Yorkshire entrepreneurs help NHS and army to keep fit during lockdown
WHEN the pandemic struck, many firms hit the brakes on their expansion plans and waited for lockdown to end.
However, two young entrepreneurs from Yorkshire saw a business opportunity as the nation adjusted to strange, challenging times.
The graduates from the University of York have been doing their bit to keep the nation active by launching their virtual fitness challenges app, Myles Challenges.
Toby Cannon and Michael McCreadie both had marathons cancelled this year and initially wanted to create something they could use to motivate each other to keep up with their training.
Their app now has 2,500 users in 12 countries.
Users can sign up to run, cycle or walk any of the challenges at their own pace and across multiple days or weeks.
There are challenges for all abilities, starting at a 16km ‘hop’ across London and going up to a coast-to-coast route along the US. The app allows users to track their virtual location on the map along with detailed information about their progress.
Mr Cannon said “It’s amazing to see the positive impact the app is having on so many people’s fitness motivation during these difficult times.
“We’re constantly releasing new features on the app that really help people to stick to these goals.”
A number of organisations have now set up their own challenges on the platform including Capital One, the NHS and The British Army.
Chris Hiscocks, enterprise officer at the University of York, commented: “We encourage entrepreneurs at the university to have a ‘problem first’ approach to founding a business.
“The exponential growth in users points to an exciting future for the Myles team, and shows the advantage of working on a problem many of us will recognise”.