Welsh fitness entrepreneur targets expansion to create network of GymPods

Nation Cymru Staff

A Welsh fitness entrepreneur says his clever GymPod concept could help shape the next generation of sporting stars.

Personal trainer Paul Edwards, from Denbigh in North Wales, has launched a new site at The Neston Club in Parkgate on the Wirral, one of Cheshire’s biggest multi-sport clubs.

The move marks the second GymPod site for dad-of-two Paul, 43, following the success of the first one at The Centre in Ruthin.

Growing demand for private gym spaces where users can train away from crowded fitness spaces has fuelled his ambitious plans to expand the network to more towns and sports clubs.

The pod is 20 feet long, nine feet wide and is 10 feet high and stacked with the best gym equipment available.

Using top of the range technology, it allows users to book a session online where they are given a unique code to the door of the pod.

And for that session, they have personal, private and exclusive use of the facility and its wide range of gym equipment.

The historic Neston Club, founded in 1881, has around 1,500 members and has produced a string of talented youngsters representing England, Wales and county sides in hockey, cricket and tennis.

According to club chief executive Craig Stubbs, the private training space in the innovative pod could play a major role in keeping young athletes on international pathways fit all year round.

Paul said: “The response to GymPod Ruthin has been incredible over the last 18 months.

“Demand for private fitness spaces is continuing to rise, and I’m confident GymPod Neston will replicate the success seen in Ruthin and I can continue to grow the GymPod brand across the region.

“It lifts the anxiety for people who don’t want to go into a public gym.

“Nobody can see in, and there is no waiting around to use equipment.

“People really value privacy, flexibility and convenience when it comes to fitness.

“We offer a fully private, bookable gym space where members can train without crowds, waiting for equipment, or feeling intimidated.

“Unlike conventional gyms, GymPod allows users to book their own exclusive training slot using an app, unlocking a private gym space equipped with high-quality fitness equipment.”

The GymPod concept has received the backing of the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT), established by Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, to support arts and community activities.

Paul added: “Gill and Mario have been very supportive of the GymPod concept and Gill has been a wonderful mentor to me as I look to grow the business.”

Craig Stubbs, who lives in Henllan, near Denbigh, said, the on-site gym at The Neston Club was the “final piece in the jigsaw” to complement the many other sports facilities the club members have access to, including cricket, hockey, tennis and squash.

Craig said: “We have 400 junior members, and lots of them are on international pathway systems so have got lots of international representation through different sports.

“We have a number of kids for example, up to under-17s, who have represented England at hockey and have represented England Schools.

“We have got quite a few representing Wales too in hockey.

“Looking at cricket, we have a couple of young people on the pathway system with Lancashire, we have a member who represents Cheshire.

“And we have tennis juniors who are working up through the LTA pathway systems.

“But what often happens here is you might have an excellent young cricketer who will be here all the time during the season, about six months of the year.

“And then when the cricket season ends they don’t come to the club, and that’s the same with the young hockey players.

“What the GymPod does is gives them a reason to still come to the club year-round and they can still do their fitness here.

“So basically, the GymPod could help some of our country’s future internationals keep in shape.

“We do have the fitness suite next door for pilates and yoga, but we didn’t have an actual gym with all the equipment needed.”

Craig, the vice-chairman of Denbigh Cricket Club and who has been CEO at The Neston Club for 10 years, explained: “I was chatting to Paul about the GymPod in Ruthin and explained what we have at The Neston Club and I just thought the GymPod concept fitted perfectly to what we needed.”

Meanwhile, having the GymPod available would, he said, also allow parents to have their own fitness session while their children were taking part in sport or being trained at the club.

Among the club’s members is professional squash player Tesni Murphy, a record 10-time Welsh national champion who represented her country at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Paul added that the GymPod was available for use to anybody in the community and provided fitness equipment including free weights, kettlebells, a SkiErg cardiovascular machine, a BikeErg exercise bike, a cable machine to work muscle groups and a squat rack and bench press.

It also has a sound system users can hook up to and an air conditioning unit.

Paul said: “People have complete control over their session whether they are training on their own, with a couple of friends or with a personal trainer.

“The concept is popular with so many people – beginners, busy professionals, runners, personal trainers, and those looking for a more focused and comfortable workout environment.

“So many people prefer working out in their own space and having that flexibility about when they go to the gym.”

He said GymPod Neston was available every day from 5am to 11pm and bookings can be made at theGymPodneston.simplybook.it/v2/

People who book are given a code which allows them to access the pod.

And Paul said as a special introductory offer he was offering a free one-off session until June to those who signed up to GymPod Neston for the first time using discount code “Neston”.

His GymPod innovation is in addition to the personal training and group fitness classes he runs in Denbigh and Ruthin.