Hove Fitness & Squash: Winner – New Business of the Year Award

For so many businesses around the Sussex region, 2020 was a challenging, rollercoaster of a year. And that’s certainly no different for the Directors of Hove Fitness & Squash. Having put huge amounts of effort and energy into opening the doors to their new community-focused club in October, they had to swiftly close them again to so many new and enthusiastic members, both in November and again in late December due to the effects of COVID-19 restrictions.

These lockdowns didn’t however dent the positive, “can-do” attitude of the team behind the club, or its fantastic membership base, which have time and time again shown their ongoing support for the club’s success. This was demonstrated when in December, Hove Fitness & Squash was voted the 2020 “New Business of the Year” winner of the prestigious Sussex Business Awards.

“It hasn’t been an easy year to start a business, especially in the leisure industry,” says Lucy Egan, one the club’s three directors. “But we’re really proud to have launched a club that offers something for everybody and have worked hard to find new ways to keep all our members fit and healthy whether physically open or not. We’re so grateful to each one of them who took the time out to vote for us – thank you”.

As Lucy explains, the November 2020 lockdown – the first after the club opened – forced her and her co-directors, Matt Lambert and Ben Hutton, to think creatively about how they delivered the club’s various fitness activities: “Having successfully opened over the summer, we wanted to keep the business going, and our members moving, into the winter”. The team quickly shifted as many classes as possible online when the closure was announced. For many of us, online platforms such as Zoom or Teams have become our second home so, with a few technical upgrades and some good lighting, it was a relatively smooth transition to deliver high-quality classes such as HiiT, Legs, Bums & Tums, Pilates, Yoga and Zumba online straight to the comfort of the members’ living rooms. “We even loaned out equipment” adds Matt. “I spent a day delivering spin bikes and kettle bells to our members so those classes could continue. Some of those staircases were a workout in themselves!”

The team were excited to reopen their doors again in December, both to their returning, loyal members and new members. However, of course Christmas brought another lockdown and sadly the club had to close again. This time though, the team were more than ready to relaunch their online programme and are now offering a wide range of over 25 online classes a week including Pilates, Zumba, Circuits, Legs Bums and Tums, Yoga, HIIT and Abs and core. And while it is obviously harder for the club’s squash players to continue playing from home, co-director and squash coach Ben Hutton is running squash-specific HIIT sessions three times a week. “Squash is such an important and thriving part of the club so it was crucial for us to help all our players to stay match-fit while they can’t get on court” he says.

During the current lockdown, Hove Fitness & Squash is offering even more to its community, making sure that, just like the rest of the club, the online version provides something for everybody. To help members maintain and improve their health they have launched a free Hove Fitness & Squash Weight-Loss course on Facebook, encouraging healthy eating and providing support with weight loss. Healthy, tasty recipes and food inspiration are then shared through @eatwell_hs on Instagram.

Members can also sign up for an online beginners’ running group,

which will help anyone who wants to start running with a range of advice and tips including how to begin your running journey, how to pace yourself, routes what to wear, as well as a four-week plan. New runners will also be offered advice with improving their 5k run from February, and – building on the success of previous online challenges, a 28-day fitness

challenge will be open to everyone throughout the month via the club’s Facebook page.

Hove Fitness & Squash’s online classes will continue as long as the club is unable to open but Lucy, Matt and Ben are looking forward to welcoming existing and new members to the club in person as soon as they are able. The inclusive and friendly gym has a wide range of socially distanced cardio and weights equipment with fitness inductions provided free of charge. There are also six squash courts used by a warm, welcoming squash and racketball community, with club nights and team matches due to return as soon as

they are allowed. A new outdoor timetable of classes such as bootcamps, Boxfit, beginners’ running and Walkfit groups is also planned for the spring.

And of course, members will be able to follow whatever workout they choose by a visit to Hove Fitness & Squash’s fabulous lounge, which offers great coffee, cakes, shakes and protein drinks, as well as a fully stocked bar offering Harveys, Guinness and IPA on tap.

Fully inclusive membership is available from £42.50 with all classes then free, or £5 each pay-as-you-go for non-members.

To find out more or join today, have a look at hovefitnessandsquash.com.