Virgin Active reveals VA Team group of athletes

Health club operator Virgin Active has announced its new team of athletes that will look to strengthen public awareness of the Virgin Active brand.

Known as Team VA, the ‘squad’ includes Olympic silver medallist gymnast Louis Smith MBE, taekwondo gold medallist Jade Jones MBE, boxing gold medallist Nicola Adams MBE, and Paralympic sprinter Sophia Warner.

Team VA will represent Virgin Active at key outdoor sporting events this summer as they encourage Brits to get active and try something new.

The VA Team will aim to get Britons more active

Vibrogym appoints Van der Meer and Tempelaars

Vibrogym has announced the appointment of industry innovators Guus Van der Meer and Jelte Tempelaars to its management team, in their respective roles of managing director and operations director.

Both join the company from Power Plate International, and bring with them years of technical and commercial experience within the vibration training market. The pair will work together with the existing management team, backed by Amsterdam-based private equity fund NPG.

Van der Meer is the new Vibrogym MD

YMCAfit adds regional managers

Fitness training provider YMCAfit has recently appointed four new regional managers as it expands its programme into three new regions in the UK: Sheffield, Bristol and the north-east.

Robert Hall has been selected as the Midlands regional manager, Christine Minchella will be responsible for the north, and Roy Scott and Lesley Smyth will manage the south-east and south-west respectively.

YMCAfit has an ambitious growth strategy for 2013 and beyond, with aims to provide training to more people in more locations across the UK. The new training centres in Sheffield, Bristol and the North-East will offer a full programme to both individuals and businesses looking to train their staff.

The regional managers will be responsible for ensuring that the programme delivered in their region meets the specific needs of the individuals within it.
Head of YMCAfit, Denise Page, says: “Moving into new regions marks an exciting new era for YMCAfit. Over the past three decades we have grown and developed our courses to meet the changing needs of the fitness industry.

“We are delighted to be in a position where we can expand our programme and deliver the same excellent level of service to more fitness professionals in the UK.”

Smyth: New regional manager for the south-west

John Gamble joins Star Trac as sales MD

Star Trac has hired John Gamble as its new managing director of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Gamble will be based in the UK and will be responsible for driving revenue in his regions, by working closely with all sales channels and all areas of the business.

Gamble is a fitness industry veteran and has spent the past 30 years in the sector. Prior to joining Star Trac, he was MD of Fitness First for five years. That position required him to oversee over 200 health clubs in Italy, France, Spain and the UK. Before Fitness First he was the managing director for Technogym in the UK for three years, and prior to that for Life Fitness for approximately nine years.

Gamble says: “At both Technogym and Life Fitness, I was able to build and lead a team that gained the number one position in the UK for market share, as well as delivering very high levels of customer service.”

“I’m excited about my new role at Star Trac. I intend to utilise my experience as MD of leading equipment brands, and as a multinational health club operator, to build Star Trac’s market share and brand position and perception.”

John Gamble is a 30-year fitness industry veteran

Leisure sector features heavily in Queen’s Honours

A number of people working in the leisure industry have been given awards in the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of Nuffield Trust was given a CBE, as was Richard Lewis, chair of Sport England.

Andrew Finding, CEO of the British Equestrian Federation, was given an OBE following the sport’s record-breaking medal haul at London 2012; other OBE recipients included Keith Walters, president of the Amateur Boxing Association, and Leonard Hatton, chair and president of SportsAid.

New associate director for SLM

Local authority partnership leisure brand Everyone Active, which is operated by Sports and Leisure Management (SLM), has appointed Ben Beevers as associate director.

Beevers will be working closely with the board to plan the company’s future development and formulate appropriate strategies to maintain the company’s market position. He will also work with group managers and operational teams to ensure implementation in a consistent way across the organisation.

“As the company gets bigger, effective implementation and consistency become even more important,” says Everyone Active managing director David Bibby.

“This new role will play a big part in the next phase of our growth. Ben knows the business extremely well and has built outstanding relationships throughout the company, so he was the perfect candidate for the new position.”

Beevers has previously been group health and safety quality manager at Everyone Active for six years, taking care of health and safety – as well as training requirements – across the operator’s 80+ sites. “We’ve seen a huge amount of progress and success in the last six years,” says Beevers. “I’m very proud to take on this new role and further support the exceptional team at Everyone Active.”

Beevers: Promoted within SLM, to associate director

Sean Holt steps down as CEO of CIMSPA

Sean Holt has stepped down from his role as chief executive of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA). Holt was appointed in 2009 as the CEO of the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM) and oversaw the historic merger with the Institute for Sport, Parks and Leisure (ISPAL) to form CIMSPA.

Holt says: “It has been a privilege to be the first CEO of the newly formed Chartered Institute. I would like to thank the team at CIMSPA, the board, stakeholders and members, plus the army of volunteers across the UK who have worked so hard in difficult times to establish the institute for the benefit of the sector’s workforce.”

Marc Newey, chair of CIMSPA, adds. “On behalf of the trustees and the membership, I would like to thank Sean for his commitment over the past four years. He has worked tirelessly to promote CIMSPA’s vision. The board is now working on the next three-year business plan to build on the foundation created by Sean and the team, which we are confident will ensure the long-term sustainability of the institute.”

Sean Holt has been CIMSPA CEO since its launch

Matthew Pengelly joins Performance Health Systems

Matthew Pengelly has been named senior vice-president for UK and EMEA at Performance Health Systems (PHS) – the company which recently acquired vibration training equipment supplier Power Plate. Pengelly is one of four new appointments at PHS.

Emma Scargill has been made regional commercial sales manager for the Midlands, while Paul Dunn will take up the same role for the Northern regions.

Meanwhile, Julian Taylor is the new regional manager for EMEA, joining from Star Trac.