Hii Club: meet the founders

Josh Rose’s brain and thumbs are in constant overdrive.

When he’s not answering a question or involved in a conversation, he’s tapping into his phone.

His friends and colleagues say it’s normal.

And today he can be forgiven – Hii is saying Hi to Leeds.

The latest venture – the Hii Grind city centre coffee house – is a week from opening.

But there are still staff to hire, baristas to train, a bakery to source, a back kitchen to finish and signage to put up.

It would be all hands to the pump if co-founders Josh and Steph Barlow weren’t 100-plus miles away at Hii HQ in Gosforth.

So they’ve sent Lloyd Riddell, the third member of the management team – ‘Mr Practical’ – and he’s keeping in touch constantly by phone.

As he explains later, arriving at the tail-end of the interview and photoshoot, the day in Leeds has had its successes – and setbacks.

The staff roster is increasing, he’s found a flat to live in for a few weeks, the coffee supplier is in place, but a glass panel at the front of the premises smashed as the new signage was being erected.

“It was one of those moments when you don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” says Lloyd.

He adds: “I feel more confident now I’ve been down – and got a lot of stuff done – and it’s starting to look like this place when we were at that stage here.

“I know where we’re at, and it will be open in time.

“I came back from holiday and Steph wants this done, Josh wants that done, so I’m on catch-up jobs now.

“We’ve still got tonnes to do here, and that could be on for another year.

“I like everything done perfectly, but we’ll get there.”

Our location is Hii Club Gosforth.

Founded by the three friends, it is a bright and breezy cafe overlooking the Town Moor at the front, gym through its black doors to the back, and a Pilates studio and changing rooms upstairs.

The building has had many uses over the years, once as an air hangar for local biplane enthusiasts to take off from the Town Moor, and most recently as Dukes Moor Garage.

Its conversion, a “nod to its history”, has sandblasted a breath of fresh air and energy into the place and given it a new lease of life.

And it’s still not finished, with plans to add ice baths and saunas on the first floor.

“When we found the site, it was ten years’ worth of energy going into one project,” says Hull-born Josh, who studied in Newcastle and developed an events company in the city with Lloyd.

He adds: “I saw it in the window, called the landlord straight away, and met him here.

“And he was already getting hounded with calls.

“I was like, ‘let’s do a deal. What do you want?’

“Just as we were about to leave, I asked to look upstairs and said, ‘if you wait until January, we’ll take the whole building’.

“He shook my hand and honoured his word.”

Building on the regulars of popular club runs from the nearby Jam Jar he used to own, Hii had an expectant audience.

And it has taken the area by storm.

Josh says: “I’ve always been pretty obsessed with fitness; I’ve raced, done ultra marathons and travelled around, and have picked up ideas along the way.

“I lived in London for five years, and did pretty much every single fitness class.

“I had memberships everywhere and I hammered it; every deal, every 21-day trial, because it is expensive.

“I knew Steph had the fitness side covered; she had a real following, and people would always be interested in where she went.

“I’ve got a track record with business, we talked about it and we just clicked.

“We had the same vision of somewhere that feels more like a hotel reception than a gym, a bright and breezy fitness club, with everything under one roof and a real sense of community.”

He adds: “I’m also obsessed with coffee shops.

“Lloyd worked for years in Australia in coffee shops, so we have some expertise there, and we’ve taken elements of our favourite types of spaces and put it under one roof.

“We’ve taken what we like and what we know works, and have added it all together in Newcastle.

“They don’t have a space like this in London.

“I knew there was a bit of a gap in Newcastle, and in the north generally, which is dominated by one or two companies.

“We wanted to do our own take on what we thought would work.

“It doesn’t feel like a gym when you come in, it is relaxed, and if you want to come in for a coffee, that’s fine.

“But the training is the best you can get anywhere, and if you’re a member here, we cover everything you need with work-outs and group training with like-minded people.

“And then you can grab a coffee afterwards.

“Hanging out and socialising here is almost like a work-out, and certainly as good mentally.”

As if to prove the point, rocky road has just been added to the Hii menu, alongside the protein shakes, avocado on toast and homemade health bars.

The stylish welcoming cafe is an important asset to Steph, a well-known personal trainer, who wanted to create an environment very different from other gyms in the area.

She claims the credit for the name – although who came up with the number of i’s is open to debate, it seems – but Hii represents being high on life, or coffee, and the rush of endorphins after exercise.

And it is much more than a gym, which is deliberately absent from the Hii brand.

Steph says: “There’s nothing like this in Newcastle.

“We’re the first people to do it here, and that felt important.

“Essentially, the concept is community, connection, health, fitness and an aesthetic space.

“You get everything you need.

“It was important, starting with a blank canvas, to create the place we would want to join and go to again and again.

“Everything is centred on staff training and the product, and we work closely together on everything; the brand, the marketing, it all comes from us.

“We’re very protective of the brand; we’ve got really strict guidelines in place.

“There are others who’ve tried to do something similar, not the whole package but maybe one or two elements.

“The difference with us, though, is it isn’t just about the product, it’s an awareness of the staff, front of house, attention to detail – things like calling people by their first names.

“We treat it like a boutique hotel.

“And it needed to be somewhere where we could build a community.

“All of the spaces are designed to hang out.

“Connecting through fitness is also quite rewarding – we’ve already seen people making friends.

“I was talking to two people in the cafe last week, who are always together on the treadmill.

“They met here, which is so good to see.”

After a successful launch in Leeds, the Hii team is now prepared for the traditional new year intake of fresh members seeking to keep to resolutions.

There is more to Hii than meets the eye. And Josh aims to keep it that way.

He adds: “I don’t think we’d be able to grow if we were just sitting back all the time, saying well done.

“It’s our first year and we’re learning.

“We’ve elevated the gym, and it’s a good thing for the area.

“But other gyms are elevating because we’re leading the way, and if we sit back, they’ll catch up.

“January is always a busy month, and there are all kinds of things that are going to start happening from then onwards.

“It is going to be exciting.”

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