Flintshire gym owners reflect on last year of pandemic for their industry

This week saw 365 days pass since UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the drastic act of locking the nation down – closing workplaces, schools and businesses to bring the evolving coronavirus pandemic under control.

Since last March 23, gyms were forced shut for 140 days - first allowed to re-welcome back their members in early August.

This was relatively short-lived as Wales was plunged into a fire-break lockdown months later in late October before a second national lockdown was imposed before Christmas.

Until recently, gyms remained completely in the dark about their future of reopening in Wales – what they did know is that it wouldn’t come before April as Welsh Government did not include exercise facilities in their brief roadmap out of lockdown.

When quizzed at a recent press conference when this route back to normality was revealed, Mr Drakeford told gym owners “they’ve not been forgotten,”

He said they, along with the hospitality sector, would only be first considered for reopening towards the end of April.

This was later confirmed in the Welsh Government's Coronavirus Control Plan.

One Flintshire gym owner explained how the last 12 months has been “a rollercoaster of emotions and battles”.

Ricky Nicholson is the director of AF Fitness Flintshire – based on Manor Industrial Estate in Flint – and has spent most of the pandemic closed.

He explains how the restrictions put his industry have caused major disruption – especially as an independent gym.

He said: “As a gym owner it was very upsetting and frustrating as I was forced to close my business down and in have my income stopped. The grants and incentives covered only a fraction of the costs of running a business.

“The year has been a rollercoaster of emotions and battles with having been forced to close on three occasions.”

In the brief months when gyms were able to open, AF Fitness adapted to ensure they were safe for people to return to. During the lockdown, Ricky’s community-oriented gym also took on several challenges and fundraised for local charities.

Whilst the facility itself was out-of-bounds, they offered a range of online classes and outdoor fitness classes to ensure people had the opportunity to exercise.

Ricky explained how they invested in keeping members safe once the gym itself was allowed to reopen in the summer.

He said: “We have invested a great deal of money in protecting our staff and members and have a strict online booking system. By booking only, we can control the amount of people in the facility at any one time.

“After each session booked there is a break of 15 minutes for cleaning. We operated a one-way system and all members have to scan in and out of the facility.”

He added that all the gym machines are facing away from each other and have Perspex screens in place.

There was also access to cleaning and hand sanitiser stations throughout the building and the wearing of face coverings when not exercising was encouraged by those able to do so.

Ricky described the prospect of another few months with his doors closed as “hugely disappointing” but said that “as a professional service we will always do what’s safest for all”.

He added that he cannot wait to welcome back gym lovers, adding that those worried about coming back shouldn’t be.

He said: “I can guarantee that gyms are cleaner and safer with far more control measures in place than many of the places we are allowed to go to now. I for one can’t wait to welcome everyone back.”

Another small independent gym has similar concerns.

Ethan Brunt, who runs Tribe Fitness on Flint’s Church Street was worried abut how big of a blow COVID would be to a new venture like his.

He told the Leader: “As a new business, still within its first year of opening, the lockdown came as a big blow as we had worked so hard to get to the stage we were at.

“The lockdown has been a very difficult time, not only us but for our members.

“We have been grateful for the support from the government but we do feel that the industry like many others who have had to endure the longer durations could have been supported and communicated with better.”

He explained how Tribe organised online classes when their doors had to stay closed but found that members didn't take to them as well as classes in the gym.

When restrictions allowed outdoor classes, he says that they “took the opportunity with both hands” but found that quite a few members were not confident enough to exercise outdoors.

He explained how later in the summer, once members could return indoors, lots of changes were made.

This included booking systems for classes, limiting capacity as well as basic equipment cleaning and social distancing

He continued: “As we used a suitable booking system, this gave us the ability to track and trace very effectively as members had to book in and records of other people in the building at the same time could be pulled up, notifications sent direct to their mobile phones.”

Being left in the dark about the future of his gym, Ethan admitted he was worried but also “disappointed” about Welsh gyms not lining up with England on April 12.

He said: “We do understand that the government is uncertain as to how the new variants of the virus will adapt.

“We are however extremely disappointed with the news that council run facilities will receive a large amount of funding with very little certainty as to what is being done to support smaller privately owned facilities.”

He said that being so close to neighbouring Chester, there is a risk that people itching to return to a gym may abandon them – however, Ethan shared a bigger concern with how the government announced the possible reopening process.

He said: “With the plan of opening larger more modern facilities before smaller privately owned gyms, there is a big risk that many smaller facilities will not recover and may have to cease business.

“We would like the public to know that when the time comes to reopen, that we have been fully invested to ensure that the gym is a safe place in line with COVID guidelines. Our priority is to ensure the safety of the public using the facility is paramount.”