BEING nominated for one new business award is praise enough, but being named in three shortlists is being plain greedy.

Don’t expect Flintshire’s Amy Butterworth to be bothered though. She’s far too busy keeping fit to run her pole dancing business to care about such matters.

Amy has turned what was at first a hobby and quickly became a way of keeping fit into a thriving business.

How’s she doing? Pretty damn well if the annual Flintshire business awards are anything to go by.

Her pole dancing company – Candy & Chrome – was runner up in the Young Entrepreneur category and was shortlisted in the innovation and women in business sections.

Amy, 29, got bitten by the pole dancing bug after going to a class with friends.
“It’s really tough physical exercise,” she says.

“But after a couple of lessons I was really into it. I decided this was for me.”

She soon went out and bought her own pole, setting it up in the living room of her home in Penyffordd.

“But it soon got to the point where I needed more lessons from a professional,” she says. “Pole dancing doesn’t look easy and I can assure you it isn’t.

“It’s hard work, but it’s the best way I know of keeping fit. And judging by the response I’m getting to the lessons I’m running there are lots of people out there who agree.”

It was four years ago that Amy first tried pole dancing and now her company offers regular classes at three venues – the Ocean gym in Queensferry, Northgate Arena in Chester, and Forest Hills in Frodshams – as well as the opportunity to arrange one-to-one tutoring.

Amy, who was previously employed by a small publishing company and for eight years worked in finance in Chester, is now looking to expand her fledgling company.
She says pole dancing holds most appeal for women aged 18 to 50, but age is no barrier.

“It’s definitely not just for the fit, the brave and glamour models,” she says. “It’s for everyone so we have devised classes that will suit everybody. We specialise in small groups so we make sure everyone gets plenty of pole time as well as personal tuition.”

Amy says Candy & Chrome only teaches pole dancing. “We are not yoga instructors gone wild, we don’t offer every new fitness fad under the sun. We just teach pole dancing exclusively, making us experts in our chosen field.”

Catch up with Amy on her company’s Candy & Chrome website – www.candy-chrome.co.uk