Joanne Bannatyne bids to bring boutique indoor cycling to the north east

Duncan Bannatyne's ex-wife is embarking on a new health and fitness venture as she bids to replicate London’s current indoor cycling boom in the north east of England.

Joanne Bannatyne, who divorced the entrepreneur and TV personality last year and was also managing director of Bannatyne’s Fitness, runs a string of CrossFit clubs across the north east with business partner Lee Howe and the pair are now turning their attention to indoor cycling.

Bannatyne and Howe have bought 15 Wattbikes to kickstart the launch of their WattCycle functional training concept. The first WattCycle hub is soon to debut on a mezzanine level at CrossFit Telic – the pair’s Hartlepool box – while a standalone WattCycle site is due to launch in Teeside this November.

“Joanne, Lee and the team have put a lot of effort into combining aspects of the CrossFit training programme with indoor cycling to develop the WattCycle brand and improve upon the traditional spinning class set up,” said Wattbike sales manager Steve Marshall.

“In the past five years cycling has gone from strength to strength, with indoor and outdoor cyclists demanding more sophistication in their training.”

The announcement follows on from London’s cycle-focused health club craze – exemplified by recent high-profile debutants Psycle and Athlete Lab – and suggests that workouts on wheels appear in no imminent danger of hitting the skids.