Rebel Rebel - Join the Rebellion
Boutique Gym and treatment centre Rebel Rebel Fitness and Treatments explains how they continue to go from strength to strength following their move into new Westham premises and support from Locate East Sussex.
We love the impact we have on our clients, we fix their broken wings. It’s great to see them leaving their sessions confident and with their heads held high.
Emma BradburyCo-Owner of Rebel Rebel Fitness and Treatments
Rebel Rebel Fitness and Treatments
Rebel Rebel is a family run boutique gym and treatment rooms offering personal training, a fitness suite, and a range of wellness treatments from their premises in Westham’s Mountney Bridge Business Park. Following business advice and help accessing a £20,000 ESI loan from Locate East Sussex, the business has been able to expand its range of fitness equipment, further increasing its appeal to the local community.
Husband and wife duo Adrian and Emma Bradbury have been professionals in their fields for over 15 years. Adrian is a qualified personal trainer alongside a British Boxing Coach and weightlifting Coach, and Emma is a qualified sports therapist and massage therapist with decades of experience working in 5* hotels and spas.
In 2015 the entrepreneurs made the decision to start working for themselves and the Rebel Rebel brand was born. Adrian started Rebel Rebel Fitness and Emma started Rebel Rebel Treatments. Two separate businesses, but both with the same ethos, of providing an inclusive service for everyone, particularly those who felt intimidated or didn’t connect with existing offerings. Even the name ‘Rebel Rebel’ encompasses this, epitomizing the David Bowie track, creating a ‘rebellion’; a community of people from a variety of backgrounds wanting a space that is different from all others.
“Fitness is not just a weight loss industry. We wanted to create an inclusive environment where everyone would feel safe, empowered and unjudged. You have to make fitness adaptable and individual.”
Adrian Bradbury, Co-Owner,
Stepping Up
Rebel Rebel isn’t and doesn’t want to be your average gym. It offers a unique, tailored experience for each member, designed to help you reach your individual goals. It recognises that many women want to lift weights, but are uncomfortable in an environment dominated by men, or struggle to use certain equipment as its designed for a male form, and so they seek to provide a space that feels comfortable both physically and mentally. In doing this they have managed to create a supportive community of likeminded people who don’t care what you weigh, what gender you are, what your romantic preferences are, or what music you are into, both the 10 staff and everyone is there to help you get to where you want to be.
In March 2021, the couple decided to bring the two businesses together, taking residence at Chaucer Industrial Estate, Polegate, but as its popularity grew, and Adrian and Emma’s plans expanded, the business quickly outgrew the space and they needed to look for a new home. Discovering a much larger space available In March 2022 at Mountney Bridge Business Park in Westham nr Pevensey, they snapped it up and moved the business.
Now settled into the new premises, The duo was able to not only expand on the equipment available in the fitness suite, it has been able to offer its personal training clients access to the space as a gym membership, providing more flexibility to its clients to continue with their training outside of their 1:2:1 sessions. It isn’t just the fitness side that has benefitted, Emma has also been able to expand the treatment menu, offering a range of beauty and wellness therapies across the 3 available relaxation rooms.
The unique proposition of Rebel Rebel is its personality. Of course it has everything you would like to see in a boutique gym: weights, cardio machines, boxing equipment etc, but it showcases it with style. It isn’t a cold, clinical space, its one full of culture, colour, and community, with hanging flags, LP’s, a painted themed wall and even a photo hall of fame of the client community.
An Extra Rebel Rebel Lift
As the business was making the move into its new premises, Adrian reached out to Brett Pearson from Locate East Sussex. Looking for property advice and reassurance that their business plan was solid, they were also interested to see if there was any financial support available for their expansion.
Locate East Sussex were able to support them with accessing a £20,000 loan from the East Sussex Invest (ESI) Programme. The East Sussex Invest fund is an East Sussex County Council programme to support sustainable business growth and create jobs in the local economy. It offers loans from £10k-£100k and grants from £10k-£25k and is delivered by East Sussex County Council in partnership with Locate East Sussex. Rebel Rebel used its loan to purchase some new specialist equipment. This included things like specialist weights to reduce the gap in weight classes for those looking to slowly increase their lifts, and also thinner, lighter weight bars suitable for smaller hands.
“The advice from Brett and Jim has been fantastic. It helped give us the confidence to know that we were doing the right thing and that we could achieve it. It was like a pat on the back. As we move onto the next step for our business, we are taking their support and advice with us to help guide the way.”
Adrian Bradbury, Co-Owner,
Reaching personal best
Currently employing 4 personal trainers full time, and having several other personal trainers and beauty therapists that work on a part time basis, Adrian and Emma’s sights are set on their future gains. Noticing that clients would often congregate around the reception area, the team have now collaborated with Mad Dog Coffee Co (who donate 20% of its profits to charity) to offer delicious fresh coffee for clients looking for refreshment after their workouts.
“We are investing in general health and fitness, teaching that strength and fitness is for everyone. We always had a vision that our business would be more than just us as individuals.”
Adrian Bradbury, Co-Owner
Looking into the future, Adrian and Emma have some clear plans for where they want to be. The next step is to expand the beauty and treatment side of the business so that it can grow into a stand-alone spa elsewhere in the county, providing more space in the existing premises for the growth of the gym. They also want to explore opportunities for concessions within corporate buildings to expand their number of outlets without losing the brand identity and ethos. But something really important to the couple is people. They want to be able to employ a host of staff, offering benefits that aren’t traditionally found elsewhere, making them the ultimate employer in the fitness and beauty industry.
“Staff in this Industry are traditionally underpaid and overworked. We want to provide an environment where our staff are well paid, and looked after with benefits they can really use, so they would want to stay. We want to not only unlock the potential of our clients, but our staff too!.”
Emma Bradbury, Co-Owner