2023 Merton Best Business Award winners: Stronger Fitness and Martial Arts Club

Stronger Fitness & Martial Arts for men, women & children won last year’s Sport and Fitness Business of the Year category.

It has been six months since you were recognised at the 2023 Merton Best Business Awards. How has the past six months been for your business?

Winning the award reconfirms the belief that what you are doing is correct, that we’re on the right course. It has helped give credibility to our brand among the wider community. Within weeks of the event we were sent a letter of congratulations from the leader of Merton Council, local businesses were congratulating us and kindly offering us discounts on their services. 

Winning the award has also installed a sense of belief and pride amongst our team, knowing that what we are doing collectively is being recognised. This translates into the workplace, productivity increases and as a consequence our customers are at the receiving end of it. Being an Award winner has also massively helped with networking and developing relationships with other businesses and institutions. It demonstrates to others that we are a credible business.

What did being recognised in the Awards mean for you and your team personally?

At the Awards you tell yourself not to get too excited as you don’t think you could possibly win. Merton’s leisure and fitness market is very competitive, and has really good established national and independent businesses and clubs that make it such a great borough to be a part of. But… when you hear your gym’s name called out, we could not have been prouder. It really is a team effort to be recognised for the work we do. To see your team mates’ faces light up, to walk up on the stage together and to be acknowledged for the hard work we all do to keep our members happy and always improving is something special. 

What advice would you offer a business considering putting in an award entry this year?

Start your research for your application early. If you can, attend the Business Awards launch event so you can ask past winners, finalists and sponsors tips on making a winning application. If you can’t make the awards, then reach out to the Merton Best Business Awards team as they are very helpful with guidance on how to choose what to apply for, what to identify in your business that can be used as a successful story.

When writing your application, write with the belief that whoever is reading your story will feel inspired by what you have achieved. Demonstrate the keys points of your story with evidence, it could be a newspaper report, a customer testimonial, photos of events etc. Good luck!