The Business of Physical Activity

As financial pressures continue to mount, The Business of Physical Activity stream will look at how leisure businesses can perform as efficiently and effectively as possible by keeping up to date with latest trends and technology

Sponsored by Gladstone. Supported by CIMSPA

Wednesday 15th June 2022

Time Session title
09:55
|
10:45

Exploring Future Trends

Speaker

Steve Scales

Client Services Director

ukactive

Steven leads the strategic development of the physical activity sector to support the growth of ukactive’s members. From addressing issues of infrastructure, public leisure reform and capital investment, to modelling sector growth and innovation, Steven has been instrumental in bringing sector leaders and partners together to accelerate change.

ukactive

Speaker

David Minton

Managing Director

Leisure DB

After three decades David is well known for his unique fitness industry knowledge. Providing media commentary, articles, along with public speaking to spark debate within and create support for the sector at large. David and his team are recognised as the go-to for market trends, data and insight built from the annual National Fitness Audit. Passionate about Active Ageing and Climate Change David is at the forefront of new thinking on these subjects along with the new Collective Knowledge for the industry.

Leisure DB

Speaker

Paul Kuebler

VP Business Development

Orangetheory

Paul Kuebler is an entrepreneur, health and fitness ambassador, and now currently serves as VP of International Development of Southern England for Orangetheory Fitness. In his role, Paul is responsible for developing and expanding studios in the UK. Paul was previously the Area Developer for Orangetheory, where he developed 19 studios in Washington State in the U.S., assisting the brand with its global expansion and growth.

Paul has experience in a variety of disciplines including financial operations, profitability analysis, UK and European operations, budgeting and planning, business optimization, and health & wellness fitness services. He also serves on several boards for various health and leisure organizations.

Paul builds upon his many years of CEO and COO experience as an owner and franchisee for this new role as an Orangetheory franchise employee, focusing on growth opportunities for the brand while delivering the best possible experience for Orangetheory members.

Orangetheory Fitness is a 1-hour group personal training workout broken into intervals of cardio and strength training scientifically designed to torch fat, tone muscles, and increase energy based on each member's personal heart rate data. Coaches lead each class using a variety of equipment including treadmills, rowing machines, suspension training and free weights, getting members’ heart rates in the target Orange Zone for 12 minutes or more to produce the Orange Effect. Simply put - it’s the world’s smartest workout that keeps our members burning calories long after their workout ends.

Orangetheory

Speaker

Mike Dean

Head of Franchise Sales

F45

Mike Dean heads up franchise sales for F45s European expansion. He was made aware of the brand 4 years ago on a trip to Australia and has not looked back since. Based in their London HQ his primary focus is to source top quality franchisees and studios to match them with.

F45

11:00
|
11:40

Understanding and applying modern marketing channels to your business

Speaker

Daniel Macaulay

Founder and CEO

Brandwave Marketing

Daniel is the Founder and CEO of Brandwave Marketing. Brandwave is one of the world's leading sports marketing consultancies and the chosen agency of many of the industry's leading brands including Adidas, Reebok, Les Mills, Life Fitness, and Precore. With a lifetime spent teaching and competing in sports himself, Daniel is a passionate supporter and respected speaker in the European sports industry. Daniel also sits on the UK Sport & Outdoor Forum think tank. Growing up in Ireland, Daniel completed a Degree in marketing and a Masters Degree in Business Studies. Following on from that, Daniel worked for 4 years as European Marketing Director for the iconic American surf brand, O'Neill.Daniel founded Brandwave 12 years ago and now spends his time consulting on B2B and B2C strategy and creative for key clients.

Brandwave Marketing

Speaker

Jak Phillips

Global Content Director

Les Mills

Jak Phillips is a writer, marketer and presenter who specialises in the global fitness industry. Having written for brands including TIME Magazine, VICE and a slew of leading fitness titles, Jak is adept at unearthing trends and bringing them to life by telling the stories that shape them. Based in London, Jak’s role as Global Content & PR Director for Les Mills International sees him work with leading fitness brands and clubs from around the world, offering rare insight into what it takes to win in the modern fitness industry. He is also a qualified personal trainer and BODYPUMP Instructor.

Les Mills

12:00
|
12:40

Forward thinking gym design and layout

Speaker

Jo Rich

Head of Key Accounts

Origin Fitness

Jo heads up Key Accounts at Origin Fitness, who specialise in supplying the best in fitness

equipment and innovative gym design with expert service and support. We’ve helped organisations and businesses of all sizes get better results from their gyms and sports facilities. We supply gym equipment and apply our gym design skills right across the board, from modest personal trainer start-ups to global gym brands, local authorities to hotels, and sports clubs to CrossFit boxes.

She is passionate about health, fitness and well-being, with a wealth of commercial and management experience from both a supplier and operators’ perspective.

Origin Fitness

Speaker

Sarah Grime

Head of Format

The Gym Group

Sarah heads up Format at The Gym Group and is responsible for the design and development of new and existing gyms within the operator’s 200+ portfolio. Since first joining The Gym Group in 2017 as a consultant, Sarah has led several high-profile projects including the physical integration and rebrand of the Lifestyle Fitness and easyGym acquisitions, going on to join the company full time in 2019. She is currently spear heading the rollout of The Gym Group’s rebrand which will see the gym chain rebrand all their gyms in 2022. Sarah is passionate about ensuring the gym environment is accessible for all and her personal ambition is to ensure the company become industry leaders in tackling gymtimidation.

The Gym Group

Speaker

Daniel Summerson

Head of Everlast Gyms

Frasers Group

.

Frasers Group

Speaker

Matteo Cerruti

Chief Experience Officer

TRIB3

Matteo Cerruti, is TRIB3’s Chief Experience Officer. Matteo joined TRIB3 after over twenty years of experience in the fitness industry predominately in product development and innovation within group exercise, creating and implementing products and services across multiple brands in different regions of the world and designing state-of-the art gyms and studios in gyms and boutiques.

TRIB3

13:00
|
13:40

Expanding the Skill Set in the Fitness Industry

Speaker

Paul Swainson

Research and Development Manager

Future Fit

Paul brings over 15 years’ experience to his role at Future Fit, as a personal trainer, PT manager, consultant and educator. He has created a successful PT business as well as working for some of the leading brands in the fitness industry. As Research and Development Manager at Future Fit, Paul oversees the creation and ongoing improvement of courses and products across the fields of personal training, nutrition, Pilates and health. Paul is also a writer and presenter and uses these platforms to advocate Future Fit’s campaign to #RaisetheBar – improving training standards across the industry to provide the next generation of fitness professionals with the skills they need for a successful career.

Future Fit

Speaker

Dan Fallon

Co-Founder

Renegades Gym

Dan brings over 15 years experience as the owner of Renegades Gym in Portsmouth, as a Personal Trainer (online and face to face), Exercise Rehabilitation Specialist, and educator. He and his business partners have created a successful Boutique Gym as well as writing for Men’s Fitness and Metro on many occasions. Dan is also a published author and uses methods to guarantee health and fitness success with whoever he works alongside.

Renegades Gym

13:50
|
14:10

Funding the future of sport and physical activity with online shopping

Speaker

Ben Harper

Partnerships Manager

Easyfundraising

As the Partnerships Manager at the UK's leading fundraising cashback provider, easyfundraising, Ben Harper combines his passion, knowledge, and integrity to support the sport and fitness industry with their fundraising ambitions.

With over 15 years of experience within the physical activity and sports development sector, Ben has helped diversify funding streams at organisations like Active Partnership Energize STW and Harper Adams University. Today, Ben supports easyfundraising's partner network. Working closely with leading sporting affiliations with Sported, Community Leisure UK, England Netball, Swim England, Active Together, and others to create a fruitful and uncapped income stream for them and their members.

Easyfundraising

14:20
|
14:50

Ingredients to create the ultimate member journey

Speaker

Jon Nasta

Founder

Retention Solutions Ltd

A wealth of experience in the health and fitness industry from both a supplier and operators’ perspective. Noted expertise in member engagement and retention Jon has held positions such as COO of Retention Management, Sales Director of Matrix Fitness and Marketing Director for Xercise4Less as well as regularly consulting to some of the fitness industry's best known club chains on both sides of the Atlantic. His Retain™ Model is used by hundreds of health clubs, gyms, studios, and fitness centres around the world. www.JonNasta.com

Retention Solutions Ltd

Speaker

Amnesty Coldwell

Head of Strategic Sales and Marketing

Blue Zinc

With experience in the fitness and wellness industry, I've worked with some of the largest fitness and physio brands in the UK and Europe, working with them to provide the technical tools they needed to obtain and more importantly retain clients, seeing which retention practices worked best, before and during the pandemic. Currently heading up the project for our new software for mental health practitioners, we're looking to take some of those practices and help osteo and mental health professionals give the best care in their practices with simple but effective digital tools.

Blue Zinc

Speaker

Sohail Rashid

Founder & CEO

Brawn Power

Sohail Rashid is the Founder and CEO of Brawn Power, a tool designed to help gyms engage with their members that enjoy strength training. Brawn have identified a gap in the market and provide a connected experience for strength training.

Their solution, Brawn inGym, helps gym owners improve retention by making lifting in the gym more accessible, meaningful and engaging.

Sohail founded Brawn following his own experiences and frustrations as a former strength athlete. Combining his background of over 12 years in building retention and technology solutions for the property market with his personal experience when strength training has allowed Brawn to develop quickly as they work closely with some of the UK's leading gyms.

Brawn Power

15:00
|
15:40

Gladstone: Digital transformation in leisure

Speaker

Claire Rollins

Managing Director

Gladstone

Working in the Health and Fitness Industry for over 10 years, both in the UK and US, Claire is passionate about inspiring our industry to innovate and to maximise the part that technology can play in getting more people, more active, more often.

Claire believes that focussing on technology solutions that deliver commercial success goes hand in hand with facilitating millions of people in getting active, and is a huge advocate in driving forwards the speed of technology adoption and digital transformation within our sector.

Gladstone

16:00
|
16:40

Session to debate the future of technology & lifeguarding

Speaker

Ian Ogilvie

Chartered Safety and Health Consultant

Ian Ogilvie is an Independent Chartered Safety and Health Consultant who has worked in the leisure industry for the past 30 years. Currently Ian sits on the BSI Committee for Swimming Pools and also the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group for the UK and has written several publications around design and plant and course material for regulated swimming pool qualifications. Finally he also is a Technical Advisor for the Royal Life Saving Society on swimming pool plant.

Speaker

Alan Ritchie

National Pools and Water Safety Manager

GLL

33 years in the industry. RLSS National Trainer Assessor. In some way with some sort of influence over approx. 150 pools and thus thousands of lifeguards.

Current Treasurer of The GLL Society – over 20 years on the board.

Passionate Sailor and competitor in life!

Find out more about GLL here.

GLL

Speaker

Jo Talbot

Director

Royal Life Saving Society UK

Jo started her career as a lifeguard over 20 years ago, which may explain her passion for lifeguarding and water safety.

Following a 12 year stint with a National Operator, managing lifeguarding and swimming pool health and safety; Jo took a role at RLSS UK, the leading UK organisation for water safety.

In her role at RLSS UK Jo focuses on supporting the industry with high quality training and qualifications.

Jo has a wealth of knowledge for everything relating to swimming pool safety; from supervision to signage to technology.

Royal Life Saving Society UK

Speaker

Ben Beevers

Group Development Director

Everyone Active

Ben has been with Everyone Active since 2007 and has worked in the leisure industry for over 30 years. He started working in leisure as a lifeguard and having worked in many different roles is now Group Development Director for Everyone Active, who operate over 200 facilities on behalf of 64 local authorities. As Group Development Director he leads the group's operational development and innovation across the business.

Everyone Active

Speaker

Robin McGloughlin

Business Director

Poolview

A recognised contributor and industry expert within the field of Drowning Prevention Technology and Safer Swimming Systems. Poolview Limited are the only UK manufacturer and supplier of Submersion Detection hardware and they utilise their own specifically designed “Iris” detection software.

Poolview

Speaker

Richard Lamburn

Head of Facilities

Swim England

Richard is Swim England’s Head of facilities, a vastly experienced expert in swimming pool operation and design. He began his career operationally managing facilities, following that he spent 5 years as a pool plant technical manager for a training organisation, leading on the training of over 3,000 operators a year. He has been with Swim England facilities for over 6 years now providing advice and consultancy ensuring that new built facilities and refurbishments are fit for purpose and sustainable for the future. Richard has been a member of the PWTAG technical committee for over 10 and a PWTAG director for the past 3 years, he is also a representative of the British Standards working group for European standards of swimming pools.

Furthermore, he has worked closely with the HSE on numerous projects, Richard has delivered seminars on swimming pool design and operations at various conferences across the globe including; splash international in Singapore, the World Aquatic Heath Conference (WAHC) in Phoenix Arizona and various exhibitions and conferences within the UK and Europe.

Swim England

Speaker

Andy Read

Vice Chair

Leisure Expert Panel

Andy Read stood down as Head of Safety at Places Leisure (Responsible for 100 Leisure Centres, Pre-covid 9,500 colleagues and 20 million annual visits) on 31st March 2022.

His involvement with leisure will continue;

A independent member of the ukactive Governance and Standards Committee;

Vice Chair of the Leisure Expert Panel (LEP), member of CIMSPA,

Independent member of the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) Operator Group.

• understanding the role of technology and lifeguarding

• voluntary health and leisure projects

Leisure Expert Panel

Speaker

David Walker

Head of Leisure & Road Safety

RoSPA

David leads on the development of policy and advice for RoSPA members and networks overseeing the executive and programme support for the National Water Safety Forum, including the Water Incident Database (WAID). He is an author of the UK drowning prevention strategy, an external advisor to the recent Australian drowning prevention strategy and a technical contributor to a number of WHO and UK Government programmes including most recently Covid-19 re-opening impacts, and the MCA Managing beach safety advice. David sits on the managing group for the Leisure Expert Panel in support of RoSPA's contribution towards better sector safety regulation.

David has previously worked on Commonwealth and Olympic Games, led and guided adventurous activities. He has led on fatal accident investigation and independent reviews in Manchester, Bristol and Durham in recent years. Current programmes of interest include; supporting the development of the regulatory framework for E-Scooters & promotion of active travel; evaluation and application of AI/ML technologies to drowning and road risk, crowd safety environments; revisions to a number of HSE and Government guidance.

David is boyhood member of The Salford Lads Club and a graduate from The University of Salford. He is married to Polly and lives in Birmingham with their two young children. He doesn't get enough sleep.

RoSPA

16:50
|
17:20

Digitisation of Lifting

Speaker

Sohail Rashid

Founder & CEO

Brawn Power

Sohail Rashid is the Founder and CEO of Brawn Power, a tool designed to help gyms engage with their members that enjoy strength training. Brawn have identified a gap in the market and provide a connected experience for strength training.

Their solution, Brawn inGym, helps gym owners improve retention by making lifting in the gym more accessible, meaningful and engaging.

Sohail founded Brawn following his own experiences and frustrations as a former strength athlete. Combining his background of over 12 years in building retention and technology solutions for the property market with his personal experience when strength training has allowed Brawn to develop quickly as they work closely with some of the UK's leading gyms.

Brawn Power

Speaker

Paul Richardson

Non Executive Chairman

Energym

Paul is a passionate entrepreneur with a highly impressive record of developing companies. He is currently Non Executive Chairman at Energym and is the former Executive Chairman of Gymshark. During his time at Gymshark he was instrumental alongside Ben Francis and Steve Hewitt in taking the business from its humble beginnings to achieve Unicorn status. Paul’s speciality is helping to lay solid business foundations,, developing brand value and mentoring young founders such as Ben Francis and Will Flint. Energym is a smart-tech fitness company that builds equipment that turns a user's workout into usable electric power.

Energym

Speaker

Laura Hoggins

Director of Brand & Marketing

The Foundry Gyms

Laura 'Biceps' Hoggins is a PT, Author, Presenter and Director of Brand & Marketing at The Foundry gyms in London. With a background of corporate sales and marketing, mixed with her passion for training and encouraging participation for women in fitness to feel empowered, to feel confident lifting weights, and is ready to challenge the industry stereotypes. She believes in celebrating individuals and inspiring those to get started on their wellness journey whatever that looks to them.

The Foundry Gyms

Speaker

Gary Oleinik

Sales Director

IndigoFitness

Gary Oleinik is the sales director at IndigoFitness and has over 20 years of industry experience within large fitness groups, elite sports and education sectors. Gary specialises in facility design, installation and sports technology products. Gary is a highly commercial senior manager with significant business experience, including VC and start-up exposure, and has an excellent track record of delivering sales growth in saturated and new markets. Throughout Gary's career, he has been privileged to design and create some of the sports industry-leading training spaces, including Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club, Manchester City Football Club and Mercedes F1.

IndigoFitness

Thursday 16th June 2022

Time Session title
10:00
|
10:40

Delivering the best group exercise experience

Speaker

Mel Spooner

Managing Director

CAWS

Mel has worked for a number of major global brands and start-ups throughout her 20-year career in fitness, from Technogym to MYZONE and TRX. Today she is best known as joint-founder of CAWS, the online education company for the fitness workforce, and as co-host of The Real Fitness Podcast.

At CAWS Mel focuses on elevating the role of the coach and the club through education and by building better networks across health, sport, science, communities and brands.

CAWS

Speaker

Sue Wilkie

Head of Instructor Support

EMD UK

Sue has over 30 years’ experience in the fitness industry as a group ex Instructor, PT and International Fitness presenter, developing programming and education in the UK and America for brands including TRX, TriggerPoint, and Total Gym. Throughout the pandemic Sue represented the group exercise sector, working with the government to support instructors and ensure they were able to get back teaching face to face. As part of this work Sue authored the Group Ex Support Pack and Return to Play guidelines. Sue work for instructors continues – she is currently in talks with PRS for Music to seek simpler, more cost-effective music solutions for the sector.

EMD UK

Speaker

Gillian Reeves

Head of Group Exercise

Third Space

Gillian is Head of Group Exercise for Third Space. She has experience in business management and building communities having successfully run her own yoga studio and has consulted on a number of group exercise based projects both within four walls and digitally within the public and private sectors.

Third Space

Speaker

Will Brereton

Founder

SH1FT Fitness

Will is a 20 year veteran of the fitness industry, starting his career at Les Mills in New Zealand at age 18 while studying law at university.

Will has held senior roles at both Les Mills and Beachbody, where he was responsible for content creation and business growth. He has complemented this with legal and commercial experience focussed on digital technology and software platforms. Career highlights include working on the first commercial VOD platforms at both ITV plc and Channel 5, leading the commercial legal team at Deliveroo, and as General Manager of ClassPass UK where he worked closely with gyms and studios to promote the growth of the fitness industry.

Will now focuses his time on SH1FT, the digital-first group fitness format he co-founded in 2016, as well as hosting the top rated Group Fitness Real Talk podcast. He is a leading expert on the evolution of digital fitness, and an advocate for the vital role fitness instructors play in building healthy communities.

SH1FT Fitness

11:00
|
11:40

Technology: Supporting the Physical Activity Workforce

Speaker

Paul Swainson

Research and Development Manager

Future Fit

Paul brings over 15 years’ experience to his role at Future Fit, as a personal trainer, PT manager, consultant and educator. He has created a successful PT business as well as working for some of the leading brands in the fitness industry. As Research and Development Manager at Future Fit, Paul oversees the creation and ongoing improvement of courses and products across the fields of personal training, nutrition, Pilates and health. Paul is also a writer and presenter and uses these platforms to advocate Future Fit’s campaign to #RaisetheBar – improving training standards across the industry to provide the next generation of fitness professionals with the skills they need for a successful career.

Future Fit

Speaker

Dave Wright

Creator and CEO

Myzone

As a parent, an employer, a club operator, a health club member and a try-hard sportsman, Dave has many real-life situations that have proved to be great case studies for his wearable technology.

Myzone

Speaker

Mike Dean

Head of Franchise Sales

F45

Mike Dean heads up franchise sales for F45s European expansion. He was made aware of the brand 4 years ago on a trip to Australia and has not looked back since. Based in their London HQ his primary focus is to source top quality franchisees and studios to match them with.

F45

Speaker

Lewis Agnew

COO

My PT Hub

After operating a face to face, online and hybrid Personal Training business, Lewis transitioned into technology and helped develop the digital feature set that lives within My PT Hub® today. Having over a decade’s worth of experience in the fitness/technology industry has enabled him in a unique position to build a product for Personal Trainers having done the hard yards and walked in their shoes.

His passion to drive the industry forward through not only digital innovation but taking a very customer focused approach continues to evolve the My PT Hub® offering and serving the new era of modern personal training.

My PT Hub

12:00
|
12:40

Online Coaching - The New Normal

Speaker

Mark Laws

PT Development Coach

Future Fit

Mark Laws is the PT Development Coach at Future Fit, helping to develop courses from the perspective of a master PT. Mark qualified from Future Fit as a Level 3 Personal Trainer in 2006 and has since worked in the fitness industry in various high-profile positions. Mark was the first non-American to be certified in America by the Kettlebell world champion. His Kettlebell work led to many professional partnerships, including working with Sheffield United, Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and the Chinese Olympic Squad at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mark is an accomplished coach, presenter, educator, and regular magazine columnist.

Future Fit

13:00
|
13:40

Exploring cross border opportunities in European health and fitness

Speaker

David Stalker

President

Europe Active

Prior to joining Myzone as the CEO of Myzone EMEA David was CEO of Oxygen Freejumping, the UK largest and leading operator of world-class trampolining. Prior to that he was CEO at UKactive, wherein he oversaw the operations and administration of the organization. While at UKactive, he chaired and delivered a 5-year strategy, set out the future plans for the Fitness industry, created relationships between the industry & its key delivery partners. David has also held roles as a Director at Bladerunner Ltd, at the time UK’s largest Corporate Fitness Facility Management Company where he contributed to all aspects of the company's aggressive growth strategy, reviewing the business development division, assisting in the implementation of the marketing strategy. The business sold to Nuffield Health. Managing Director at WWH Corporation Ltd, Managing Director Harpers Fitness Clubs Ltd and Group Brand Director at Leisure Connections PLC. As a non-executive Director, He served as a member of the board of Directors of Europe Active, was Chairman of CIMSPA and is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute, he was also previously Chairman of Fit For Sport Ltd. He is currently Chairman of Marwell Zoo and a trustee of the Kenya Wildlife Trust.David has a reputation as a straight talker who has huge passion for the fitness industry, he has strong views to why and where the industry may still be going wrong, the vicious circle of selling, service, and looking after 'people' he believes is still a fundamental challenge. He believes that future success for the sector will be all about impending itself in the community which will literally save lives and be the key factor in saving the National Health Service.David was born and raised in Kenya, is a passionate Conservationist. He moved to the UK 30 years ago and has worked in the Leisure industry ever since. He is married with two grown up children.

Europe Active

Speaker

Marc Diaper

Chief Executive

GymBox

With nearly twenty years leisure industry experience Marc has worked his way from Personal Trainer and Sports Therapist to his current position as CEO of Gymbox where he overseas business strategy with a major focus on people, brand and marketing. Gymbox are considered to be London’s best fitness brand and amongst other USP’s offer the most unique and diverse classes in the City. Marc worked as both Sales Director and Managing Director before taking over as CEO in 2016. Marc has an entrepreneurial drive and believes all businesses must focus on brand standards and consistency and continually evolve their products to stay relevant. He has a real passion for team progression and development and currently employs over 200 with an additional 600 personal trainers and group fitness instructors working on a freelance basis.

GymBox

Speaker

Phil Coxon

Managing Director EMEA

Mindbody

A globally recognised business leader with broad P&L operating experience and over 25 years in corporates and start-ups, Phil has worked in the US, APAC and Europe and played an integral part in structuring and scaling Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) to IPO and revenue growth from $50m to $2.3B. He has managed multiple departments across the world, motivated large teams, played a key role in international expansion, 1 funding round and 3 major acquisitions.

Currently, Phil is Managing Director of EMEA at Mindbody, the global leading studio management software for the wellness industry. Phil is responsible for all aspects of Mindbody’s business in EMEA, including Sales and Customer Support.

Previously Phil was Chief Revenue Officer at MotorK, one of the world’s leading digital automation companies for the Automotive sector and prior to this was VP of Central Sales and Sales Ops at Criteo, a global leader in commerce marketing, looking after the global Sales Strategy and Sales Analytics teams.

In 2016 Phil was recognised as one of the world’s top 100 Sales Enablement and Operations executives in Hot Topics Magazine.

Mindbody

Speaker

Jennifer Halsall-de Wit

Board Member

Europe Active

Jennifer is a C’Merican (you read that right- a North American hybrid) and, after living eleven years in the Netherlands, is officially Dutch. She is the Chief Operating Officer for WIFA (the Women in Fitness Association) by day and is a Europe Active Board member for many of the hours in between. Twentyish years ago, she started her career as one of the (then) few female Personal Trainers and was able to turn her passion into a career by leading 2 of the Canadian market’s largest PT Departments: Bally Total Fitness and GoodLife Fitness, before convincing René Moos (Founder & CEO Basic-Fit)to make his best hiring decision ever in 2011.

Jennifer held multiple roles leading the Product Team at HealthCity and Basic-Fit before starting the Member Retention Department. After ten years, it was time for a change, and Jennifer is proud to have joined WIFA’s leadership team. In her spare time (what’s that?), she passionately contributes to the growth of our sector. She is the co-creator of the WIFA LEAD. Program (Leadership through Elevation Awareness and Discovery) program, a Board Member for EuropeActive, Secretary to EuropeActive’s President’s Council for Tech, and a CEN workgroup member for our branch’s Health and Safety Standard- phew. She derives her energy by fulfilling her purpose: Connecting us with our strength and magic so that there’s no such thing as impossible!

Europe Active

14:00
|
14:40

Gladstone: Digital transformation in leisure

Speaker

Claire Rollins

Managing Director

Gladstone

Working in the Health and Fitness Industry for over 10 years, both in the UK and US, Claire is passionate about inspiring our industry to innovate and to maximise the part that technology can play in getting more people, more active, more often.

Claire believes that focussing on technology solutions that deliver commercial success goes hand in hand with facilitating millions of people in getting active, and is a huge advocate in driving forwards the speed of technology adoption and digital transformation within our sector.

Gladstone

14:55
|
15:35

How to develop a successful customer feedback strategy

Speaker

Guy Griffiths

Managing Director

GG Fit

Guy Griffiths is a leading authority on member retention. His mission is to help more people to be healthier and happier by spreading the word on member-retention initiatives that work.

GGFit provides membership data analysis, retention policy, process definition, coaching workshops, and managed member communications for private clubs, national chains, and low-cost operators. Mystery joining, recruitment, customer feedback and e-learning all complement the core offering.

Guy’s systems background means he can help people understand complex processes and programmes. He also knows what makes people tick, having trained and practiced as a successful life coach. A regular speaker at industry events, his book Stick Around has 4.9 stars on Amazon.

GG Fit

Speaker

Paul Roberts

Managing Director

MyCustomerLens

Paul Roberts is CEO and co-founder of MyCustomerLens , the always-on customer listening platform. Paul has a passion for using customer data to drive better business outcomes. Before starting MyCustomerLens, Paul worked in the UK, Australia and New Zealand helping businesses to drive customer and revenue growth. While in New Zealand Paul started working with sport and leisure clients, helping them to use feedback data to improve member acquisition and retention. MyCustomerLens was born from the realisation that AI could transform how businesses create and use customer insight.

MyCustomerLens

Speaker

Shelley Austin

Regional Manager

The Gym Group

Having had a 20 year love affair with the fitness sector, 3 marathons, 3 children and a number of tattoos later, I am still as passionate and excited about the work I do.

Having the fortune of working various roles within operations and supply, I have a wealth of experience to draw upon. My newest role within TGG is Regional Manager across London, Herts, Beds and Bucks. I thrive on challenge and often take myself outside of comfort to ensure self-development is achieved. I love to support, motivate and deliver great outcomes, with the ultimate goal to draw out the best version of every team member and member. I am just finishing a Masters in Senior Leadership, which has been my latest qualification and self-development goal.

I am a regular and keen netball player and coach.. I love to run and functional/strength training are my favourite painful pass times. I love to read, listen to great podcasts and generally aim to make the most of every day, life is, after all, a precious gift. I feel hugely blessed to be in a sector, organisation and role, where I can truly make a difference.

The Gym Group

15:50
|
16:30

Millenials and Gen Z: preparing for the next generation of gym user

Speaker

Rob Lander

Founder and CEO

Fisikal

Rob has over 20 years experience in the Health and Fitness industry, as a former personal trainer who built a successful business of 50 sessions per week. Rob has also spent many years as an international presenter lecturing on “Technology in the fitness industry”. Rob was the guy with the problem and is the content matter expert. Rob started with little knowledge of technology other than the vision that one day we would all be using it for many areas of our lives. Organisations all over the world now come to Fisikal seeking our advice on how systems and processes can be optimised. As Rob has worked in all areas of the Fitness Industry this gives him multiple perspectives to help advise on how solutions could be created but also with his advanced knowledge of technology – what the future holds and how we can adapt internal processes so they can leverage technology efficiently.

Fisikal

Speaker

Pip Black

Chief Marketing Officer

Frame

Pip co-founded Frame over 11 years ago, opening their first location in Shoreditch and growing the business to a 7-site operation. The business currently runs 1,500 classes per week and takes over 60,000 bookings every month. Pip was instrumental in pivoting the business to an online-only offering during the Covid19 pandemic, offering both On-Demand and Livestream classes, with a monthly revenue of over £100k.
Over the past 6 months, Pip has successfully carried out an MBO with her co-founder Joan, after a 4 year stint with Private Equity investors Piper.

Pip is currently Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing the Marketing, Product, Digital and Customer Experience elements of the business. She has prior experience working in Agency environments and now works with a number of creative agencies, freelancers and in-house team to ensure that the Frame Brand Values and Customer Experience are always upheld as the business grows.

Pip leads a team of Marketing and Brand professionals and has previously managed the operations of the business. She has experience across all areas of the business and has learnt a significant amount ‘on the job’ as well as through courses such as the Goldman Sachs 10KSB programme, a condensed MBA programme for entrepreneurs. She is often found speaking on panels and presenting Key Notes at Lifestyle, Fitness Industry and Marketing events and conferences.

Pip has recently been included in the Evening Standard ‘Progress 1000’, a list of the 1000 most influential people in London. She has also been awarded a Marie Claire ‘Women at the Top’ award. Pip has two young children and currently lives in Somerset, although works in London during the week. She has previously played national-level hockey and enjoys all sports and outdoor activities, along with cooking, gardening and interior design.
She is a qualified fitness instructor and still covers classes at Frame when required.

Frame

Speaker

Carl McCartney

Customer Experience Director

Les Mills

Carl McCartney is Customer Experience Director for Les Mills UK. Carl started his Les Mills career as a National Trainer/ Presenter 20 years ago and has held a number of key roles within both the global and UK business, including working in both the German and Nordics markets and also working centrally as Global Performance Development Manager. Prior to this, Carl spent 8 years working for Virgin Active and other UK clubs in Group Fitness Management and Product roles, in addition to running his own health and fitness business. This breadth of industry experience has allowed Carl to build unparalleled expertise in the Group Fitness space. He is dedicated to helping partners build healthier businesses, working with them to achieve their business goals and supporting member retention and recruitment challenges.

Les Mills