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As someone who spent almost two decades working in marketing for the motor industry, Catherine Mould spent more than her fair share of time behind the wheel. She needed a way to destress and decompress and the solution she found changed her life completely.

“I used to go to yoga and Pilates to stretch out and release stress,” explains Cat, originally from Lincoln. “In 2015, I was diagnosed with ME (Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome) and I wanted a career change, so I decided to retrain as a Pilates teacher.”

To that end, The Pilates Room was born, starting life in October 2019 with classes at Tribe, a hot yoga studio in Penwortham, and growing organically from there. In August 2020, despite the pandemic still being in full flow, Cat decided to move to bigger premises and the group has thrived.

“I went for it and the response has been amazing,” says Cat, 44, of what has quickly become one of the area’s preeminent specialist equipment-based Pilates studios. “Seeing it go from strength to strength makes me very proud and we get between 70 to 100 people through the door each week now.

Destressing at Preston’s Pilates Room: “People are definitely more open to trying things like yoga and Pilates post-Covid”