Kevin Yates, founder and CEO of Trib3 has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. He joins eight other winners in the health and beauty section, which includes the fitness industry.

"It’s fantastic that entrepreneurs building a healthier, fitter future are getting recognised like this," Yates told HCM. "Hopefully this helps shine another spotlight on the fitness sector, so we can get more government support to help operators of all shapes and sizes remain resilient in the face of rising costs so we can continue to keep our communities active.

“I'm delighted to have been recognised and even more so that the fitness industry has been recognised. The award this year has considered innovation and ingenuity in the face of an extremely turbulent and challenging economic climate, which is so important, as the consumer landscape of our industry has also really evolved since the start of the pandemic.

"It hasn't been an easy couple of years for any of us," said Yates, "so I'm super proud to lead a team that has continued to be agile and innovate around pricing strategy, gamification and experience for our customers – this award is recognition of all they do and our franchise partners who are in this with us helping people across the world to be active and enjoy being so.

"A huge thank you to everyone who voted and the team at GBEA and Starling Bank,” he said.

Trib3’s HIIT boutique fitness franchise is now present in five territories: UK, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland and Finland, but Yates is ambitious and pushing hard for European growth, signing a multi-site development deal for Greece and Cyprus earlier this year.

Trib3 is also looking to expand in the Netherlands and acquired both Round11 boutique studios in Amsterdam, which will rebrand under Trib3. Urban Gym Group operates Trib3 for the Benelux territory, which includes the Netherlands.

Recently, Jordy Kool, non-executive director at Trib3 since Q3 2021, and chairman and owner at Urban Gym Group, increased his stake in the boutique franchise brand through his own investment company Iron Asset Management.

“Since joining the TRIB3 board almost a year ago I have seen first-hand the capabilities of the team and the strategy behind the brand which has been a huge factor in its rapid growth,” said Kool at the time. “I’m delighted to be a part of this fantastic board and to be able to help drive the next phase of international expansion and to be investing alongside the Fisher family.”

The Fisher family owns Tribute Holdings – Allan Fisher, founder of Holmes Place, and Jonathan Fisher, who grew the company into a pan-European operation – which, during the same funding round, invested more capital into Trib3 in support of worldwide growth. Trib3 is now aiming to be in more than 100 locations across ten international territories including the US.

“Trib3 is a unique brand with an unrivalled customer experience, and we're so fortunate to have the backing of a world-class board and team of investors,” said Yates. “I'm really excited with what’s to come in this next stage of growth as we continue to expand across Europe and get ready for our US entry.”

While Trib3 expands in the physical world, it is also seeking to make its mark in the metaverse on The Sandbox. Working with OliveX, Trib3’s HIIT workouts and group fitness classes will be delivered in the digital world where a gamified approach will reward users with digital Dose tokens, which can be spent in the metaverse on items such as NFTs or branded apparel.