Groop Chapel Allerton: Meet the husband-and-wife duo opening a new gym in the heart of the Leeds suburb

Groop will be the first occupant of 2 Pelham Place in Chapel Allerton, a new building wedged between Starbucks and the parade of restaurants on Stainbeck Lane. 

The couple behind it have recently secured planning permission to transform the premises into a new, small-group personal training gym. Tony and Charlene Barnes are the founders of Graft Häus gym in Kirkstall, but their Chapel Allerton site will have a different concept. 

“It will be a small group personal training set-up,” Tony told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“We’re personal trainers ourselves and we see the benefit of 1-2-1 personal training, but it’s a real price point area for a lot of people and can mean all they do is one session a week. That’s not really going to get people to their goals.

“We’ll have one trainer with a maximum of eight people per session. They’ll get put through workouts in the same way, but they’ll also get all of the nutritional and lifestyle support they need, which often achieves the results above and beyond the physical movement.”

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Groop is set to open in early June with three personal trainers working at the gym, with plans to increase the number to six as demand increases.

With a prominent spot on Chapel Allerton’s pedestrianised square, the beating heart of the suburb, they’re hoping word will spread quickly.

Tony added: “When we saw the building, we fell in love. Our current gym is down an industrial estate and we have no visibility. So when we saw this beautiful, glass-fronted building, slap bang in the middle of Chapel Allerton, we knew it was the perfect location. 

“There’s such a good community around there and that’s the nature of how the small group set-up works, everyone is on a shared journey as they try to better themselves but support each other at the same time.”