40 more Hartlepool jobs on the way at new shopping centre business

National gym operator Xercise4Less will move into its new site above H&M in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre.

It will become the 46th site in the chain’s gym portfolio and is expected to open on December 9.

More than 400 pieces of state of the art gym equipment will be there including running and sled pull tracks and a dedicated combat zone complete with Boxing ring and MMA cage.

Bosses have revealed the level of jobs boost thanks to the gym.

Director of property and construction at Xercise4Less, Darren Pallett, said: “We are thrilled and excited to be opening another gym to bring our established health and fitness offering to the people of Hartlepool.”

The gym will also include a self-contained ladies only gym, large main studio and spin studio offering more than 200 free classes every month.

There will be “Xercise4Kids” classes, designed specifically for children aged between three and five, in a bid to help tackle childhood obesity, free to both members and non-members.

Just last month, it was revealed that hundreds of people had already signed up to get fit at the new Hartlepool gym.

Xercise4Less will open on the site of the former Marks and Spencer’s warehouse.

At the time, the company’s sales and marketing manager Karl Brown said interest had been high in the new site adding: “We’ve taken on just short of 2,000 members already so it looks like we’re a hot product in Hartlepool.”

He added: “We’ve had people as young as 13 come in to our gyms and some as old as 84 and 85 as well.”

The Xercise4less mascot The Colonel will be going around the town in the coming weeks trying to drum up interest ahead of opening day.

Karl said people who post a picture on our Facebook page of themselves with The Colonel will be entered into a prize draw to win a year’s free membership.

The new gym will not have a pool or other leisure facilities, with the focus on helping members to get in the best shape possible quickly.