ANYTHING in the leisure industry - that is the advice from multi-millionaire businessman Duncan Bannatyne when asked about the most lucrative market to move into at the moment.

And one of the North-East's most successful entrepreneurs knows what he is talking about.

Duncan Bannatyne is founder and chairman of Bannatyne's Health Clubs, the largest independent health club chain in the country.

He first became interested in the leisure industry after he was involved in an accident in 1991.

"When I was 42 I had a skiing accident, and in order to walk in a straight line I had to work the muscles constantly - so I started going to health clubs. I then moved to Darlington and there wasn't a health club in the town so I thought I'd open one."

Since then, the Bannatyne Health Club empire has rapidly expanded and now has 21 clubs in England and Scotland.

He is hoping to open another eight clubs, in south-west Scotland, Kent, Suffolk, and London.

In 2000, Mr Bannatyne launched a second health club brand, Just Fitness. It caters for the total fitness market, offering luxury facilities, but no wet area. The first Just Fitness centre opened in Dundee last year and the fourth was opened in January. A fifth is due to open in Cheltenham this summer.

By the end of this year Mr Bannatyne is hoping to have a total of 28 clubs, and by the end of next that may rise to 40, either open or under construction.

Although Mr Bannatyne is intent on expanding his health club interests, he is focusing much of his attention on his next venture - the casino industry.

The Government has recently released a White Paper which proposes a big shake-up in gaming laws. A relaxation of the law is expected to lead to an influx of new entrants into the market.

By 2005, Mr Bannatyne is hoping to have a foothold in the casino industry. He has already earmarked a site in the North-East and another in Scotland for the first of his multiplex casinos.

He is a supporter of the Labour Party, but it is a sharp turnaround from his Thatcherite days of the 1980s when he was considered to be one of "Thatcher's grandchildren" - self-made businessmen who made their fortunes by spotting market opportunities under deregulation.

Although he is no longer a Tory supporter, he is still good friends with former Darlington Conservative MP Michael Fallon, with whom he launched his nursery care business, Just Learning. He is also a friend of the town's present MP, Alan Milburn, who is a member of one of his health clubs.

Just Learning was formed in 1996 and it became one of the country's fastest growing nursery and childcare providers, with 27 nursery schools nationwide. He started the company by investing £2m of his own money and sold it to investment house Alchemy for £22m.

Duncan Bannatyne's life is a typical rags-to-riches story. He was born on a tough working class housing estate in Clydebank near Glasgow. His father was a foundry worker in the Singer sewing machine factory.

He left school without any qualifications and as a teenager joined the Royal Navy, only to be court-martialled for assaulting an officer. After leaving the Navy he moved to the Channel Islands where he had a number of jobs, including barman, deckchair attendant and ice cream seller.

Maybe the ice cream went to his head because, after a short time working in a Stockton bakery, he bought an ice cream van at auction and started Duncan's Super Ices. This was the start of his successful business career.

Before long Mr Bannatyne was running a number of lucrative pitches on sites across Middlesbrough and Teesside. But his ice cream career was cut short after a war developed between sellers, and he sold up for £20,000.

"I couldn't expand the ice-cream business any more so I bought a couple of terraced houses to set up as bed and breakfasts. I was then asked by Social Services if I could accommodate for some long-term care, but when we looked at it, it wasn't possible."

He kept the idea in the back of his mind and when he saw a for sale advert for a Scarborough hotel with planning permission he took the opportunity and entered into the care home business.

Quality Care Homes took off and he floated the company in 1992. After turning down a buyout offer in 1995 that could have netted him £30m, he finally sold up in 1997 to Amiga Healthcare for £46m.

Nearing the age of 50, he could have taken a comfortable early retirement but instead of moving to the sun, he put his money into Bannatyne Fitness.

* Make it Bannatyne's Business. Next month's Business Echo will see the start of a new question and answer column. We are giving readers a chance to put their questions on anything connected with starting, running or selling a business to one of the region's most successful entrepreneurs. Submit your query (as concise as possible) by August 13 to: Bannatyne's Business, EchoBusiness, The Northern Echo, PO Box 14, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF.