Fitness First continued to set the standard at the second annual UAE FIT Awards as the company again earned the honour of being named the Facility of the Year 3,000+ Members.
The Mirdift City Centre branch was recognised during the gala event at the Els Club, Dubai Sports City, where the FIT Awards commended the leaders of the fitness industry in not just the UAE, but the GCC.
Organised by Sport360°, in partnership with FitnessLink and Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) UAE, the ceremony saw both first-time and returning winners.
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“It the second year in a row we’re achieving this award and in addition to everything we were doing last year, we’ve also launched nutrition.
"It’s a nice 360 of wellness now where we not just do fitness, but also nutrition,” said Edward Elliott, senior general manager of Fitness First Mirdif City Centre.
Elliott was also awarded one of the individual awards on the night, Fitness Club Manager of the Year, while SMART Fitness mirrored Fitness First by winning Facility of the Year Up to 3,000 Members for a second consecutive year.
“It’s just validation for all the hard work that we do,” said Alison Ramsay, general manager of SMART Fitness.
“We’re so passionate about providing the very best customer service, treating our staff like they’re family and it just makes us so proud.”
In total, 15 categories were recognised, including the introduction of two new categories, GCC Fitness Event of the Year and GCC Recreation & Leisure Facility of the Year, which were open to all GCC entrants to further expand the reach and competition.
The latter of the two GCC awards was won by Talise Fitness, with Tim Dorrington, general manager of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel branch, saying: “It’s something we’ve been working towards for the last couple of years now.
"We’ve made so many changes to the gym, made so many programmes for the members and made better facilities, so it’s an awesome award for us but also for the entire team as well.”
The rigorous judging process for the FIT Awards involved two rounds and over 20 hours of judging by 20 highly professional and experienced industry leaders, facilitated by Deloitte and Touche. The shortlisted finalists were revealed in October.
Following another successful year, the event only gains traction in holding the fitness industry in the region to a higher standard.
“With the second edition of the FIT Awards, our objective was to build on the strong momentum created by last year’s inaugural event,” said Didier Brun, publisher and deputy CEO of Sport 360°.
“The response has been nothing short of spectacular. A total of a 26,173 public votes were recorded.
“It’s a strong indication that these awards are fast becoming the benchmark of the health & fitness industry.”
