THE Bannatyne Health Club in Darlington has expanded its fitness team and has welcomed two new employees and a freelance instructor.

Chris Gibson, 30, Dani French, 24 and Katie Thwaites, 22, have joined the club on Haughton Road and will be part of the existing fitness team.

Mr Gibson, originally a Bannatyne Darlington member, is a freelance instructor teaching Metafit and Les Mills Body Attack.

He said: “I regularly attended Body Attack classes and realised how much fun the workout was and I really wanted to be able to instruct. From there, I completed my Level 2 Exercise to Music qualification alongside my Les Mills Body Attack initial module training.

“Bannatyne Darlington is like my second family, everyone including staff and members have been so supportive - especially Gillian Clason, Fitness Manager, who has supported me through all of the training.”

Ms French has joined the club as fitness advisor and personal trainer after recently relocating from London to Darlington. She graduated from Northumbria University in 2015 as a professional dancer and has performed in many countries and well-known theatres including The Royal Albert Hall in London and the Disneyland 25th Anniversary in Paris.

Ms French said: “I am looking forward to developing my knowledge at Bannatyne Darlington and hopefully working my way up to management. I would like to use my knowledge and have the chance to develop and inspire those who are just beginning in the fitness industry.”

Ms Thwaites is new to the Bannatyne Darlington team, joining as Fitness Advisor from another gym where she taught classes and personal training sessions. Katie studied sport and exercise science for five years at Northumbria University, and has always been interested in fitness, in particular the human body and its movement.

She said: “I love doing personal training sessions with people, and seeing them progress each week to improve their health and lifestyle. I am looking forward to progressing as a trainer even further and developing my skills.

“I'm also excited to meet new people and teach different classes with top of the range equipment, which is a different class to where I was before this.”