Blackpool business is up and running!

A local man has overcome serious injury to “Get Started” in business with the help of Blackpool Council.

Just over a year ago, Lee Hinds was out of action with horrific leg injury, playing football bruising leg bones and straining ligaments in the knee, meaning he couldn’t work in his job.

The injury meant hours of difficult rehabilitation work which, as well as being painful, gave him a lot of thinking time.

But while his leg was out of action, his mind was not, and he devised a business plan for a new bespoke mobile personal training and nutritional advice company, Areté Personal Training.

Personal trainer Lee Hinds in action

With little experience in running his own business, he sought help and got in touch with Get Started, getting everything from intensive one-to-one tutoring to seminars covering business advice on planning, accounting, marketing and sales.

In just two months he was able to create his own company and establish a growing client base.

Lee said: “I really could see no sporting future after my injury but now I am turning my passion and dream into a reality.

“I have all the qualifications needed, I know there is huge potential in the area, but I needed help in turning my well-earned qualifications into a business.

“The Get Started team have set me on the right track”

Lee’s hard work to battle back from injury and be a success was praised by Cllr Mark Smith, Blackpool Council’s cabinet member for business and economic development, who heads the Get Started scheme – part of the Start Up Lancashire service supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

“We hear a lot of inspirational stories of people thriving in business via the Get Started scheme,” he said.

“Lee’s story is just another example of the great entrepreneurial spirit that we have in Blackpool which we’ve nurtured and fostered over a long period of time.

“We’ve helped hundreds of new businesses start-up over the past few years and the team are always here to help.”

For more information on Get Started, please call 01253 477147.