Gym set to open after six-figure investment

Angie Kousoulou, from Ketley, is opening Purity Lifestyle Studios in Wellington following an investment in the site totalling around £300,000.

It comes as Mr Kousoulou also oversees property deals elsewhere in the borough which have seen investors from London buying and selling well-known industrial estates on the area's largest business parks.

The fitness centre is being run in partnership with Gareth Connell, who has been working elsewhere in the town, and Mr Kousoulou's partner Devonne Hannington.

The new gym is aimed at providing a counterbalance to the current low-cost model of gym membership.

"There is a shift in the industry to drive to the bottom," he said, "and we are happy that they are going there as we don't feel clients are being catered for as they should be.

"All these places have thousands of clients, whereas we will only ever have 200. It's exclusive in number, but not in price.

"This will be the flagship, and we will branch out into other units to cater for the needs of the populace – rather than the needs of a board of directors."

The fitness centre will be made up of four full-time members of staff, plus one apprentice, with another expected to join later.

It also has 10 self-employed personal trainers on its books, all with their own niche area of expertise.

The business will be run on the shop floor by Mr Connelly while Mr Kousoulou, the finance director, pursues his other business interests.

The long-term aim of the centre, which has been financed without bank funding, is to open further gyms under the Purity Lifestyle Studios name where there is demand elsewhere in the surrounding area.

"Gareth has been my personal trainer for two-and-a-half years," Mr Kousoulou said.

"He is also an external contractor at Lilleshall, and trains other trainers. His skill set is enormous.

"He has had a small studio up in Wellington near Morris Care Home, and was too busy to accept more clients, he didn't have any more space.

"Devonne has been in a family scrapyard business in Whitchurch Drive, but her father retired and closed the business."

The site is expected to open once change of use planning consent has been agreed next month.

Meanwhile, Mr Kousoulou has also been involved in a deal which has seen Stafford Park 15 sold for £3.15 million.

£700,000

The estate had been bought by a London-based investment vehicle two-and-a-half years ago, and after spending around £700,000 on upgrading it, the site has been sold.

However, the group is now in the process of acquiring part of the Halesfield industrial estate from a local owner, and plans to make a similar investment in that part of Telford with a view to bringing more inward investment to the borough.

Among his other local projects, Mr Kousoulou is working on the conversion of The Mount in Wellington into homes.