A “family-friendly” gym is moving into the vacant unit formerly occupied by a dessert restaurant.
iQ Fitness has been operating from Atlantic Street in Broadheath since launching in April 2021.
But it has now agreed a 15-year lease on the almost 11,000 sq ft space next door to the Vue Cinema on Denmark Street.
The unit was briefly occupied by Fireworks Ice Cream and Desserts in 2017 but has lain empty since closing.
The gym is led by Altrincham-born Stuart Niven, 37, who had a seven-year stint as a police officer in the counter-terrorism unit in London before moving into the fitness industry.
After a sports science degree at Leeds Met University, the former North Cestrian pupil worked as a personal trainer at Hale Country Club before leaving while it was closed due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.
He’s been working on securing the new space for the last six months and finally picked up the keys on Monday.
He wants the new gym to be more family-orientated that the existing fitness offer in the town centre.
“It is ‘another’ gym in Altrincham, but Altrincham is so diverse,” he said. “What we have is two massive corporate gyms in Altrincham that don’t have that family-friendly appeal to them. You are just another member that clocks in, does their thing and then goes home.
“We want to know your first and last name, why you’re here, what makes you tick and what you really want.”
He says the new gym will be competitively priced and will offer flexible packages.
“It won’t be a one-size-fits-all,” Niven added. “You can just have a class membership if you don’t want to use the equipment, or if you just want to use the equipment, that’s brilliant. I want it to be an individual experience for everybody.”
He’s hoping the gym will be opened in time for Christmas ahead of the new year, which is traditionally the busiest time of the year for gyms.
Niven is currently working flat-out on the project, book-ending each day with personal trainer sessions and spending the rest of the time project managing the fit-out.
His brother-in-law, Robbie Albinson, is helping on the fit-out work and his mother-in-law is handling marketing and promotional work, while Niven’s parents have helped to finance the deposit on the unit. A number of locally-based investors are also involved.
Niven said he was “excited but stressed” about the project.
“I’m working seven days a week to get it done as quickly as we can so we can launch something special for Altrincham.”
