OUR STORY

Mosaic - Where Did It All Begin?

Entrepreneurs Dave Courteen and Steve Taylor are behind the Mosaic brand which today owns three stand alone health club and day spas, as well as operating a number of other facilities under management contracts.

The seeds were sown for the brand in the mid 1980’s when Dave and Steve realised a shared vision and passion for business, after meeting whilst studying in Leeds. They seized an opportunity to develop a gym within a hotel, and their first venture - Fitness Express - was born.

At the core of their Fitness Express brand was the ethos that health clubs should always be friendly and fun to belong to - with the emphasis on attention to detail, whilst providing a personalised and safe service.

This helped the business to evolve and by 2001, Fitness Express operated 14 hotel health clubs, employing 200 staff. So successful was the brand, that it was snapped up by Crown Sports PLC - with Dave and Steve still very much part of the senior team.

Ever the entrepreneurs, they soon bought back Fitness Express after they spotted a growth in demand for spa facilities within hotels. Their approach was simple - and continued the 'friendly and personable' mantra that Fitness Express had become renowned for. They launched the market leading concept Imagine Spa in 2005, offering:

• Therapists who could offer all of the treatments all of the time - allowing guests to book on the day rather than months in advance
• A 'spa experience' created by developing innovative thermal suites with aroma steam rooms, herb saunas and ice fountains
• Simple pricing methods
• Highly trained therapists to ensure guests received tailor-made treatments to suit their needs
• Double treatment rooms for couples

The first Imagine Spa opened in 2007, and was named a finalist in the Residential Day Spa of the Year.

With both the Imagine and the Fitness Express brands, combined with some client brands, the business was rebranded under the Mosaic banner. The idea being that the business brought together some many individual clubs and facilities to create something that fitted together perfectly – just like a mosaic.

Dave and Steve have not looked back, and after years of operating facilities for others, Mosaic started to acquire its own freehold sites in 2011. Each club embraces the 'friendly and fun' philosophy that has established Mosaic as leaders in developing spas and health clubs whilst maintaining their own unique identity.

The Shrewsbury Club in Shrewsbury is a 6,000-member health and tennis club. Its key features include six indoor and eight outdoors tennis courts; a swimming pool with sauna, steam room and vitality pool; a coffee bar and bistro; two storey gym; two exercise studios; outdoor gym space and an Imagine Spa. It hosts an ITF World Tour tournaments each year – the biggest womens professional tennis event in the UK outside the grass court season with past winners including Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Holmer Park in Hereford is a 2,400-member health club and day spa. It features an impressive 20m pool with a sedum roof. It has a large gym, two studios, luxurious changing rooms; mineral grotto, steam room and spa baths; Orchard café and a large spa including a serail mud chamber, 9 treatment rooms and a relaxation lounge.

Riverhills in Ipswich is a 2,000-member health club and day spa. It was acquired by Mosaic in 2021 and has now undergone an extensive refurbishment to provide the Mosaic signature style. It offers a large pool with sauna, steam, hydrotherapy pool, and a thermal suite. The Club offers a large spa with serail mud chamber. Riverhills has a great food and beverage offering and members love the large gym and studios.

Whilst Steve has retired from working full time in the business, Dave continues to drive the business forward with the team they have built over the past years and look forward to writing the next chapters in the Mosaic story.