Mr Paul Francis has been known to me for some time and I am filled limitless admiration and respect for what he does and continues to do with 3ness Pamper and Party Weekends.  Although I know him personally I am embarrassingly unclear as to how 3ness Fitness even came into existence.  So I thought why not interview the great Mr Francis and publish the outcome….so here goes.

I must add that Paul is running around his house getting ready to attend a wedding reception that he is already late for! I know, my timing is lousy but anyways……

• Tell us a bit about you?

My name is Paul Francis and I am the Director and owner of 3ness Ltd and doting father to a 14 year old daughter.

I am the youngest of nine, five girls and four boys (drifts off into his own little world)…..its funny we are a family of athletes and because of that by business is very much a family affair. My brothers Greg, Joseph and Phillip along with sisters Janice and Agatha all represented the England karate team on an international level, an achievement I am incredibly proud about. This has resulted in an absolutely phenomenal support network.  I would say that the discipline and drive of my family influenced me to start this business [continues to put on his cufflinks].

• That leads us quite nicely onto the business.  How did 3ness come about?

Well….in 1994 [pulls on his jacket and fixes the collar of his shirt] I started my own little DJ business….I have always just wanted to bring people together.  During this time I was training with a bunch of guys in East Way, East London and amongst them were Fitzroy Gaynes [our trainer] and Bob Beeton.

Bob in all his wisdom arranged a trip for the group to Club La Santa in Lanzarote, a well known resort for sport and fitness activities.  We had an amazing time and on the way home I mentioned to Fitzroy and Bob that we could do something like Club La Santa  back home in the UK…..the initial idea was born.

Following on from that, while in Derby on one of our many lads weekends we attended the Pink Coconut Club.  The club quite conveniently had a hotel next door, highlighting it as the perfect venue for our first UK based activities weekender and as a result in 1995 FAB (Fitness At its Best) came to life.

When planning for the event we anticipated attracting around 50 people give or take….our first event surprisingly pulled in over 200 people taking over a large section of the hotel! We couldn’t believe it.

Over a period of 5 years, we [Fitz, Bob and me] successfully brought people together with a combination of good music and fun fitness offering events four times a year across the country, we even did a few in Portugal but sadly in 2000 Fitzroy left the team and the next chapter began.

Bob and I continued the business but renamed it MBRACE.  We commandeered holiday camps and hotels in the quest to satisfy the growing demand for our events. MBRACE even brought events to Turkey, Jamaica, LA and Florida.  We did this for about six years and then in 2006 Bob and I separated [sounds like a marriage lol].  It was at this point I re-branded and the business was renamed 3ness.

I began to take stock of  the whole experience and not just the fitness or the music element [leans back on his kitchen counter]…..I wanted to offer a weekend away that gave the option of relaxation as well as high octane fitness and dance till you drop party vibes, hence 3ness Pamper and Party Weekends. [Yayyyyy!!! These are my sound effect not Pauls lol]

• So what can we expect from a 3ness Pamper and Party Weekend?

A typical weekend break, which spans over three days, includes full board at the four star hotel, Wokefield Park in Reading with access to all facilities, including the pool, jacuzzi, beauty therapist and over 100 different classes including Zumba, Streetdance, Aerobics, Fit2Fite, Pilates, Fight Klub, Step, Circuits, Indoor Cycling, Yoga, Body Conditioning, Running, Aqua, Swiss Balls, Walking, Kangoo, Legs, Bums & Tums, Combat but there are many more!! [yes there are more!]  Class difficulties range from beginners to the most advanced and cater for men and women of all ages, sizes, shape and fitness level, able bodied or not. We started with 600 people and now have over 2,000 participants a year [Paul is smiling from ear to ear at this point and readjusting his cufflinks]. Every event fills me with pride with about 84 per cent of our clients joining us because of word of mouth and client recommendations.  I love what I do [everybody say ahhhh]

All jokes aside it is clear that Paul loves what he does and having been an attendee at more than one of his events I can definitely confirm that it shows!!!

I would like to extend my thanks to Paul for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to me. I think that we can all agree that Paul should be commended on his 3ness achievements.  I would also like to thank him for offering all my readers a discount of £25 on all room bookings for the next event taking place 7-9 November 2014 [I am jumping up and down clapping my hands at this offer].

Simply visit www.3ness.com and quote ‘FUZZY‘ at checkout to receive this exclusive discount. Oh and dont forget to check out the latest 3ness Pamper and Party video.

You can find other  equally enjoyable videos by visiting 3ness on Youtube and keep up with 3ness news on facebook and twitter.

Thank you for reading

Love and Light

The Baking BodyBuilder