Black Country businesses join forces to offer martial arts and dance lessons under one roof

Wayne Stokes of the School of Black Belts and Natalie Bolton of NN Cheer and Dance have been running their businesses side-by-side in Sedgley for 11 years.

And now, in a new venture, the pair will open a new site together at the Holborn Centre in Sedgley.

The collaboration was celebrated on July 1 with a grand opening attended by members of the community and pupils from each school, who provided a demonstration for visitors on the day.

Head coach Natalie has been running her business in Sedgley for 11 years, teaching a range of dance styles from street dance to contemporary.

The 39-year-old has described the opening day as "fabulous", and said she hopes to create a community-feel at the new site.

She added: "It was brilliant, honestly we couldn't have fit another person in the building it was that busy.

"It was fabulous, we can't believe how many people actually came to support us. Lots of businesses from Sedgley came as well which was lovely because we want it to be like a community hub for Sedgley.

"We've already started having siblings where one goes into one room and one goes into the other. We've had some of our dancers join martial arts and some of the martial artists have joined dancing – it's working just as we envisioned."

Meanwhile, chief instructor at the School of Black Belts, Wayne Stokes, said that the two businesses "complement each other well".

The 53-year-old added: "I just feel it's a good thing for everyone really. It's that community feel, we've got a very good family-orientated clientele and it's that kind of feeling that we have at our school.

"We complement each other well with the martial arts and with the dance academy, they both have a good discipline –it's a long-term commitment with both things so that's why I feel they complement each other."