We speak to Elaine, one of the husband and wife team behind The Pilates Quarter, which provides one-to-one private Pilates sessions and group classes to clients at all levels of experience
Hello Elaine. Can you tell me where the idea for The Pilates Quarter came from, please?
My husband and I have been teaching Pilates for nearly 20 years. We are both from the UK but met in New Zealand. I came from a Classical Ballet background and Phil had studied biology, osteopathy, biomechanics and various movement techniques.
We both initially trained as teachers at a school lead by physios that concentrated on rehabbing clients through Pilates, before moving on to a famous American school which taught us the classical work, as it was originally designed to be taught. Having taught for many other studios, we set up our own studio in Wellington, New Zealand in 2008. It was a wonderful business with wonderful clients whom we miss dearly.
We made the difficult decision in 2013 to move back to the UK. In the intervening years we had had two children and wanted to prioritise the relationship with their grandparents who were back in the UK. We taught in several studios in London for a couple of years and then moved to Bath in 2016 to be close to Phil’s family. We knew that we wanted to open our own studio again so we went about figuring out how to open a studio in Bath!
How has moving to the new, bigger premises helped the services that you offer?
2024 was a big year for The Pilates Quarter. We moved to a brand-new premises in October, almost three times the size of our old studio. Our new studio has two group rooms and three private rooms. The ambience is clean, light and functional.
We now have a large and stylish entrance and waiting area for clients to sit, relax and wait for their session. We have two group class rooms offering our clients a full array of Pilates equipment. There are also three fully-equipped private/duet rooms for one-on-one or two-to-one tuition, which are private and quiet. All in all, we have created a beautiful space from which to serve the people of Bath.
During 2024 we invested tens of thousands of pounds in new equipment for our clients to use. Every room in the studio has high quality equipment from America to enable us to teach with variety and meet the full needs of the clients in front of us.
We also invested more than ever in training, developing and employing local people to full time teaching positions.
How has the business developed over recent years.
The Pilates Quarter is a family run business built from the ground up. Eight years ago we invested everything we had to get our business started. Any profits have been reinvested back into the business. We have not received outside investment and have built purely through hard work, drive and commitment to our clients.
Over eight years we have built a solid client base of local people that are committed to the studio and return week after week. Our solid reputation means clients also recommend us to a lot of new clients through word of mouth, which creates a wonderful, friendly, community feel to the studio.
Our numbers have grown consistently over the years since lockdown. Covid 19 was particularly challenging for a lot of businesses in our sector, but we weathered it by producing content for our loyal clients to do at home.
What are the benefits of Pilates?
There is an emphasis on core work, However, core strength alone is not the end goal. We are looking to use core strength to help develop functional and sustainable movement patterns. Pilates aligns your entire body’s overall structure and supports its joints, it is a low impact exercise that creates strength through muscle balance.
Pilates improves posture, helps prevent injury and back pain, increases energy, improves body awareness, improves flexibility, mobility and balance.
Who are your clients?
We are welcoming to all and a supportive environment for people who want to look after their bodies but may feel intimidated or be unable to participate in sports and gym activities.
We have clients ranging from teenagers to people in their 90s, including professional athletes and clients who have never taken part in formal exercise in their lives. We give each client individual time, attention and care.
I would say our average client is middle aged. People often turn to Pilates as they feel their body starting to get stiffer and feeling a bit more vulnerable to injury. I think a lot of people at this time of life have a moment of realisation that they need to start looking after their body.
Many of our clients are parents who are doing their best to keep up with their children and want to stay fit and mobile, looking after themselves in order to be better able to look after others.
For many of our clients coming to the studio is the only time in the week that they are not running around after children, parents or others and can concentrate on themselves and their body.
We are building a community. For many of our clients our studio is where they meet local people and socialise with others, often forming friendships.
For more information about the classes available at The Pilates Quarter, go to www.thepilatesquarter.co.uk
