UK Enterprise 2020

223 | UK Enterprise Awards 2020 Jul20311 Established in 2011, The Wantage Pilates Studio has established itself as a leading local Pilates service that offers bespoke semi-private classes tailored to each client. Offering mat work and apparatus classes for clients of all ages and backgrounds, Wantage Pilates has come through a difficult year and is now celebrating success at the SME UK Enterprise Awards 2020. While companies across the UK have all faced their fair share of challenges throughout 2020, the Wantage Pilates Studio has truly had a year of peaks and troughs. Faced with a sudden eviction from their premises in February which resulted in a move to new studios in a matter of days, followed of course by the nationwide lockdown, it’s been a stressful year for owner Julia Trinder and her company. Despite all this however, Wantage Pilates have continued to offer bespoke and professional Pilates services to their customers in and around the Wantage area. Established in 2011, Wantage Pilates is the leading local Pilates studio offering mat work and apparatus classes and private sessions. Collaborating with local health professionals and other local businesses, Wantage Pilates specialises in small group, semi- private classes and bespoke exercise classes that are tailored to each client. Julia ensures that classes never exceed four clients, a unique feature of her studios, which enables each client to make the most out of the extensive knowledge and experience offered by her highly trained team of instructors. With core values of Commitment, Dedication, Family, Compassion and Bravery, Wantage Pilates offers services that are excellent value for money. They also pride themselves on their flexibility, offering clients a choose and book system that allows customers to fit their Pilates classes around their own busy lifestyles. Offering classes that are a blend of Pilates mat work, small equipment, apparatus, fascial fitness, proprioceptive awareness and movement education, Wantage Pilates are constantly looking to evolve. Currently this includes providing more classes to meet demands, as well as considering more ‘Retreat’ days, following the success of the first ‘Reflection, Focus, Connecting with Others and Delicious Food’ outing in February 2020 at Hawkwell House, Oxford. Julia has attended training across Europe and America with some of the leading global Pilates teachers, including Pilates Elders and first and second-generation teachers, as well as attending conferences and workshops with global leaders and pioneers in fascia research and movement education. The teachers who work with Julia at Wantage Pilates share her passion and are highly trained and dedicated to cultivating a fun, relaxed, kind, helpful and generous environment in the studios. The team is truly a united one that frequently comes together for socials, Christmas and business anniversary events, as well as welcoming some of the leading global Pilates teachers and movement education experts to the studios themselves, so the team can grow and develop together. This unity and support have been crucial throughout what has no doubt been a tricky year. In February, the gym in which Wantage Pilates offered classes went bust and Julia and her team were evicted. Within a week, Julia was set up in her new premises and classes continued with minimal disruption. This was followed by lockdown, which posed its own problems, but once again, the Wantage Pilates team rose to the challenge and adapted themselves to provide online classes which proved so successful, these online classes are continuing post-lockdown. One particularly unique online class has been tailored to support Julia’s other passion as a percussionist in the Wantage Silver Band; a Pilates class for Brass Band players, which has gone down a treat! After what has proved a difficult year, Wantage Pilates has demonstrated their strength as a business. Despite setbacks, Julia and her team of expert instructors have risen to every challenge and against the odds developed a supportive environment for both clients and staff. There is no doubt that the future is bright for this resilient company as it nears a decade of operation. Company: The Wantage Pilates Studio Contact: Julia Trinder Address: The Wantage Pilates Studio, First Floor, Bellinger Showroom, Station Road, Grove, Wantage, OX12 0DH Web Address: www.wantagepilates.co.uk Best Pilates Studio 2020 – Oxfordshire