Former footballer who arrived in Scotland as refugee now runs Dundee gym

A former footballer turned gym owner has doubled the size of his Dundee operation, and wants to open more gyms across the city.

Frank Kameni moved to the UK from Cameroon as a refugee more than 20 years ago.

Frank, who spent time on the books at Celtic as a youngster, turned to the fitness world when his dream of making it as a professional footballer was ended by a knee injury.

His Kameni Fitness business, based next door to Downfield FC’s ground, has thrived over the past three years. That is despite the difficulties of navigating the pandemic.

“We opened for about a year before Covid struck and we had to shut our doors,” he said.

“The business took a hit over the Covid period – we lost a few members and were struggling.

“It’s not been until this year that we’ve started to pick up. We got some new members and I decided to expand the gym.”

A sense of community at Kameni Fitness

The 28-year-old, who moved to Dundee after setting up home originally in Glasgow, said he was inspired by his career in football to open a gym.

“As a footballer, I was always around strength and conditioning coaches,” he said.

“It was always something I was really interested in.”

But Frank also wanted to make his gym like a “second home” for Its members. He said that sense of community is what sets Kameni Fitness apart from its rivals.

“I wanted to create somewhere that felt like a community,” he said.

“It’s a place where you come, and everyone knows you by name. If you’re away from the gym for a week or two, we’ll give our members a call to find out if everything is OK.

“There is a real sense of community.”

Frank said the unit into which he’s expanded Kameni Fitness only became available about six weeks ago.

He admitted he wasn’t sure about taking on the additional premises, given the cost-of-living crisis, and said he might have to increase prices soon.

“I was a bit nervous about it at the beginning. We’ve spent £120,000 on the original gym and we’re spending £70,000 on the extension. It is a lot of money.

“It’s money well spent though, so I’m a bit more relaxed about the situation now.”

Taking risks in life and in business

Frank said he was prepared to take the risk of investing life savings into the gym expansion.

“My whole life has been a risk,” he said.

“I moved to Scotland at eight years old with my family for a better life.

“Being of a different ethnicity, it was hard at first adapting to a different culture, not speaking the language and not knowing a single soul.”

Frank said he now feels at home in Scotland, and in Dundee. He hopes he can grow his business in the city.

“My dream would be to open some more gyms across the city, and then maybe even expand into other places, like Glasgow,” he said.