Sole Journalist at Year's Top Fitness Festival

I have a long and somewhat checkered history with staff parties.

Since starting at Men’s Health in 2007, I've drunk Baileys from a glass slipper in the office, woken up on the floor of a phone box at 4am, and fallen so badly down the tube station stairs that I needed surgery to fix my eyebrow.

I still enjoy a drink, but I'm more focused on taking care of myself now. I work out three to four times a week and run on my work-from-home days.

Just last week, I set my personal best for a 5km run.

I've participated in Hyrox three times and have signed up for my fourth.

My 9-year-old son is doing the new kids’ version, while his almost-8-year-old brother is transitioning from a season of football to tennis, rugby, and cricket.

Sports and fitness are a big part of our household, and it’s fantastic.

The Frasers Group has gone through a similar transformation, albeit on a larger scale.

This brand powerhouse oversees Sports Direct, Flannels, House of Fraser, Everlast, and more.

It used to be known for hosting wild staff parties where my younger self would have likely gotten injured.

But there's a new leader at the helm. Michael Murray has been steering the company in a new direction since becoming CEO in May 2022.

Since then, Frasers has been reconditioned to stock premium lines from Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour, focusing on sporting performance and fitness.

They've also added luxury brands like Represent/247, Burberry, and CP Company to their offerings.

The staff party has evolved too. The 2024 Frasers Festival took place in late May, bringing together the top 1500 employees from across the business and 500 people from their partners and suppliers in rural Cheshire for a genuine festival.

All the key brands that work with the group held activations, competing for the grandest and coolest setups and offering plenty of freebies.

"Our business has its roots and future in sport, lifestyle, and fitness," says Murray. "We've been working hard these past few years to establish ourselves as the leading destination for consumers and brands in this space.

I wanted the Frasers Festival to reflect our vision, focusing on sport through both the Frasers Fearless challenge and the brand activations and investments on display.

We were joined by the world's leading brands and their CEOs, like Kevin Plank [Under Armour founder] and Bjorn Gulden [Adidas CEO], which is a testament to the journey we've been on."

A fleet of gourmet food trucks surrounded the main field, and while the bar wisely limited alcohol sales until later in the evening, once you were on site, not a penny changed hands. It wasn’t a booze-fueled bash but a grand and impressive event.

Before the festivities, we tackled a 6km obstacle course called the Frasers Fearless Challenge, set around the estate of Cholmondeley Castle.

This event was overseen by a military fitness operation and conceived by Michael himself.

"There was no better way to kick off the day than running a tough-mudder style assault course.

The course is fun but a lot harder than it looks—from a 'D-Day' landing to the cyclone [I personally got involved in creating that one], it was a real challenge," says Michael.

"The aim of the course is to bring together all of our teammates, drive new relationships across our business, and feed the energy we are building—high performance and high reward.

 No other retailer would do this. But it’s something I’m passionate about, and always putting fitness first is part of what we do."

After the first couple of obstacles—wading through a ditch was fun—I found myself running with Michael and Marc Maurer, the Co-CEO of ON running.

I use "running" loosely here. Michael has qualified for the HYROX World Championships in the men’s double division, and Marc is no slouch in his trainers.

I was grateful for the breaks the obstacles provided to allow my heart rate to normalize after chasing them in what felt like a firm Zone 4.

But the camaraderie this part of the day was designed to provoke was evident. Groups of Frasers employees in matching tops helped each other through, whether running or walking, talking or panting.

For me, as the only media member at the event, completing the race with the two participating CEOs was as motivating as it was exhausting.

Michael and the brand he has reimagined are one and the same. His passion for fitness inspires his business, deeply rooted in sport and movement.

For such a retail giant, the impact surely stretches far beyond the 1500 staff and suppliers on the invite list. It certainly made an impression on me.

Frasers Festival showcases our Elevation Strategy and the overall direction we're moving in, according to Michael.

"We are building the most compelling brand ecosystem, which relies heavily on the full support from our strategic brand partners.

The Frasers Team plays a huge role in this event. I want our employees to come here, feel empowered, recognized, and ultimately motivated by the scale of the event and our business's trajectory," he explained.

At the end of the obstacle course, a female Frasers staff member was stuck at the top of a rope climb on an A-frame, unable to move for fear of sliding back down.

I quickly climbed up and helped her over the top.

Once I reached the other side, Michael and Marc were there, waiting for me. We vaulted over the final cargo nets and crossed the finish line together.

While high-fiving a few other muddy runners, Michael posed for photos with the finishers.

Not as the CEO of their company, but as a member of the Frasers staff wanting to share in the camaraderie and excitement of the event.

As someone left the area, I overheard him say to his friends, "How many bosses do that?" They didn’t need to answer him.

Source: menshealth

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.