Expansion announced

A Cork entrepreneur has said he wasn’t going to let Covid-19 scupper his plans.

Brian O’Sullivan opened his first gym outlet in Wilton at the beginning of the pandemic.

He said while the first 12 months of his business could not have been more challenging, his dedication to his vision and his determination to bring it to fruition, meant that letting Covid-19 scupper his plans was simply “not an option” and the pandemic actually gave him the gift of time to add another offering to his business.

His comments came yesterday as he announced details of his new business called MaxLife Apparel, a luxury athleisure apparel range and his plans to open a second Max Life location in the next three to six months.

The new activewear clothing brand has just launched its first range with both women and men’s garments including leggings, sports bras, crop tops, tracksuit bottoms, training vests and half zips.

Max Life fitness is recruiting for positions in personal training, front of house staff, and marketing, with plans to increase its workforce from seven to 20 in the next 12 months.

Mr Sullivan said: “I’m glad I didn't know, when we opened our doors in March 2020, that this could not have been a more challenging time to launch a new business! Rolling lockdowns over a year made it really difficult for us to establish ourselves.

“Of course there were days that I questioned whether or not we’d ever get a chance to make it work. But during the closures, I decided that I would put my energy into an idea I had been toying with anyway.

“I used this time to bring MaxLife Apparel to life,” he said.