Dyaco is shaking things up, with a raft of senior appointments and an exciting array of brands and products. MD David Hughes tells us more

Who is Dyaco International and what are the commercial plans globally?
Dyaco International is a global fitness company, founded in 1990, that manufactures world-class fitness and wellness products for home, commercial and medical markets. It owns both Spirit Fitness and Xterra Fitness.

2018 will be an incredibly busy, yet exciting year for Dyaco. Following the launch of our Global Commercial & Medical Division, we’re preparing to unveil a versatile range of new equipment across the Spirit Fitness, UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and Johnny G brands in our portfolio.

By becoming a vehicle for these exciting brands, Dyaco plans to become a major player in the global fitness industry.

We’ve already turned heads with some major senior appointments, which will help us towards our goals. High-profile Dyaco International appointments so far include Daniel Clayton, former Vice President at Johnson Health Tech and Managing Director at Technogym Asia, who has joined as President - Dyaco Commercial & Medical Division. Alongside Daniel, industry renowned names Gary Peak, Robert Lake, Arjan van Dijk and Graham Stoney have also been appointed in senior roles.

What sort of things can we expect to see in the UK?
We’ve launched Dyaco UK, which will have a direct office to drive the commercial, medical and retail business. With a specialist team and investment in resource, products and servicing, we’re able to better serve our existing customers but also attract new customers with a strong portfolio of products and brands.

There are some exciting new Spirit Fitness product launches, including the new Spirit Strength range and additions to the Spirit commercial CV line, which provide leisure club operators with high quality and affordable options for their locations. With the ever-growing popularity of functional fitness, we’re also excited to see the uptake of the UFC commercial range and the ability for clubs to have bespoke ‘UFC Zones’ complete with programming on their gym floors.

Who is the new team in the UK?
We’ve got some great personnel on board. I’ll be heading up the UK business as Managing Director and we’re delighted to have been able to attract some big names from the fitness industry. Andy Loughray joins as UK Sales Director after six years at Matrix Fitness and previously spent over 14 years with Polaris Fitness. Sarah Hitchcock has been appointed as Commercial Director, previously holding the same role at Matrix Fitness UK after initially joining the company in 2009. Janette Rose has been appointed as Marketing Manager and also brings extensive fitness experience to the role, with previous posts at Precor, Matrix Fitness and Technogym.

How is Dyaco different from other fitness equipment suppliers?
We very much see Dyaco as a disruptor in the health and fitness industry. While there are suppliers of greater size, we see our competitive advantage as our ability to quickly manoeuvre and capitalise on the ever-changing marketplace.

In recent years, the industry has moved on significantly in adopting digital technology but at the same time, gone back to basics with the popularity of bodyweight exercises, free weights and functional training. We cater for all markets and aim to be at the cutting edge of any developments in the industry to react accordingly and provide operators and gym users with the equipment they need and want.

Where can we see you this year?
We’ll be exhibiting at FIBO, Elevate and ukactive events.