Basement of listed building to become '˜boutique' gym

Fitness company TRIB3 is to provide around 12 jobs at the 68-72 Wellington Street site – opposite the new Central Square development – after planners approved the idea.

Its no-contract, pay-as-you-go gyms specialise in high-intensity workouts aimed at providing quick results of upto 1,00 calories a session, but coinciding with special evenings where Prosecco or gin could be served.

Chief executive officer Kevin Yates said: “We are one of the first in the north to do this.

“It’s in New York, it’s in LA and London.We decided we didn’t to hit London, we want to hit the powerhouse of the north.”

The company has three gyms in Sheffield, a site in Barcelona and is soon opening a gym in Moscow, said Mr Yates.

Sessions by “elite trainers” will take place “to a backdrop of mixed internationally acclaimed music”.

In a report about the application, Leeds’s chief planning officer Tim Hill wrote: “The unit exists as a shell at the moment with no internal features worthy of preservation.

“The proposed use would contribute to the maintenance and long term retention of this heritage asset and have a positive impact on its character.”