KILMARNOCK gym staff have been left heartbroken after a devastating fire destroyed the business.
Emergency crews battled to save the industrial building at Rowallan Business Park on Thursday morning but several businesses were badly affected.
Six fire appliances were involved at the height of the blaze, with nearby roads shut off due to the thick smoke.
Police have confirmed nobody was injured in the incident, but businesses have been left devastated by the damage.
Among those is Revitalize Fitness and Spa, which described it as "the most heartbreaking day we have ever faced".
A spokesperson said: "Revitalize is a family-run business, built from the ground up with an incredible team and a community that, somewhere along the way, stopped feeling like members and became our family.
"From where our journey began at The Bunker, to everything Revitalize grew to become, we have poured our hearts, our time, our energy and our lives into building something that was so much more than just a gym.
"To stand today and see what has happened has broken our hearts in ways we can't even explain. It is difficult to find the words to describe how it feels to see years of hard work, memories and something we love so deeply affected in a matter of hours. We are still trying to process the enormity of it all.
"Our hearts also go out to every other business affected by today's fire. Behind every business are real people, families, livelihoods, dreams and years of hard work. Today that heartbreak is shared by so many, and our thoughts are with every single person affected."
The gym has now launched a fundraiser to support its personal trainers, who have been left without a place to work.
Donate at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/revitalizefitness-andspa-1fundrasier.
They added: "Following the devastating fire, our personal trainers have suddenly been left without their place of work and, for many, without their main source of income.
"We want to make it absolutely clear that this fundraiser is not for Revitalize Fitness and Spa or for rebuilding the gym.
"This has been created specifically to support our self-employed personal trainers, who, through no fault of their own, have been left unable to work from the gym and facing an incredibly uncertain time financially.
"Behind every one of our trainers is a real life and real responsibilities. They have children and families depending on them, mortgages and household bills to pay, and some have only very recently welcomed new babies into their families.
"Their income hasn't just been affected - for some, it has effectively stopped overnight."
Share