A local gym in Salford, Fusion Fitness, is losing hundreds of pounds due to their second closing as a result of lockdown.

Richard Warburton, 45, is the owner of Fusion Fitness and has been a lifestyle coach for 9 years.

He said: “(…) businesses like mine are being punished and penalized. For example, this month, I have taken £800, and my rent per month is £1100”.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After working in commercial gyms for years, he decided to open his own business and provide an ‘exciting and varied’ environment where people can be part of group sessions but get personalised support.

Warburton added: “I always thought that there was nothing too personal about taking personal training sessions in a really busy gym”.

He recognises the government funding has helped his business stay afloat, but explained that he was just recovering from the impact of the first lockdown and there is a momentum of recovery that was lost.
Fusion Fitness could only be visited through per-booking and reduced the numbers to 6 people per session.
Richard believes this is a controlled and safe environment  but after the new restrictions he can’t even give one-to-one personal training in the space he rents.

“Our hands are tied,” he said.

“Do I think it’s right they lock us down? Me and other business which are small? No. Commercial gyms? Yes, they are too difficult to manage.”

We asked people in Salford what they think of the government’s decision of closing gyms again:

Copyright: Natacha Pires

The pandemic is making fitness professionals turn to online classes to compensate for the loss of income in gyms. This is case of Giada Di Lauro, 30, a fitness and Zumba coach that works in Salford.

Copyright and provided by: Giada Di Lauro

She said: “Perhaps close the commercial gyms but keep the small businesses going anyway because most of the people that work in the fitness industry are self-employed and receive no help at all from the government”

“It’s really tough, not only for the ones that can’t go to the gym, but also the ones that work there.”

Although it is a difficult time, Giada is focusing in the positive since taking all of her classes online, she managed to become self-employed and ‘fully dedicated to the fitness industry’.

The new lockdown is due to come to an end on Wednesday 2 December and gyms are expected to reopen.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *