Ribby Hall Village’s Health Club Wins Two Industry Awards
The Health Club at Ribby Hall Village (previously known as ‘Sport & Leisure’) has just won two prestigious National Fitness Awards, beating off very strong competition.
Having previously won Health Club of the year in 2013, to win two new categories again this year is certainly no mean feat:
1. Group Exercise Gym of The Year
2. Regional Gym of The Year (North)
The National Fitness Awards is an annual event, which recognises excellence and achievement in gyms throughout the country. The awards are organised by leading fitness industry magazine Workout, and in each category up to seven finalists were selected. The final stages of the judging process included showcasing to the judges first-hand, the great work going on in The Health Club. The judges also took the time to talk to both members and staff before compiling a comprehensive report – which was then passed on to an expert judging panel to decide on the deserved winners.
Trophies were handed out to the winners at a glittering awards ceremony at The Athena in Leicester, which was also hosted by boxing world champion Ricky Hatton and top TV presenter and fitness expert Caroline Pearce.
James Mitchell, Duty Manager at Ribby Hall Village’s Health Club lead the award campaign and explains, “Despite being confident in our offering given we’re so much more than just a gym – with the competition being so high, I didn’t quite let myself believe we would win one, let alone two categories. As our health club members know, we’ve made significant improvements to our offering over the last twelve months. For example, we’ve opened our own sports store called Activate selling everything from trainers, swim suits, sports bags, running gear, racquets and even a re-stringing service to working with some of the industry’s best international brands such as Adidas, Oakley, Pure Lime, Nike and new to the UK MadPax. We’ve also been working with a number of new fitness instructors as well as expanding our choice and volume of fitness classes – working more recently with Dan Whiston, whose Zumba classes continue to prove very popular. When Olympian Roger Black MBE opened our new gym he described it as having world class facilities with the latest and greatest of Technogym equipment and following the opening of the gym we have also totally refurbished both of our members’ changing rooms too.”
As James continues to explain “It’s important that we’re always looking for something new to keep our members interested and to ensure they get the most out of their membership and never resting on our laurels. We also actively encourage and listen to our members’ feedback, without them we wouldn’t have such an award-winning Health Club”
As the judges commented “Ribby Hall Village Health Club was praised as having: A future feel about it – family, variety and accommodating. The booking system for classes and mixing members with people on holiday also reflects good management and organisational skills. The family type business exudes warmth and the staff retention figures support a strong philosophy.”
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Note to Editors
Image attached – featuring some of the Health Club team receiving one of two trophies, with Ricky Hatton. James Mitchell, Duty Manager is fourth from the LEFT.
For more information or an interview with James Mitchell contact [email protected], DD: 01772 674 406 or M: 07545 942 308
About Ribby Hall Village’s Health Club
Throughout 2014 The Health Club at Ribby Hall Village is celebrating its 20th birthday. The Health Club offers a wide range of sport and leisure facilities to members, holiday guests, holiday homeowners and the local community. Separate from The Spa Hotel, it has been part of The Village since 1994 and has a family fun pool, a 25-metre swimming pool for adults, a Papa John’s Pizzeria and take away; Harrison’s Bar; a Starbucks which has very recently undergone a £90,000 refurbishment; a NEW gym and NEW Sports Shop ‘Activate’. The Health Club also offers over 100 group fitness classes a week, including use of badminton, squash and tennis courts, an all-weather sports pitch; ideal for five-a-side football, basketball and more. The Health Club has also recently introduced NEW archery, NEW Segways, NEW baby ballet, NEW balance bikes and NEW insanity classes to name a few. Children’s party packages are also available as is a free crèche.