Monday 12 October 2009

Busy Times

Over the last few months we have not been idle here at Sportsasrt Fitness - in fact despite the economic climate and doom and gloom we have been very busy.
Our order book is full and the level of enquiries we are getting is high.
This I believe has come about about by a lot of hard work and dedication from all the team here so a big thank you to them for their continued efforts.
Also a big part in our success is down to the testimonials and praise received from our customers without whom we would have nothing to shout about. So a huge thank you to all of you.
You can receive the testimonials by dropping me an email at mark.turner@sportsartfitness.co.uk

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Installation joys!!!!

Easy Riders Paul on the left Dave on the right
Very steep and narrow

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny with Dave, Paul and myself starting out on the long drive to central London to install our cardio into Lifesmart, a very upmarket club.
We had nine pieces of cardio which included two treadmills, two ellipticals, two XT20's upright cycles, recumbent cycles and a stepper to carry up these steps!!!!
Oh and then we had two treadmills, two ellipticals an upright and recumbent cycle to bring down.
By 6.30 we had completed the moving in and out of the kit plus built the treadmills up, an elliptical and the stepper leaving us just the building up and placing of the kit on Tuesday.

After a brief walk to the hotel we headed off for a Chinese meal, this was very much deserved and the beers just hit the spot. Three very tired guys resisted the temptations of the big city and headed back for an early night.

Tuesday morning we were back to finish the job. By mid day we had completed the install and positioned the kit, making the most of the room size and features. Dave is really getting into how the kit should be laid out and after a few changes we were both happy to bring the client in to sign off.

The smile on their faces made the hard work worth while and the comments were fantastic.

All that was left was for Dave to drive us back up the motorway and get us home safe and sound.

The gym looked fantastic and the effort Dave and Paul put in was awesome many thanks to them.

Monday 8 June 2009

Press Up for Cancer


Congratulations to our sales manager Andrew Gange (far left of pic) and Paul Salmon who conceived and organised the press up for cancer event on May the 22nd & 23rd. People were sponsored to do 1,000 press ups in a maximum of ten hours. Check out the web site www.pressupforcancer.com for more information.

So far the event has raised approx £15,000 so a huge success and a fantastic achievement to Andrew and Paul - well done.

Wednesday 3 June 2009

What our customers say about us

Excelsior Academy, a brand new state of the art academy situated in the West End of Newcastle recently awarded SportsArt Fitness UK the contract to supply both cardio and strength training products to equip their new fitness centre. The new Excelsior Academy gym will provide a professional sports environment for the academy, which is a new concept in secondary education, featuring ‘five schools built around a central courtyard and delivering education and learning opportunities to 1800 students aged 11-18. The facility will provide a range of health and fitness equipment to support and encourage both students, staff and the local community to participate in leisure pursuits.

Business Manager for Excelsior Academy Peter Snowdon reported, “It was vitally important that any new selected fitness equipment was user friendly and fit for purpose, especially as the facilities were to be in constant use by a wide age group, 7 days a week. The project was put out to tender and eventually after careful consideration the contract was awarded to SportsArt.

SportsArt eventually supplied over a dozen Cardio and Strength fitness training stations including treadmills, ellipticals, upright & recumbent bikes, chest, shoulders and arms apparatus and as a result, feel that we have provided members with an excellent balanced training circuit within our budget.
In making that final decision, apart from the excellent build and aesthetics of the fitness equipment, the differentiating factor that swayed us to appoint SportsArt was their enthusiasm when talking about sport and health; plus in discussion, it was obvious that SportsArt were passionate about doing a good job. SportsArt was very professional in its approach, very constructive and helpful in offering advice on layout and equipment selection, but at no time did we feel under pressure or consider that they were trying over sell.



The project was completed on time, within budget and provides Excelsior Academy with a state-of-the art fitness suite to complement the PE curriculum. It also enables us to work with the local community to promote the benefits of health and fitness, encouraging community groups to commit to using the new training equipment.

Since installation, SportsArt fitness equipment has been reliable and performed well and our experience of its after sales service has been excellent. On that basis, we would have no hesitation in recommending doing business with SportsArt Fitness UK.”

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Get Connected

Whilst travelling back from a meeting yesterday I was turning over one of my good friend Joe's ideas about taking coffee with clients or potential clients I thought about how we can translate this into the gym environment.
What struck me is that when running the gym the time to just pop out for coffee is limited so why not invite clients in to see you.
So look at the week and select a quiet time then design your event.
Once a time and day is selected put together an invite and hand them out personally to your chosen clients inviting them to join you.
The event could be an instructor led programme lasting 45 Min's with the emphasis on having fun, get some good tunes going and lots of smiles and masses of energy!!!
Aim to leave at least 15 minutes for coffee or juice and how about some healthy flapjack (better if homemade - recipe coming soon) and sit back and chat to your guests.

Push this for at least six weeks - don't forget it was a quiet time!! keep handing out the invites and get staff to start to create a buzz about the session. If you have staff in at the time get them involved in the workout!!! When it starts to get busy look at another day and time and start again.
The cost is very little and the benefits can be huge.
Try it and let me know how you get on

Friday 15 May 2009

XT 20 Cross Trainer


This week has been another busy week for us all at Sportsart UK.
The week started off with me driving to Durham to deliver training to the PE staff at Durham Johnson School on their new Sportsart cardio. This is a great part of the job for me as I get to go right back to my routes and deliver training on fitness kit (its were it all started for me). It still amazes me how far we have come as an industry and yet how little has changed in some respects in 22 years!!
Facilities are now fantastic in the range and specification of kit offered, the kit has made giant steps in function and aesthetics. Yet I still find the same doubts and misconceptions in people regarding training in a gym which underlines a lack of education with in the vast majority of the population. Its great to see facilities being developed in schools as this is the place where the education can really start.The team at Durham Johnson are looking to maximise the facility they have including fitness testing, which is a great way to get kids finding out more about what makes the body work and what affects exercise has on them.
My second trip up to Durham on Wednesday was to show a potential client around two of our show piece installations East Durham College and the Radission Hotel.
East Durham College is always a great place to visit as the staff are very knowledgeable, always look happy to be in the gym and the facility is kept immaculate - it's a credit to all involved. Dirk had made the trip up from London to view our kit as they are looking at new cardio for their facility. Meeting people with a passion and depth of knowledge of training is always a bonus for me and it was evident that Dirk was one of those people. I am hopeful that we will be seeing our kit in their facility in the near future as Dirk seemed to be impressed with the features and designs of our kit, especially the XT20. The XT20 is a fantastic machine for all levels of fitness and abilities allowing the user to have a complete body workout on one machine. Plus the resistance levels are independent for the arms and legs, allowing you to tailor the workout to the individual.

Wednesday 13 May 2009



With over 30 years manufacturing experience it is little wonder that across the globe we are collecting awards for our products. Both cardiovascular and strength machines have been given awards for their design and function over more established manufacturers.

But function and design are only part of the equation, service is the key to performance once the machines are installed.

Sportsart UK has and extensive stock of parts to keep your machines working and our aim is to fix machines on the first visit. This means your machines are out of order for less time which your customers will be pleased with.