Empire Health and Fitness in Arbroath is a 24-hour gym with the mission to give people from all walks of life their first steps into fitness. Recognising the mental health benefits of exercise and the low uptake of gym memberships, it aims to provide a comfortable and friendly environment for people who might have never used a gym before. But it isn’t just for newbies – the member base is varied and includes several professional athletes and members of local sports clubs. 

Going to a gym for the first time can be daunting, which is why Empire aims to make the space as welcoming as possible. While it may go unnoticed, flooring goes a long way to enhancing the atmosphere of a gym, and with a large and varied membership, quality flooring is essential to support high traffic, lively classes and intense exercise. Empire’s owner, Thomas Sykes, tells us about the transformative change new flooring from Millers Interiors has made to the gym.

Out with the Old

When Thomas took over Empire Gym in 2023, there was one thing he knew he wanted to change: the flooring. The existing carpet was no longer suited for a gym. First of all, it didn’t look great – each room had a different colour of carpet, with red, purple, blue and greys leading to a disjointed patchwork effect. Functionally, the carpet was thin, not just making the room colder, but making it harder on feet and hands. Ever tried doing a push-up on carpet? It burns! 

The worst part for Thomas, though, was the cleanliness. The floor had suffered years of spilt cleaning products, dropped energy drinks, dripping sweat and the worst culprit – wet shoes. With dozens of members walking, running and jumping over the floor every day, the carpet was looking dated, and if you got up close, it smelled even worse.

Supporting Local

Luckily for Thomas, one of the members at Empire was Gary Miller, the Managing Director of Millers Interiors. New flooring had come up many times over the course of Gary’s training sessions, and as Miller’s had done the carpets in his own house, Thomas knew the gym would be in safe hands. Importantly, Millers Interiors was a local supplier – as a fellow small local business, Thomas knew all about the power of using local, and was keen to support other local businesses wherever he could.

Thomas had an idea of what he wanted for Empire – a good quality, black flooring with some insulation with a white fleck through it. He didn’t just want bog standard flooring, so Gary’s expertise came in handy here: he sourced samples across a variety of price ranges – providing a range of options so they could find something just right for Empire. 

For sled push and pull exercises, the gym required a softer track flooring that allows a heavy sled to smoothly move across the floor. Millers sourced this flooring for Empire too, getting a custom-made track that was double the standard size, at 15 metres long by 2 metres wide. This means it can fit two sleds at once, allowing training buddies to train together and maximising the space in the gym.

Fitted for Fitness

Although it was a large area being refreshed, consisting of three rooms, the installation happened in less than two days, and the gym scarcely had to close. Thomas is full of praise for the installers – no request was too much and they were so efficient. They’d also give him recommendations throughout. Thomas admitted that as a gym owner, he didn’t know too much about flooring, so he was happy to rely on Millers’s expertise.

The flooring used throughout most of the gym consists of heavy slabs that aren’t actually fixed down. They’re heavy enough to stay put under intense exercise, but not so heavy that they couldn’t be moved in the future. But that doesn’t mean that the slabs were just plonked in place – awkward edges and doorways meant they had to be cut to fit, with the installers achieving crisp edges throughout. The flooring was laid in a staggered pattern, and although the gym’s three sections were done separately, the installers ensured that the slabs perfectly match up in each room – a neat finishing touch that makes all the difference. 

A Small Change Making a Big Impact

So, what difference has the flooring made to the gym? Thomas says he absolutely loves it. It looks better, light bounces off it and it makes the gym brighter, warmer and more open. It’s also easy to keep clean – spills and footprints can be easily wiped away – and it doesn’t have that old carpet smell. It’s more forgiving too, if weights or other equipment get dropped, they won’t bounce, reducing damage and increasing their longevity.

Members have also noticed the difference, and Thomas says a number of them have commented on how much better the gym looks and the positive change that the flooring has made to the atmosphere. 

While it might not be the first thing you think about in a gym, new flooring has really transformed Empire. By creating a warmer, brighter and cleaner space, the flooring is enhancing Thomas’s mission of creating a welcoming environment that encourages everyone and anyone to find a love of keeping fit.