Health and fitness entrepreneur Allan Pilkington has retired after working in the sector for 35 years.

During his career, Pilkington worked as a PE teacher, before making his move into leisure consultancy with the development of his own training company.

He later joined the UK’s national training organisation for sport, recreation and training ¬ SPRITO (now SkillsActive) - where he worked on raising training and skills development within the European health and fitness industry to match UK standards.

In 2003, he helped establish and became the CEO of the European Health and Fitness Association (EHFA) in a bid to promote best practice in instruction and training in the European sector.

SkillsActive Group CEO, Stephen Studd, said: “Allan has been a true pioneer. His faith in the industry and his belief that people are the key to business success has shaped a vision which has set the direction for the industry’s future success.”

Andree Deane, CEO of the Fitness Industry Association (FIA), added: “He has played a key role in the development of industry standards through the creation of Exercise and Fitness NVQs and the health club operator codes of practice.”

Pilkington is also retiring from his post as European projects director at the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE), a network of public or not-for-profit, observatoires involved in sport development, qualifications and employment in Europe.