The former wife of Duncan Bannatyne is expanding her own fast-growing fitness empire with the launch of new boutique fitness concepts on Teesside.

Joanne McCue Bannatyne and business partner Lee Howe have invested more than £250,000 in new equipment – predominantly Woodway treadmills to accompany their range of Wattbikes – as part of the launch of new fitness concepts at their WattFitness boutique on Teesside Industrial Estate.

The pair have created two new ‘boutique fitness’ classes – WattDefine and WattSpin – which have been influenced by the boom in boutique fitness in London and New York.

WattDefine is described as a hardcore fitness class that sees participants burn up to 1,000 calories from 45-minutes of high-intensity intervals on the treadmill and core strength conditioning using weights. Meanwhile, WattSpin is a rhythm-based ‘sweat fest’, with participants using light weights for a total body workout on indoor bikes whilst listening to music designed to inspire them.

“Small boutique fitness units are a new concept in the UK but they are the future of the fitness industry, not the old-style health clubs,” said McCue.

“They’re growing quickly in London after sweeping the US market, but you’ll find nothing like this outside of London anywhere in the UK, so Teesside is helping to lead the way for the future of fitness in this country.”

McCue and Howe run a string of CrossFit clubs across the north east in addition to WattFitness, and they're now planning to expand the boutique concept into Manchester and Edinburgh.