Hollywood stuntman who grew up in Blackburn behind new Body Tech gym

Body Tech Fitness will take up the spot of the former DW Sports Gym next to Vue Cinemas at Peel Leisure and Retail Park. The unit has been empty for a number of years since the old gym closed.

The company also has locations in Ellesmere Port and Winsford and is set to open the Blackburn gym in February next year.

The gym is run by Liverpool-based Nicholas Whitcombe and Hollywood stuntman Ben Jenkin, who grew up in Blackburn, and is one of the most sought-after stuntmen in the world having appeared in everything from Spiderman to The Fall Guy.

Ryan Gosling attending a special screening of The Fall Guy at the BFI Imax Waterloo, London. Ben worked as his stunt double on the film (Image: Ian West)

Nick met Ben when they were teenagers and decided to open their newest gym after Ben, who went to Witton Park High School, said he wanted to put something back into his hometown.

Nick, who lives in Merseyside, has a background in the parkour industry, commonly known as ‘free running’.

He said: “Parkour is how Ben and I became friends as young teenagers, meeting over the internet and eventually travelling back and forth between Blackburn and Merseyside to train together.

“We’d jump and climb around the city centre, explore rooftops near Ben’s mum’s home in the Witton area and head to an indoor gymnastics centre in Garstang.

"We were amongst the first people in the UK to adopt the sport and quickly began receiving offers for commercial work from leading brands across the world.”

Ben has revealed he wanted to re-invest in his hometown of BlackburnIn 2011, Nick suffered a serious knee injury and had to retire from the sport at age 20. He went into bodybuilding and within a year had won the title of ‘Junior Mr Britain’.

That same year, Ben’s parkour and stunt career began to excel beyond their wildest dreams.

At the age of 18, he was signed by a management agency and was flown to America, appearing in music videos, performing in live shows and teaching workshops.

At 21, Ben decided to make the move from Blackburn to Los Angeles after booking a national Nike commercial. Ben’s first big movie was in 2016 where he was one of the lead stunt doubles in Disney’s live-action film ‘The Jungle Book’ doubling for Mowgli.

He went on to work on numerous blockbusters such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3, Fast and Furious 8, and Bad Boys 4. He had been the personal stunt double to Jason Statham, Matthew McConaughey, Willem Dafoe, Will Poulter and Ryan Reynolds, and is currently double to Ryan Gosling.

Ben has featured in a whole host of movies (Laciste)Nicholas said: “Ben approached me at the beginning of this year with a desire to bring something back to his hometown. 

“On Ben’s most recent visit home he expressed an interest in bringing something special back to his hometown, as his intentions are to return home permanently once the time is right.

“Blackburn was a little too far afield to be in the immediate expansion plans mapped out by myself and our operations director Mathew Bailey, but seeing Ben’s passion for the idea coupled with my own history here, the three of us agreed we had to ‘send it’.

“Ben has travelled back to the UK for the build, as he sees great value in the pair of us bringing this project to life with our own hands.”

Body Tech was established in 2013 in Merseyside, just 50 yards away from where Nick grew up in.

But it didn’t gain global coverage until 2020 when the gym refused to close its doors during Tier 3 lockdowns, winning a campaign which called for people’s health and wellbeing to be taken into consideration. Their campaign which included a petition 650,000 signatures saw the government reverse the legislation and allowed gyms to reopen in Tier 3.

Nick and with Ben (Third from left) as they visited the siteThe Blackburn gym is hoping to eventually attract a whopping 3,500 members. Nick said: “Whilst the gym could certainly accommodate a higher number than this, we want to ensure the quality of our members experience remains premium.”

Nick said they have developed a strong relationship with property owners, the IM Group, the Adhan Group’s retail arm.

Nick said: “We were fortunate enough to meet the owners by chance and quickly developed strong rapport which has enabled us to fast track the process.

“We have also established a partnership with sports nutrition brand Applied Nutrition for our Blackburn site.”

He added: “We do feel we are different to other gyms of our size in many ways and we are determined to retain the values of an independent business as we grow, focusing on the communities that allow us to thrive.

“We believe in prosperity for all, which is one of the many reasons we allow personal trainers to coach for free in our facilities, which is unheard of across the industry where the standard monthly ‘rent’ exceeds £600.

“We want to empower personal trainers to uplift the health of their communities and ensure they’re able to make a sustainable living in the process. We’re strong believers that health and fitness should be endorsed to the fullest extent, not seen as something to tax.”