A fitness studio which was handed a Government loan to help it survive the pandemic has shown the MP how the cash was spent to make the venue Covid-safe.
Tatton MP Esther McVey visited Alderley Pilates Studio, Nether Alderley, where owners Peter and Jan Bowen showed her what changes they had introduced since re-opening their doors to customers.
The business benefitted from Government’s Bounce Back loan, where small and medium sized businesses could borrow up to £50,000 interest free for a year and further help from Cheshire East Council.
The money was spent on refurbishing the studio, including a new floor and built in cupboards to store mats.
Ms McVey said: “It was lovely to be invited to look around and see what changes had been introduced to protect people while allowing them to continue to exercise. I am delighted businesses across the area took advantage of the loans available to them and now that the country has reopened I hope everyone that can will get back to supporting local businesses such as these so we can all do our bit to support each other in the recovery. I know Peter and Jan do great work with people in pain and are referred for Pilates to help them with medical problems and I am sure they, along with regular class goers will be very happy the studio is reopened.”
Owner, Peter Bowen commented"Our studio was effectively closed for 5 months and so we are delighted to be able welcome clients back into our completely refurbished studio. We are grateful to Esther McVey for her considerable help during the closure period on issues around regulations and funding and so it was especially appropriate to welcome Esther to officially re-open the studio.’’
During the pandemic the studio ran Pilates classes on Zoom and are still offering that option for people unable to attend.
