Gym owner in battle to save his Portsmouth business Gym01 gets backing from Penny Mordaunt in bid to create training bubbles

Gareth Johnson, who runs Gym01 in Rodney Road, Southsea, said the situation for his business was critical, due to the lack of support given to the industry.

Gareth, who started the business with business partner Brian Adams 10 years ago, said: ‘Many people who use gyms like ours are being ignored. Our gym is a community and we have dropped off the radar. A lot of small independent gyms will be lost forever. There is such a small margin in these businesses, you do it because you have a passion for it not for the money.

‘If we are forced into another lockdown, then we will not reopen. We just couldn’t afford it.’

The 37-year-old wrote to both city MPs and said he was surprised to receive a response from Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt, who visited and decided to take on their case.

She wrote to the Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock, urging him to allow training bubbles and give extra support to the industry.

In the letter, she said: ‘Gym01 as well as many other gyms have been hit hard by the pandemic and even though they were able to reopen this has sadly not resolved their financial issues. Operating from two large industrial units, social distancing guidelines mean they can only operate with just over a 20 per cent capacity. However their overheads remain high and are not feasible long term.

‘Around 80 per cent of Gym01 members attend the gym for martial arts and boxing training, but with social distancing guidelines in place no contact is allowed. I am sure you can appreciate the difficulty of holding close contact sport classes with no contact. It is for this reason that I would like to support a bubble so that they can have an exercise partner outside of their household who they train with. This would be particularly useful for sports like NMA, Kickboxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.’

When lockdown happened, Gareth put his 13 staff on furlough, but it was not just paid staff that were affected as the gym is also used as a base by many self-employed trainers.

A crowdfund was launched, which help to pay their wages initially, but this was not sustainable.

Now, Gareth has also had to make four of his staff redundant as he could not afford to contribute to the furlough scheme.

He said: ‘They were all very understanding and they all still train here, I think that speaks volumes. I am hopeful that when we are allowed to open back to full capacity that we will be able to take them back. But I feel terrible. These people worked and trained here, we are all so close. Having to phone them up and let them go was horrible. I have really struggled with that. Delivering that news, and ruining people’s lives, is heartbreaking.’

Not only has Gareth’s business been affected by the pandemic, he was also due to get married this year, which has been postponed until at least next year.

And he says he was disappointed to see gyms overlooked again with the latest round of coronavirus restrictions.

SEE ALSO: Mobility scooter user denied McDonald's drive-through service

He said: ‘There is never a lifeline at the moment. Gyms and leisure centres have been found to be some of the cleanest places and you would think that the government would be placing some emphasis on the things that help people’s health given the current circumstances.’

Speaking to The News, Ms Mordaunt said she still supported the need for training bubbles.

She said: ‘Of course guidance will be altered over time but we always need to consider particular circumstances. When gyms are open for people to use, having a training partner is not just helpful but a necessity for certain sports. I want to ensure that due consideration is being given to certain situations. However if the R rate is very high clearly many activities have to stop altogether.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron,

Thank you for reading this story.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.