News Beat
Admire Club St Helen Auckland in Northern Echo 2026 top 10
Adam Summerbell, 26, only opened the Admire Club in St Helen Auckland in 2025, but has already built up quite the following since starting his dream of owning his own venue.
Despite reaching this stage now, the 26-year-old says that it’s taken ten years to get to this point, including bumps in the road along the way.
After finding fitness at the age of just nine through rugby, he had to give this up due to having arthritis from a young age and requiring operations during his youth.
Despite facing uphill battles, he says that he found fitness once again through the gym side of things and has followed that path ever since.
After starting Admire as a one-to-one service with customers coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, Adam soon moved his classes and facilities to Shildon FC, before finding the right building on Catkin Way in St Helen Auckland last year.
Mr Summerbell believes that the customer service and the close working between personal trainers and customers is what makes Admire stand out from the crowd.
He said: “The trends with gyms at the moment are that customers are left to figure out things for themselves, or they are given a short tutorial and then left to their own devices.
“This wouldn’t happen at Admire, and we’re very involved and happy to help.
“We also help break down the barriers of unrealistic goals. You see a lot on social media that people see and want to get to that stage, but it’s unattainable.
“We help set achievable goals in an achievable way.”
Adam says that as soon as someone signs up to Admire, they are assigned a coach, who will help them achieve their goals.
“We pride ourselves on being a real community and a close-knit group,” said Adam.
The full list of nominees to be crowned best gym can be found here.
To vote for your favourite gym, simply complete the form in The Northern Echo this week and return it to: The Northern Echo Best Gym 2026, Local IQ House, 1 Dalston Road, Carlisle, CA2 5NP, before February 4. Votes will be counted shortly after voting closes.
