-month period. We are pleased to have reached a national agreement with BHS on top of our current 1,700 UK outlets and are currently talking to several other household-name retailers.”

High Street TV, which broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, also has more than 100 hours daily across other networks including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky Sports and the Discovery Channel and has created 30 new jobs this year at its Harrogate-based offices.

The business is expanding its range of products and expects to significantly increase on its £15m 2010 turnover this year.

Mr Malcher, 40, was among the first to bring the TV shopping format to the UK in the mid-to-late Nineties.

The idea for High Street TV came after the success of his 24-hour golf retail channel, Golf TV Pro Shop, which used the same concept. He sold the channel, along with its sister channel, Golf Channel UK, to JJB Sports in a deal worth more than £3m in 2006.

Over the next two years the firm also plans to increase the number of As Seen On High Street TV sections in stores. Speaking to the Yorkshire Post earlier this year, Mr Malcher said: “Our goal is to have 5,000 individual sections in retail stores and supermarkets across the UK within the next couple of years.”

One of the company’s most popular products is the Shakeweight, a vibrating dumbbell, which was bought by 200,000 people last year.

Memory lapse launched fitness craze

Zumba is a dance fitness programme which combines Latin and international music with dance.

It started in Colombia in the Nineties when aerobics teacher Beto Perez forgot his usual music and had to improvise with the music he had in his car – traditional Latin salsa and merengue.

The class was a success and Perez realised he was onto something, merging aerobics with Latin dance. He moved to the US and started teaching classes.

In 2001, he made Zumba a brand name.

Zumba is now offered through licensed instructors in more than 50,000 fitness centres in 75 countries, run from headquarters in Florida.