Mindbody x BXR London: Boxing Reimagined

In 2015, while Olia Sardarova was writing a business plan for her master’s degree, she noticed boxing rising in popularity as not just a sport, but as a great workout overall. She discovered that boxing originated in the UK, and that the boxing rules used in matches today were written in London—the same city she was living in at the time. Though more and more people were embracing the sport, Olia still felt something was missing. Most boxing clubs were gritty, smelly, with few options for recovery. 

So, Olia wrote her business plan for the first-ever high-end boxing gym brand, and BXR London was born.

Train like a champion 

Anthony Joshua, who has since become the heavyweight champion of the world, believed in Olia’s vision and agreed to put his name to the gym. With a site in central London, BXR became the first boxing gym of its kind, with recovery facilities and an on-site physiology and osteopathy clinic. 

BXR offers two training teams: one team of professional fighters that teach combat skills, including Muay Thai, boxing, and kickboxing, and a team of esteemed sports science experts to focus on strength and conditioning.

“My inspiration came from Anthony Joshua’s training,” said Olia. “He goes to the best facilities with the best equipment, and he's been treated by best-in-class recovery coaches. And I was like, why not put all of that under one roof and give other people access to the same level of training.” 

Once BXR started taking off, they launched their Sweat by BXR group classes under the same roof. This cardio-focused training provides yoga, Pilates, boxing, strength and conditioning, and even Versa climbing. The addition of these group classes expanded BXR’s offering and attracted more female customers to complement the predominantly male clientele of the original boxing gym.  

“We started really growing our client base because the group classes are open to non-members,” said Olia, “but you’re using the same changing facilities and the same lounge. So overall, the dynamics within the gym are perfect in the end.” 

Two brands, one software 

Incorporating Sweat by BXR into their framework required a software solution that could handle both gym types—paid classes and paid membership—under one seamless platform. Mindbody Payments has helped BXR manage their dual offerings by providing centralised reporting for both businesses. They also use Mindbody’s Card Reader—available to UK customers for the first time ever—at all sites for a variety of different types of sales. Olia described the system as “life-saving” because it eliminated the headache of needing to manually reconcile sales between both BXR London and Sweat by BXR businesses with their previous hardware. 

“It’s just easier when you can input all the stock in one place, and you sell it all from one place,” said Olia. 

BXR uses Mindbody Payments to create a more pleasant experience for each of their clients. Some members have been going to BXR for years and are on a first name basis with the staff, which means they can make purchases at the gym without having to reach for their cards. “They want to grab a juice and wave at the reception,” said Olia. While BXR staff can simply charge the cards on file for any purchases, members can stay focused on their training. 

For the hundreds of customers coming in daily for individual Sweat by BXR classes, Mindbody’s Card Reader offers a quick and painless payment process while recording every sale in Mindbody software—so nothing gets lost in the shuffle. 

Both BXR and Sweat by BXR continue to grow exponentially, attracting more and more clients daily. With the support of Mindbody’s software and hardware solutions, BXR’s dynamic offerings provide both members and nonmembers with a high-quality training experience in a format that caters to them.