Exercise is child's play for business

Slinga Fitness, based in North Shields, was set up by personal fitness trainer Madeleine Cordukes in 2016.

As well as her classes designed around the youngsters being strapped to a parent in a baby sling, she offers a circuits class specifically designed to meet the needs of mums with children from six months of age, a mums’ running group and personal training sessions.

The mum to three-year-old Georgina, who received numerous nominations from her customers, is now looking to expand and is currently exploring franchising opportunities.

She said: “The idea for Slinga Fitness initially came from my own experiences of being unable to exercise without any childcare.

“Several friends who had just had children agreed how hard it is to schedule exercise around the demands of childcare, which gave the idea momentum, and I started working towards a range of fitness qualifications and babywearing too, with the ultimate aim of setting up Slinga Fitness as a fully qualified pre/postnatal personal trainer and as a babywearing consultant.

“Safety is key when working with postnatal women and babies, so every aspect is considered to ensure classes are suitable and tailored to those attending.

“I can’t believe how much the classes have taken off – some of my original mums are still coming to the circuit classes two years later.”

North Tyneside Council’s Business Factory launched the Business of the Month campaign in 2017 to highlight the quality and variety of the businesses based in the borough and to provide ongoing support.

Any SME in North Tyneside can nominate themselves or somebody they know. Nominations can be tweeted to The Business Factory using #NTCBiz, posted on its Facebook page or emailed to [email protected]