Tiro Fitness: personalised fitness with a whole lot of heart
For Rob Singers and Simon Gibbons of Tiro Fitness, community is an integral part of their business. So when they set up their gym in our Capital Business Centre one of their main aims was to make it an inclusive space, which was welcoming to all members of the local community from novices to pros. In our interview they explain how they achieved that valuable sense of community, and how they are now giving back.
A fitness niche
Where many gyms leave members to their own devices, Tiro fitness’ USP comes from the fact they are deliberately personal. Each group session has no more than twelve people in it where Rob and Simon “blend everyone’s individual goals and tailor each session to target them”. This means that no one session is the same and everyone gets that personal touch. Rob continues: “Our motto is ‘fitness for all levels’. This is because, in our previous work, we noticed an environment that was alienating to so many beginners. We wanted to change that. We wanted to create a space where people can increase their mobility and improve their quality of life without judgement. Our gym is a space for everyone to feel welcome, whether you’re nervous or confident.” To help people feel more confident about joining, they offer a free trial session, where people can “come in and see if they like it, there’s no pressure to commit, especially if they’re nervous about starting the gym”.
The pair believe it is important for personal trainers to remember that they too were novices once. Rob explains: “From beginner to professional, we have seen our own transformation and how great it feels to progress. So, we want to nurture this in others. That’s why we decided to take a more personalised approach.”
Building up the community
Simon and Rob’s personalised approach has allowed them to give back to the community and the people that supported them. Rob explains that they have a few clients who lives with Parkinson’s. “We’ve been able to help them and through this work, we have been introduced to a Parkinson’s charity which we now work closely with.”
He continues: “It’s great that we are now in the position where we can give back, so we’ve been able to help the community by doing a lot of fundraising. We really like to support local charities, so we are currently also working with Croydon council. We feel really grateful for that.”
They go on to explain that educating people on the importance of health and fitness is also very important to them. Which is why they partner up with schools as well as physios, to help people on their rehabilitation programs.
Simon and Rob explained that one of the keyways they have managed to grow their community is through hosting socials outside of the gym. They explained that this “has been a great way for friendships to grow”.
The need for an adaptable business plan
During the pandemic, the pair pivoted the business online and benefited from the fitness craze during the pandemic, but were also keen to spread the word through more traditional means: Rob remembers: “We’re both locally based, we walked the streets a few times knocking on people’s door,” Through this, they were able to establish their foundations as a local business, serving the local community: “People appreciated that. I think people saw themselves – their local area, their community – in us and vice versa.”
Simon and Rob nurtured their brand through both online and physical means until they were finally allowed to train their clients in person again. Rob continues: “Actually, after the pandemic a lot of people were then scared to work out indoors again, so we had to be extra diligent with hygiene. Many people wanted to work out outside still, so we held group sessions in the snow. Whatever it took.”
A flexible space for personal training
After the uncertainty of the pandemic, the pair were understandably reserved about being tied into lengthy leases. Simon mentions. “The flexible rolling contract was the deciding factor really: with the monthly rolling licence, if it doesn’t work out, you can get out when you need to. Honestly, I’d recommend it to any business.”
He continues: “After the pandemic, we needed to cut costs, so we moved to a smaller unit at the centre because it was so reasonably priced. We thought we’d bring the prices down for the short term to help us grow in the long term.” The plan worked and soon the pair could move into their current 1,130ft sq unit.
Business guidance from Tiro Fitness
True to form, when asked their business tips for fledgling business owners, Rob and Simon replied with advice that was full of heart: “Do it. If you’ve got a passion, you can’t not do it,” Simon states.
“That’s right,” Rob adds, “and that’s why you have to believe in yourself. Everyone says, you can’t expect to make money in the first year and we definitely found that. But we stayed strong in our convictions and didn’t falter, and I think people saw that and wanted to believe in us too.”
