An idea born out of lockdown has turned into a thriving business venture for a group of fitness enthusiasts.
Jaime Hibbert and Andy Wolstencroft, of Jaime Hibbert Fitness and Personal Training, together with Shaun and Donna Lees, of Patera Engineering, launched JaiDon in the summer of 2020 after gyms and leisure centres across the 海角视频 were forced to close during the pandemic.
The foursome started out renting and selling home gym equipment to Jaime's members to allow them to maintain their healthy lifestyles during the various Covid-19 lockdowns.
Now, after seeing huge demand, the business is fully up and running as a fitness equipment supplier – which sells everything from exercise bikes and treadmills to strength equipment, squat racks and accessories – to both commercial and domestic customers.
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Shaun said: "In lockdown, when all of the gyms were closed, we found ourselves training at home which is obviously quite difficult without the right equipment.
"So we started out by renting spinning bikes, mainly to Jaime's clients, and then things started to take off. We had people coming to us who wanted to buy bits of kit to use at home and Matrix Fitness approached us and asked if we wanted to become a distributor of their products.
"Now we are fully up and running and ready to go – and we've had some great feedback so far."
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Shaun added: "Donna and I started coming to Jaime about four years ago, and that's how we all know each other."
The majority of JaiDon's products are supplied by Matrix Fitness but the company can also manufacture bespoke equipment thanks to Patera's steel fabrication abilities.
Jaime – who has more than 20 years experience in the fitness industry – said: "Over the last two years, people have realised what they want to get out of their training and what they can achieve at home.
"I offer virtual training too, where people can join in live or on demand, so it all ties in really well; they can buy a product from us and we can provide them with training plans and other advice."
Fellow personal trainer Andy added: "We started our virtual classes during the pandemic and we still have two rooms at the studio in Stoke-on-Trent which are used for streaming because we have recognised that some people are still scared to return to the gym, and this way they can still access the sessions."
Going forward, JaiDon wants to become a 'one-stop shop' for all things fitness.
Jaime said: "We can make the kit, sell the kit and provide the training too because we have the experience and can identify what equipment a person needs to achieve their goals."
Shaun – who is the managing director of Patera – added: "Our ultimate aim is to create a brand. I know nothing about sports or fitness, but I do know about manufacturing bespoke steel structures – and that's why it works."