Will Davis was educated at Durham University, graduating with a BA in Theology in 1993, from where he moved to Cambridge to study at Queen’s College, graduating with an M.Phil. in Church History in 1995. During his time at Queen’s he trained as an 800 metre runner, and happened to ask his physiotherapist where the nearest private gym was. Her reply, which struck a chord, was that there was not one at that time.
Following a spell as a teacher in London, Will asked a Doctor friend, who had studied with him in Cambridge, whether he would consider setting up a Health Club in Cambridge as a joint enterprise. The quest for a suitable site began the next day, and they soon found an old bonded warehouse in the centre of the city. With very little money, and no appointment booked, they had an impromptu meeting with a director of Conran & Partners Architectural practice, who loved the building, and their idea of a design-led gym. The final hurdle was to raise the finance, and to bring into being their vision. “If I was you I would go back to teaching,’ said a Manager of a well-known bank, ‘you have no experience and will lose everything you have.”
The Glassworks Health Club and Spa opened in November 2000, and the restaurant attached to this in August 2001. Will and his partner bought the land that The Varsity Hotel is situated on in 2003, and the Varsity Hotel and Spa were opened in July 2010.
