THE last thing you’d expect to find at your local bank is staff getting fit with a former UK judo champion.

But that’s what you would find in Winchester at the city’s NatWest branch where local banker and Olympic Games hopeful Kyle Clarke-Harwood is helping staff stay fit during lockdown with his weekly morning workouts, popularly known as #LiveWithKyle.

The judo second dan blackbelt and NatWest personal banker has become such a hit with staff he’s now running the keep fit sessions virtually so colleagues across the bank’s South Coast branches can take part as well.

Kyle has been helped by his Winchester branch colleague, Satty Digpal, a senior personal banker who designs the workout sessions. They take place once a week before the branches open and last around 30 minutes, with each session built around a different fitness theme from aerobics to boxercise.

Since being launched ten weeks ago hundreds of staff in the south have taken part including members of the bank’s South West Board, with many more NatWest workers across the UK joining in with the video sessions Satty shares on their Workplace social media board.

Kyle, who is hoping to represent Britain at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, said: “We’ve been blown away with how successful the workouts have been. It’s been amazing seeing the positive impact they have had.

“Each week Satty works on a different workout so we keep the sessions interesting and fun. Because we theme the workouts around different music, we’ve been encouraging colleagues to dress up in fancy dress too, which has been great fun even if I did have to wear a tutu one week!

“I’m hoping to represent Britain in judo at the next Olympics so the workouts are definitely helping me with my training during lockdown and helping me maintain my fitness. I’m so pleased that everyone is enjoying them.”

Satty added: “Each week we’ve been getting over 30 people logging onto Zoom to take part in the live workouts, with lots more joining in later using the videos we post on Workplace. It’s wonderful that staff across NatWest have been starting their days with a workout. It sets you up with a really positive mindset, which is great for us then being able to help our customers.”

Dipesh Mistry, NatWest regional director for personal banking and member of the South West Board, said: “Our colleagues’ mental and physical health is really important to us and has been one of our key priorities during lockdown. That’s why we’ve been so proud of what Kyle and Satty have done to help their colleagues across the bank. The feedback has been amazing and everyone who is taking part is feeling fitter and healthier, which is such a positive result.”