This year’s LIW/FIA/FitPro Business Convention is set to be the biggest show in the event’s history.

The fitness area will be more than 10 per cent larger than last year and the show will also feature a new ‘Disability Inclusion Zone’, which aims to provide valuable help and advice on how clubs can comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.

To help the industry comply with the new legislation and accelerate its access to a market of more than six million disabled people, the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) – in association with the government-funded Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) – has applied for a grant from the National Sports Foundation.

The partnership hopes to expand the inclusive fitness concept to private sector sites after a pilot scheme earlier this year. Previously, funding was only extended to public sector sites.

The cost of non-compliance is high: for example, low cost airline Ryanair and Debenhams department store were recently taken to court by consumers who believed that they were disadvantaged by the organisations’ lack of provision for disabled customers.

The true cost of their non-compliance was not only discriminatory towards disabled users, or the fine awarded against them, but the adverse publicity associated with the much publicised case.

LIW will also feature many IFI-accredited fitness equipment suppliers.