COVER STORY

to a £1.5m Business Investment Fund grant from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority into the modern production facility and the investment of over £10m themselves.

The new facility is expected to create 270 new jobs within three years and will enable the company to bring its existing buildings together to operate from one single site, whilst quadrupling its floor space and increasing current output capacity by up to eight times.

“We’re really looking forward to moving into the new headquarters this year.” Says William, “We want to attract the best talent so, as well as a modern factory environment, the building will have its own gym and leisure facilities and a creative centre for staff. We will be recruiting heavily this year and are working closely with local colleges and universities as well as launching our learning and development programmes.”

“We can see growth everywhere. The sports are growing very, very fast. Part of that is because people are focusing more on health and wellbeing and lifting weights in the

Sheffield Powerlifting Championships 2023

Oval Hall | Sheffield City Hall | Saturday, 25 March 2023 | £41.50 - £181.95

Launched in partnership with the International Powerlifting Federation, Sheffield 2023 will showcase the stars of the sport in a high-profile event with the largest prize fund in powerlifting history.

The event is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, bringing together 12 men and 12 women to battle it out for world records and the title of champion of champions.

Speaking about the event, SBD Commercial Director William Islip said: “This is our opportunity to create a powerlifting event and showcase to the world how we believe an event should be showcased, trying to raise the bar in professionalism.

“The really interesting thing about the event is that the athletes will be rewarded based on the percentage gain against the world record in their weight class, encouraging athletes to attempt records and get paid higher. The prize pool is £365,000, which is a gamechanger in the sport!” gym. When I was at university, you could go out and have a few drinks and food and it cost you not much more than a tenner, now it could cost you £100!

Intended as a celebration of the sport and its history, Sheffield 2023 will see fierce competition and world records fall.

“People, instead of that, are now going to the gym. They might start lifting weights and think, actually, I can compete at this and that’s weightlifting, that’s powerlifting, it could be strongman competitions. The health and wellbeing focus is supporting the growth of the sports around the world.”

Luke added: “Powerlifting and Weightlifting isn’t just for teenagers that want to get stacked - there are holistic benefits to strength training and it’s for all ages. If you play any sport then strength and conditioning is going to improve performance and in general it’s great for mobility and overall health.”

With the big move on the horizon, more products pending, and more events across all their sports, SBD are a South Yorkshire success story that just keeps on going from strength to strength.