The major European health club chain, Fitness First, has taken its second retail warehouse park unit in Northern Ireland and is still understood to be seeking suitable sites in the Republic. The Belfast office of agents Lisney acted for Fitness First in acquiring the 12,000 sq ft unit at the Toscana Retail Warehouse Park, on the Ring Road outside Bangor, Co Down. The unit has been let at £8 stg per sq ft.

Eamonn Murphy, in Lisney's retail and leisure acquisitions section in Belfast, said the letting is part of Fitness First's massive expansion plans in Europe. The company recently raised £71 million stg for future expansion and has 40 clubs in the UK and 11 in Germany with plans to grow to around 100 outlets in the next two years. Last October it took up a 12,500 sq ft unit in the Connswater Retail Park in east Belfast.