Fitness firm boosted by business help

A woman who launched her own fitness business is expanding her offer after receiving a different kind of coaching through a free support programme.

Sophie Richardson launched SJR Fitness from her gym at Warwick Sports Club in January 2024, offering personal training and fitness classes to individuals and groups in the region.

Sophie developed an interest in fitness and sport from an early age and took a personal trainer course at the same time as taking her A-Levels at North Leamington School.

After working in a gym, she decided to go all in and launch her own business offering women-only classes and one-to-one sessions.

She’s built-up an impressive list of clients and has recently launched fitness and wellness retreats to put her business in an even healthier state.

One of her clients recommended that she speak to the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce about any support that might be available to boost her plans for growth.

She was assigned to Saffron Medway as a business adviser through Project Warwickshire Business Support. Project Warwickshire forms part of the Business Growth Warwickshire programme. It is delivered by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on behalf of Warwickshire County Council. The programme is funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Warwickshire County Council.

Saffron supported Sophie in building up her social media marketing presence and by creating a business plan to plot out future growth.

That led to more clients and gave Sophie the freedom to trial her first fitness retreat to include other local suppliers in the world of fitness, wellness and nutrition.

She said the support had been invaluable.

Sophie said: “I was always into the gym and I was always into fitness, so I decided to go all in and launch my own business.

“It was going really well, but I felt there was more I could do. One of my clients mentioned that she had been supported by the Chamber in her business so I decided to get in touch.

“I hit it off with Saffron straight away. Not only did she help with things like my marketing and planning, she was just great for my confidence too.

“I had ideas and Saffron would work through the pros and cons with me to a point where I’d just want to go for it. I’d been toying with the idea of doing the retreats but part of you thinks: ‘what if no-one books on?’

“But I put together a really good, mixed programme in a great location and decided to take deposits and if we didn’t have enough people, I’d just give them their money back. The response was amazing. We had such an incredible weekend so it is definitely an area I want to grow.

“Having someone to bounce ideas off, to chat to and to make sure I was doing all of the tasks I needed to do was invaluable.”

Saffron added: “It was great working with Sophie. Supporting with financial planning and marketing helped the business to take its next steps.

“But what truly sets Sophie apart is her exceptional ability to take our strategies and put them into action.

“She embraced and implemented every aspect of our plan with remarkable dedication.

“Thanks to her efforts, SJR Fitness has successfully hosted its first retreat, significantly expanded its client base, and Sophie herself has a renewed passion for achieving even greater success.”

Councillor Rob Howard, Portfolio Holder for Economy at Warwickshire County Council, said: “We want to support Warwickshire businesses to grow and it’s great to see the impact from Project Warwickshire to help achieve this.

“As a result of the bespoke support provided through Project Warwickshire, Sophie has been able to set new business goals and define her strategy in order to achieve these, resulting in new business opportunities and an increase in her client base.”

Joanne Randall, Strategic Economic Development Officer at Warwick District Council commented: “The District Council is pleased to lend its support to SJR Fitness and other new businesses in our area through this excellent growth programme. We are delighted to see the positive impact it is having and would encourage similar organisations to get in touch with the Chamber to find out about the specialist help that is available to them.”

To find out more about the programme and others available to your business, including eligibility please go to https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/business-support/