Elevate Performance Centre opens at Evans Business Centre

A Darlington physiotherapist with a background in elite sport has opened a new clinic bringing professional athlete level services to the town.

Tom Dell, 34, launched Elevate Performance Healthcare at Evans Business Centre on Lingfield Way in November and says the response has already been “incredible”, with clients ranging from everyday gym-goers and runners to competitive athletes.

Originally from Darlington, Tom has spent his career working in professional football and rehabilitation, including Middlesbrough Football Club, Hull City Football Club and the UK Ministry of Defence.

Tom admitted he didn’t know what he wanted to be growing up, but got into physiotherapy after working at a mental health hospital.

He said: “Like any young kid growing up, my dream was to be a sports star. I wasn’t good enough and that’s what it came down to.

Tom Dell, owner of Elevate Performance Healthcare (Image: Elevate Performance Healthcare)

“I worked a few different jobs and ended up working in a mental health hospital. One of the things I actually quite enjoyed about that was almost like the rehab element of it.

“A patient would come in with a specific problem and get the input and rehab and then leave in a much better place.

“I really liked the rewarding aspect of the job, and it was only really when I did that, that I thought about physiotherapy as a profession.”

Tom graduated from York St John in 2017 after studying physiotherapy.

He said his experience in elite sport helped shape the vision for his own clinic and pushed him to open.

Tom said he did not know what he wanted to be growing up, and got into physiotherapy after working at a mental health hospital (Image: ELEVATE PERFORMANCE CENTRE)

He said: “I had worked in sport for a while by that point and I was thinking about my next move.

“Do I really heavily commit to the sport route or look for something else? My previous role at Middlesbrough was about development of systems and development of protocols to heavily influence the department and lead to better patient input and care.

“Doing that really highlighted to me that a lot of these processes we use in elite sport, people see them as being reserved for athletes, but they’re not.

“The fitness industry now is booming. People ten years ago might just go for a run, but now they’re wanting so much more from their hobbies. They’re treating it more seriously and they’re really invested in it.”

Elevate offers physiotherapy, sports massage and strength and conditioning support, alongside performance-focused rehabilitation.

Tom also told people to trust their process when starting their own business (Image: ELEVATE PERFORMANCE CENTRE)

Tom said: “The big majority that we deliver is physiotherapy services. We’ve got a great clientele of active people including runners, Hyrox athletes, triathletes, footballers and rugby players who come to us for rehab when they’re injured.

“It’s not just physiotherapy. It’s physiotherapy that is geared towards boosting performance.”

The clinic has also recently introduced shockwave therapy. Tom explained what this is.

The 34-year-old said: “Shockwave therapy utilises high energy sound waves. What they do is they affect injured tissues.

“It is more specifically used for tendons and plant fasciitis, and what it does is stimulates pro-inflammatory response in those tissues, which then stimulates healing.

“For a lot of people with chronic tendinopathies (long-lasting degenerative conditions of tendons caused by repetitive overuse or failed healing) or chronic plantar fasciitis (long-term heel pain), actually being able to load them and influence those tissues is really difficult.

Tom performing the shockwave therapy (Image: ELEVATE PERFORMANCE CENTRE)

“A lot of people get stuck on a loading protocol and are not able to progress to those functional phases. With the input of shockwave, it helps people to progress through those phases, and it helps you to load them more and utilise shockwave to trigger that healing response.

“At the minute there’s not a lot of places within Darlington that offer shockwave therapy, so it’s something that sets us apart slightly.”

 Looking to the future, Tom hopes to expand the business and bring in other specialists to offer their knowledge and expertise.

Elevate Performance Healthcare (Image: Elevate Performance Healthcare)

He said: “My goal is to be the number one physiotherapy place within the North East and to help as many people as possible.

“The number one goal in any healthcare profession is to help people, and that’s what we want to do.

“When people can’t do their hobbies, they almost lose their identity a little bit.

“Being able to help them get back to what they want to be doing, that’s the most rewarding part.”

And Tom had some advice for anyone thinking of starting their own business.

“Trust your process. I thought long and hard about what my process was going to be and what I wanted my contacts, input and aftercare to look like.

“If the process is good and the process works, then everything else will fall into place after it. I invested quite a lot into it and then I opened and I wasn’t seeing very many people.

“I was worrying thinking, ‘do I need to change something?’ The answer was no. My process was solid, my inputs were good and my feedback was good. It just needed time, so trust the process essentially.”

You can find the physiotherapy clinic at Unit 22, Evans Business Centre, Lingfield Way, Darlington, DL1 4QZ and more information on their website: Premier Physiotherapy Services for Injury Recovery and Performance