YourNews: Derbyshire gymnastics academy somersaults into new premises
A GROWING gymnastics academy has found much-needed premises at Asher Lane Business Park in Ripley, in a deal overseen by commercial property consultancy Innes England.
Founded in the 1970’s, Amber Valley Gymnastics Academy is a popular club that has expanded its offering and services steadily – meaning it needs more space and equipment to meet the needs of the local community.
Kirsty Cutler, treasurer of the academy, is delighted with the new premises, she said: “For the last ten years we trained at a local leisure centre, however, due to restrictions and growing costs, we decided it was time to move to our own premises, allowing us to grow further and offer even more services to the wider community.
“We started looking for a site earlier this year and saw a lot of units before finding a warehouse in Asher Lane in Ripley. We were pleased to get planning permission so we could convert it into a gymnastics academy.
“Several local businesses also made generous donations to us: Forbo Flooring donated enough carpet tiles to cover the entire gym and others supplied paint and building materials. With the help of a dedicated team of parents and volunteers, we also ran an open day and immediately filled the extra 150 places that we initially offered.”
The 13,210 sq ft unit at Asher Lane Business Park was originally a warehouse facility before its transformation by Amber Valley Gymnastics Academy.
Nick Hosking, director at Innes England, said: “We are delighted to have completed this deal for Amber Valley Gymnastics Academy, which has helped support the academy’s fantastic growth and development.
“This unit at Asher Lane has provided the academy with bountiful space to grow within, including 21 parking spaces, meeting its needs for the foreseeable future. The unit also has a fantastic location, it is only one mile north of Ripley town centre and provides excellent transport links, which is great for the academy’s users.”
Kirsty added: “The academy is going from strength to strength, we constantly have new members joining us and we are building on our new sessions, including: pre-school classes, drop-in sessions for teenagers and holiday camps. So far, we have provided more than 250 extra places which we plan, with the help of the community, to increase further so more children can lead an active lifestyle within the discipline of gymnastics.”
