The growth of both the Diet Center and an on-site personal training studio far outgrew Ron and Karen Magnum’s expectations 15 years ago.

This led them onto a search for a larger premises, something around 10,000 square feet, but they did one better, as their new location is 11,000 square feet.

After the couple bought the Diet Center, which was located on Victoria Street, they added another element — a personal training studio run by Ron Magnum, a former professional body building champion.

“Then the demand was so big, so in 1994 we moved to Front Street,” said Karen Magnum. “We outgrew that space in 2002 and we needed to find a new location.

“It took us a year to find it and two years to do make it into this.”

The location was initially one of the Trimingham’s warehouses.

“Because it was an open warehouse, we were able to take it, put up the drywall and design it exactly how we wanted it,” said Mr. Magnum.

“Actually my brother Keith Hodgkins, has his own business which is called of On Site Engineering, and he sat at his computer and we were telling him what we wanted,” Mrs. Magnum added.

“We had a vision in our heads, so we knew exactly what we wanted to do, so we really didn’t need anyone else.

“We wanted to have a gym that was completely different than any other gym, because most of the gyms have the same equipment and offer the same stuff.

“So I borrowed a theme from what I had seen in the States.”

Rather than not utilising all the space, Mr. Magnum said: “We decided to make it upper and lower and to select the right equipment, so that clients can have an option.”

All in all, he said he was pleased with how the gym had turned out.

“The outcome is nice,” he said.