For years now, ‘I want one of those’ fashion sections have been a stalwart in newspapers and women’s magazines. It was only a matter of time before the concept made the switch to the internet, with the inevitable developments. While As Seen On Screen has seen strong growth on the back of what the celebs are wearing, stitsh.com assumes -perhaps correctly- that the real fashionistas are the people on the street.

Sending photographers out across London and other cities, the cool kids are tracked down, snapped, before their pictures are uploaded to the site. Once there, the various items of clothing have tags to the stores where they bought them attached, and the affiliate revenue model kicks in.

“I always had an interest in fashion”, says founder Dom Fendius. “I tried to start a magazine when I left university, but it didn’t work out...then the street-style blogs came out and I thought ‘wouldn’t it be great if you could buy these clothes’. That’s why the web’s great.” With a soft launch last July and a re-launch in the autumn, Fendius found the money for the project out of his own pocket. “It’s all self-funded from my savings. I thought about getting funding, but at the moment it’s ticking along quite nicely.”

Of course, there are a few complications – one or two chains haven’t set up affiliate schemes, and not all items of clothing can be linked to. “The guys who are the coolest often get stuff from vintage shops”, Fendius explains. “I can’t really link to his grandma’s wardrobe”, he laughs, in reference to where one subject got his belt. Nonetheless, stitsh is taking off outside of the UK. With a large proportion of the traffic coming from mainland Europe, and interest in the US (“We’ve already started looking for a photographer in New York and LA”), stitsh could well be one of the retail success stories of ’09.

Hands up if you like convenience, saving money, and the idea of staying in great shape. That’s all of you then. So a company that combines all three is surely a nailed on for success. The Gym is a start-up which could well shake up the health-club industry – by virtue of paying heed to the no frills way of doing business.

“One major reason people don’t join health clubs is the cost,” says CEO and founder John Treharne. “A lot of people join with the enthusiasm in January, but the pressures of work and family mean they can’t get enough time in to justify what they’re forced to pay.” Treharne knows a thing or two about the industry. He sold the Dragons Health Clubs to Crown Sports (CSP) for £27m, and also played squash for England. By cutting a few features he says people have no time for, namely the pool and sauna, or even live DJs, The Gym could revolutionise fitness in this country. Following the success of similar schemes in Europe and the US, it costs £14.99 a month, not £70 odd, and there is no contract. “We strongly disagree with contracts, membership by compulsion,” he says. It’s certainly proving popular – the company had 5000 people signed up for the first month before the Hounslow branch even opened, and 2000 people apparently made it through the doors on the first day alone.

Convenience is also key. Registration can be carried out online, which is proving highly popular for the first site in Hounslow, west London. But what Treharne sounds most proud of is the CCTV-enabled 24 /7 status; “If you want a jog at three in the morning on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, you can do so.”

They’ve been able to get off the ground with an initial £1m investment from Bridges Ventures, a venture capital firm that focuses on achieving social or environmental aims. Half of all future branches (“We’re planning four or five in the new year”), which Bridges will also be backing, will need to be in economically deprived areas where people will most benefit. But it’s not just a step ahead socially – The Gym has green credentials to brag about: “In terms of the gym, the treadmill is the only machine that requires its own power. The rest are generator-powered; as you peddle away on the bike you’re providing power to the generator.”

In the immediate future, the biggest problem might just be convincing people there’s no catch. “When people see something a lot cheaper they’re sceptical – some people thought it was a scam initially,” Treharne admits. Yet by saving money on power bills and, ahem, cutting the fat, The Gym hopes to thrive. “Our concept is completely different. We only charge people for what they want to use.”