Health Update: Health Update: Members-only wellness destination launches on Newcastle’s Quayside – What Experts Say– What Experts Say.
A members-only health and wellness destination has launched within an iconic building on Newcastle’s Quayside.
The venture is backed by the first investment deal from The North East Elevate Fund.
Victoria Darroch has established Reform Studios in the former Side Gallery.
Before its time as a gallery, it operated as a bookshop and has always been a place where people gathered. The building itself is steeped in Newcastle’s commercial and cultural history.
Last year the venture secured a five-figure investment from the £35m Elevate Fund, which launched in October and is championed by North East Mayor Kim McGuinness.
Darroch has a background in finance spanning over 25 years, she has spent more than two decades as a financial controller before moving into consultancy, working extensively with SMEs and within the NHS.
“I’ve helped many small businesses across the North East grow,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to grow something of my own.”
Reform Studios is a holistic health and wellness centre offering pilates, yoga, meditation, sound healing and a dedicated recovery suite featuring infrared saunas and plunge pools. The studio also houses a café serving nutritious, wellbeing-focused food designed for busy city workers and members on the go.
Darroch said: “We have gyms and fitness studios, but we don’t have a truly all-round wellness centre like you see in many other countries. The Quayside is the perfect location – the river, the bridges, the space people already come to run, walk and clear their minds. Newcastle needs this, and it needs it now.”
Reform Studios currently employs seven staff members, with plans to expand the team to nine as the business grows and future locations are explored.