PROFITS at the North-Eastbased health club chain owned by Duncan Bannatyne more than doubled last year.

Darlington-based Bannatyne Fitness, which runs 60 clubs across Britain made pretax profits of £9.7m last year, up from £4.3m in 2007.

Despite the recession, overall membership of gyms and health clubs is up one per cent this year.

Nigel Armstrong, managing director of the Bannatyne Group, said: “We are very confident in the brand and know that we can add value to some of our sites in areas we are already successful, for example, through the introduction of spas or hotels.”

“Our continued growth also demonstrates we have priced our memberships correctly as new member numbers have also increased even after the country went into recession.”

Mr Armstrong said the group would be focusing on consolidating in the next year and developing its portfolio.

Last year, the company opened an £800,000 health spa in Darlington.