David Lloyd Leisure has officially opened its second training academy following the success of its site in Leeds, which launched last year.

The £300,000 facility, based at the company’s recently refurbished Heston club, is expected to put 250 delegates through health and fitness courses this year. Another 250 delegates will go through the Leeds campus.

The academy offers training to all David Lloyd instructors from absolute beginners to the more experienced and is part of a commitment to becoming the most sought after employer in the industry says experience manager, Jane Coleman. “When we were looking for staff, we found that while they were very well trained, there was very little constancy. Now that our staff are going through our own training academy, we can say with absolute confidence, that as a brand we consistently provide high quality training.”

The company has worked with the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) to devise the academy programmes, which merge the study of anatomy and physiology with David Lloyd’s training techniques. The academy’s instructors have also been trained by the NASM. The company has also worked closely with Skills Active UK to ensure its courses adhere to national standards – its Level Two course is fully accredited and verified by REPs and its Level Three course is in the final stages of REPs’ external verification process.

The success of providing this free, high quality education has already been seen in the levels of staff turnover, retention rates and a dramatic increase in personal training incomes, says Coleman. “We want to be viewed as the absolute employer of choice and providing fantastic training will help us get the best people and keep them.”