The routes to success in the health and fitness industry are many and varied. But for TVS (Total Vibration Solutions) Group – now one of the UK’s leading suppliers of gym flooring, sports and play surfaces – it all started with two things people didn’t want – noise and vibrations.
It was the company’s deep knowledge of acoustics, how sound is transmitted and, more importantly, how it can be suppressed, that led to its more wide-ranging involvement across gyms, sports and leisure centres, as well as colleges, universities and football and rugby stadiums.
Today, through three divisions – TVS Gym Flooring, TVS Sports Surfaces and TVS Play Surfaces, the group provides flooring solutions to many of the biggest gyms and health clubs across the UK and undertakes contracts large and small, on new-build projects and increasingly on the refurbishment of existing premises.
A fourth division, TVS Acoustics, continues to problem-solve noise and vibration issues both inside the sector and across cinemas and bowling alleys, commercial and residential buildings.
High end client list
Such has been the success of TVS Group that its clients now include some of the best known names from across the health and fitness industry, as well as the sporting world, including Pure Gym, The Gym Group, Third Space, Virgin Active, Fitness First, Sports Direct Fitness, Xercise4Less, Fit4Less, Lifestyle Fitness, England RFU, Chelsea FC and Derby FC.
In addition, TVS Group has been responsible for a significant number of projects across the education sector for Sheffield Hallam University, Derby University, The University of Kent and Bryanston School, to name but a few. TVS Gym Flooring is best-known for its high-quality sports and fitness surfaces for use in commercial health clubs, weightlifting gyms, strength and conditioning facilities, public leisure centres, personal training clubs and multi-use games areas in schools and colleges.
Utilising its complementary skills in acoustic suppression, TVS Group also helps to overcome many unwanted noise and vibration issues in gym environments. Examples to date include the installation of anti-vibration pads for treadmills; impact-absorbing isolation rings for gym equipment; and spring jack-up floating floors for free weight areas.
Conscious that gyms also need to be attractive places to work out, the company offers one of the broadest ranges of coloured rubber floor coverings in a variety of thicknesses, allowing materials to reflect corporate colours where required or, alternatively, contrasting hues to brighten the environment.
In a complementary role, TVS Sports Surfaces specialises in high performance shock-pad underlay systems and highly durable surfacing solutions for indoor or outdoor sporting requirements. TVS Play Surfaces, meanwhile, supplies and installs surfacing for playgrounds and caters for a wide variety of equipment, play and sporting requirements.
Problem solving
Because problem-solving is in TVS Group’s DNA, the company is often called on to resolve complex projects where a variety of surfaces may need to be utilised for different activities.
When Bryanston School in Dorset decided to create three new elite performance areas – an international standard 40m indoor sprint track, a European-compliant sports hall and a strength and conditioning area – TVS Group was awarded the contract.
“The three-lane athletics track presented a unique challenge,” recalls TVS Group sales director Andy Roberts. “The surface had to conform to IAAF standards and take a running spike, it had to meet the strength and conditioning area at the same floor height and needed to match the colour scheme of the sports hall. What’s more, one sprint lane needed to have under-track sensors to monitor athletic performance. The TVS Group's solutions and flooring materials all proved successful and provided an aesthetically pleasing result.”
At Huddersfield Leisure Centre, meanwhile, TVS Group was helping to resolve a more familiar issue, a floor system not robust enough to withstand the high impact of heavy dumbbells. Explained Roberts: “The solution involved removing most of the rigid flooring materials, levelling the remaining structural slab and installing impact protection tiles beneath a layer of interconnecting heavy-duty rubber tiles. “Successful and durable gym and sports surfaces are about much more than the eye can see. At TVS Group we use well-proven techniques and high-quality materials to ensure that everyone gets the most from the surfaces they purchase, exercise or play on,” added Roberts.
