Born and raised on a council estate in Merseyside, Nick faced early challenges, including leaving school at the age of 13. Despite these setbacks, Nick discovered a passion for free running during adolescence, achieving international recognition in the sport. However, a significant turn of events led to a four-year incarceration, a period that profoundly impacted his life.
Upon his release at the age of 26, Nick embarked on a remarkable journey of personal transformation. He emerged as a global advocate for physical and mental health, leveraging his experiences to inspire others. His efforts and dedication culminated in being featured on the front page of the New York Times. By the age of 30, Nick had become a self-made millionaire, a testament to his resilience and determination.
Parkour & Free Running Career
2003-2012
As a youngster, Nick struggled to maintain interest in conventional schooling, likely due to HIS undiagnosed ADHD and asd, which was not identified until his late 20’s. In 2003, at the age of 13, Nick made the bold decision to leave high school and pursue his ambitions of becoming a professional free runner and stunt coordinator.
In the decade that followed, Nick captained and managed one of the world's most recogniSed free running teams. Despite being little more than a team of teenagers 'winging it,' they featured in advertisements, movies, and performed globally for prestigious brands such as Adidas, RedBull, MTV, Converse, Puma, JD, Gio Goi, Henleys, and many others.
2012 - Bodybuilding
Junior British Champion
The year 2011 was rife with injuries and accidents for Nick, ultimately forcing his retirement from free running later that year. Undeterred, Nick took up bodybuilding in late 2011, and by 2012, he had won the Junior British title, received an invitation to compete at the world championships, and secured a sponsorship with Optimum Nutrition, then the world's leading sports nutrition company.
Despite remaining proud of this achievement, Nick is now a strong advocate against competitive bodybuilding. The journey to winning the trophy resulted in a binge eating disorder and body image issues that continue to affect him over a decade later.
2014- Prison, The Downfall
Nick's life took a dark turn in 2013, and as he approached 23, he lost many of the personality traits he was most proud of. For a brief period, Nick became a very different person. Prior to bodybuilding, his life had been centred on teamwork, adventure, travelling, community projects, and a group of unique and positive young individuals.
As a result of winning the British Title, Nick received a significant amount of attention from an industry focused on image, ego, vanity, and power. Regrettably, he embraced this culture and became entirely consumed by it. As his original friends gradually drifted away, Nick found himself in seedier circles, networking with career criminals, drug dealers, and gangsters. He worked three nights a week as a doorman in Liverpool city centre, thriving on the violence and adrenaline that came with it.
Now with access to a wholesale drug network and an international contact list from his previous career, Nick entered a whirlwind 12 months of importing and exporting drugs, becoming involved with guns and gangs. Despite earning more than his mother's annual salary every single week, he was entirely miserable. In August 2014, Nick was arrested and sentenced to six years for importing class A, B, and C drugs into Jersey.
To this day, Nick remains grateful for his arrest in 2014. Had he continued on that path, he might have ended up dead. While he is ashamed of the person he became during that year, he is deeply proud that during his time in prison, he was able to rediscover himself. Nick plans to expand in depth on this chapter of his life in an upcoming blog, once it is finished and vetted by his solicitor for potential self-incrimination.
2017 - Homecoming
In October 2017, Nick was finally free, disconnected from the underworld, and reunited with his original friends. After three years confined to a concrete box of despair, he returned with a desperate motivation to embrace and appreciate each day, living life to its maximum potential. During his prison sentence, Nick was fortunate enough to be given an external paid placement at Recycling Lives' head office. In late 2017, using over a year's worth of saved wages combined with a family loan, he bought a 50% share of Body Tech Fitness. By the end of 2018, Nick had bought out his business partner, entirely reinvented the gym, and doubled its membership. In June 2021, he launched a second site in Chester, with plans for a third in Crewe to follow.
Alongside the gym, Nick continued to develop his clothing brand, Raw Iron, which he founded in 2010. Until 2017, he had treated it as a pet project rather than a commercial business venture, but he subsequently experienced great success with it. More information can be found here.
2020 - COVID
In October 2020, it was announced that Liverpool would be the first city in the country to be placed under the new ‘Tier 3’ lockdown. The finer details were released later that day online. Upon reviewing the published legislation, Nick noticed that there was no reference to the health and fitness sector being among those forced to close.
The following day, the Prime Minister held a press conference, stating that the health and fitness industry would be among those required to close. Believing this announcement to be an oversight not supported by the new legislation, Nick brought this to the attention of local leaders. He lobbied and gained support from various MPs across all three primary political parties, as well as Liverpool City Mayors Steve Rotheram and Joe Anderson, Wirral Council Leader Janette Williamson, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and ultimately Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Nick's campaign was recognized globally, making the front page of the New York Times among over 100 other publications that featured his interviews and story. During the campaign, he promoted a government petition to re-open health, fitness, and mental wellbeing facilities in Tier 3 regions with a matter of urgency, a request supported by extensive medical and scientific literature.
The petition amassed a total of 630,000 signatures, a feat only matched in recent years by England FC’s Marcus Rashford’s petition for school dinners for underprivileged children. Nick helped achieve this figure by bringing exposure to the petition through continuous appearances in local, national, and global press, including Sky TV, ITV News, ITV This Morning, BBC Panorama, BBC News, CNN, Russia Today, and a relentless push on his social media platforms. These efforts took a serious toll on his mental health, but he continued to commit every waking moment until the legislation was reversed.
When a government petition receives over 100,000 votes, a parliamentary debate should normally take place. However, due to COVID, the petitions committee had been suspended. To ensure the debate took place without delay, Nick travelled to Chorley to meet personally with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons. After reviewing the literature Nick presented, Sir Lindsay agreed this was a matter of urgency and vowed to speak with the Prime Minister immediately. The very next morning, he informed Nick that the debate would take place the following Monday.
At this stage, Nick had gained public support from industry giants such as sports nutrition leader GRENADE, GymShark, PureGym CMO Stephen Rowe (with 270 facilities nationwide), and David Lloyd director (with 150 gyms nationwide), as well as extensive support from national and international celebrities. They combined their efforts to reach all cross-party MPs who might attend the debate and equipped them with the necessary data.
Sixteen MPs were selected at random to attend the debate, and all 16 voted in favour of reversing the national legislation. Angela Eagle MP put forward Nick's request during the live debate, and on Nick's 30th birthday, 23rd October 2020, national legislation was changed, restoring access to the 4.5 million registered service users whose access had been revoked by the revised Tier 3 legislation.
Shortly after, the British Medical Journal, World Health Organisation, and renowned medical outlet The Lancet published studies demonstrating the clear link between physical inactivity and the severity of COVID-19 symptoms. Their findings indicated that physical inactivity doubles the risk of critical illness and/or death from COVID-19 due to a decline in immune system effectiveness. With this data, it is clear that Nick's efforts not only saved thousands of businesses and jobs but also halved the risk of potential critical illness and/or death from COVID-19 for 4.5 million people.
As a result of his efforts, Nick received a nomination for BBC’s Sports Personality Unsung Hero Award, won NFM UK's Community Hero Award, and received nominations for an MBE and UK Active's Physical Activity Hero Award, the UK's governing trade body for physical activity, fitness facilities, and leisure industries.
2021 - London Mayor Campaign
Brian Rose, Founder and Host of London Real, has spent 10 years broadcasting over 1,000 long-format video interviews with some of the most important and influential people in the world, from Navy SEALS to US Congressmen to members of the House of Lords, garnering a collective total of over 10 billion views. In 2021, he launched his campaign to become London's next Mayor.
During Nick's health campaigns, he and Brian developed a strong relationship. Brian committed his substantial digital resources to support Nick's cause, and after several podcasts, they became close friends. Brian appointed Nick as Health & Wellbeing Special Advisor during his mayoral campaign.
The opportunities afforded to Nick by Brian were life-changing, and his gratitude for the trust and confidence Brian placed in him cannot be overstated.
GRENADE
Physical & Mental Health Ambassador
During Nick's campaign to reopen health centres amidst the COVID pandemic, he received substantial support from fitness industry giant GRENADE. In addition to the exposure and public backing from the brand during his initial campaign, the team provided him with a significant amount of emotional support behind the scenes during what was probably the most challenging and high-pressure period of his life. This enduring support fostered a lasting relationship with GRENADE, and CEO Al Barratt and his team will forever have Nick's gratitude.
Nick has worked with GRENADE on several projects since, most notably his second campaign, the "Work Out to Help Out" initiative. This initiative, which he put forward in a government petition in 2021, garnered over 250,000 signatures and eventually reached the debate floor. Nick compiled a scientifically supported health proposal that projected an annual saving in healthcare spending of nearly £10 billion, presenting a simple, cost-effective initiative to save lives and reduce the strain on the NHS. GRENADE lent their full support to this project, arranging a wave of television and press interviews for Nick and James Haskell of England Rugby to bring attention to the scheme and the supporting petition.
In December 2020, Al Barratt and Nick recorded a 70-minute podcast together at Al's home, which can be found on GRENADE’s YouTube channel. More information on Nick's association with GRENADE can be found here.
July 2021 - Return to prison
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