Dunne has already spent 4.4m on a 20-acre site in New Malden, previously owned by the BBC's sports club, on which he intends to build his first fitness club in Britain. Dunne will shortly submit planning permission for the development and hopes to start construction "at the back end of this year".

The club would be the former Dunnes Stores managing director's fourth. He has three fitness clubs in Dublin, including the recently-opened 16m Northwood club in Santry.

Dunne said the New Malden gym would be on a similar scale to the Northwood one.

The Surrey club will be the first of what Dunne hopes will be a chain of fitness clubs in the greater London area. "We're looking actively for sites in England, " he said.