• Swindon & Wiltshire Support
• Tuesday March 10 2026

Army veteran set to expand gym equipment and installation business

A side hustle started by an Army veteran from Bristol has grown into a £1.2 million business.

Toby Cart started selling CrossFit gym equipment in 2013 after leaving the Army.

Now, UK Supreme Fitness employs six people, and is looking to open gym in central Bristol.

“I learnt resilience, discipline and problem-solving. These have all been essential skills in starting and developing a business that has survived big challenges and grown,” said Toby.

Bristol born and raised, Toby joined the Army Foundation College at 16, subsequently spending seven years in the 7th parachute regiment RHA including a tour of Afghanistan.

The experience of doing CrossFit in the Army gave him the inspiration for setting up a business when he came out of the Armed Forces – focusing on what he already knew about and had a passion for.

Early on, after setting up the fitness e-commerce business, Toby needed to purchase a significant amount of stock, and he describes the order as “a big risk, especially when I had a mortgage to pay.”

Taking out a £25,000 loan through the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme got the enterprise started with its initial stock and enabled it to develop its first e-commerce website.

From then on, despite some near misses with Brexit and Covid, UK Supreme Fitness has survived and thrived for more than a decade.

From the initial online sales of CrossFit equipment back in 2013 and 2014, the business has grown its physical presence in Bristol including a warehouse, show gym and office, as well as attracting customers from overseas.

Despite Brexit reducing the businesses customer base by 50 per cent, UK Supreme Fitness has got back on track and now works with customers in Switzerland, Dubai and other places outside of the EU, and is currently working on a job in Finland.

Having now grown significantly, the business is beginning to win contracts with the military, special forces and fire brigades. The latter includes one of the business’ biggest and most important jobs working for East Sussex Fire and Rescue, winning the contract to supply 25 fire station gyms.

The business has now expanded into doing installation and selling direct to consumers, as well as branching out into accessories, with rising demand for HYROX-related equipment from consumers.

For Toby, running the business has come with some particular highs, including suppling Fitness Park in France, which has close to 400 gyms, and memorable moments.

Toby was delighted to supply former England rugby international Dylan Hartley with a home gym, commenting that the project team “had a brew with him at his home. We are big rugby fans. He gave us his signed England v Australia England rugby top.”