Our business would not be where it is today without the continuing dedication and hard work of our diverse and talented teams of staff.
Everyone from our Managing Director to site managers and centre staff has a vital role to play in driving our business forward.
The Board of Directors guide Parkwood Leisure in providing the best possible services to clients and local communities alike. With years of experience in the leisure industry and a range of unique skills and qualifications, our Board of Directors are one of the many reasons that Parkwood Leisure is trusted to run over 80 leisure facilities on behalf of local authorities.
Managing Director
Glen has over 25 years of experience working within the Leisure Industry, joining Parkwood Leisure in 1997. He has been a Company Director since 2005 and took the reigns as Managing Director in 2019.
Having worked in the public and private sector, Glen is particularly skilled in strategic development, performance measurement & management, major build & design, organisational improvement and commercial turnaround.
Glen has been integral in growing and diversifying the Parkwood Leisure business over the last 20+ years.
Commercial & Finance Director
Prior to becoming Parkwood Leisure’s Finance Director in 2003 Giles had held Senior Finance Positions at a number of Nasdaq and FTSE listed companies in the service, retail and FMCG markets. He trained and qualified with Ernst & Young in their Birmingham office.
Giles provides strategic Financial guidance for the business and has overseen a five fold growth in the company, numerous contract handovers, system changes and developments as well as leading on a number of acquisitions and disposals. He was promoted to Commercial and Finance Director in 2017, taking on additional responsibilities for the commercial outcome of the company. Giles is very keen on all kinds of sport and physical activity of all kinds and seeks wherever possible to participate and encourage others to do so.
Operations Director
Alex has over 16 years in the Leisure and Fitness industry, joining Parkwood Leisure from his role at University Sport. He holds a degree in Sports Development, NEBOSH Diploma and is a chartered member of IOSH and CIMPSA.
He has a wealth of experience at Parkwood Leisure, progressing upwards through the company since assuming his first role as Duty Manager in 2006. He has since then assumed multiple roles including Centre Manager, Contract Manager, Area Manager, Assistant Regional Director and his most recent appointment of Operations Director in January 2020.
In his spare time Alex enjoys playing Rugby, having played at a semi-professional level and golf where he’s trying to become a single figure handicapper.
Strategy & Performance Director
Qualifications: MA, BSc(Hons), FInstLM, MCIPS, CMI Level 7 Strategy, CMI Level 7 Dip, CMI Grad Dip, PRINCE 2.
Andrew joined Parkwood in 2006 after 18 years service in the Army. As an Infantryman, Andrew commanded soldiers on operations in a number of theatres, culminating as Chief of Staff of a Headquarters staff formed from 9 nations. Andrew gained his programme management expertise from a series of technical staff officer appointments, through international research collaboration posts to his final position within the Defence Procurement Agency.
As Commercial Director Andrew covered a wide range of fields, from commercial contracts through SRM, energy procurement, energy efficiency programmes, property matters and construction defects to winning a landmark legal dispute against a large national construction company. As Strategy and Performance Director Andrew is at the forefront of delivering the digital transformation strategy with a team comprised of the Energy Efficiency Manager, National Aquatics Lead, Digital PM, Auditors and a Business Analyst.
Group HR Director
Sue is an experienced Board Director with almost 20 years of experience in Human Resources. With a Masters in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Sue has worked her way up from Administration to the Boardroom to establish herself as a forward thinking leader.
In 2008, after seven years at Deloitte, Sue joined Parkwood to become HR Director for three of the Parkwood Group companies. Sue was soon promoted to her role of Group HR Director having worked closely with the founders of the Company.
Sue is responsible for developing and leading the HR strategy, supporting over 6,000 employees and has been integral in leading change and delivering innovation to ensure the organisation thrives.
Driving continuous improvement with her team of HR professionals, Sue is an advocate of ensuring that employee engagement is key and that there are opportunities for all employees to make a difference and have their voices heard.
Sales & Marketing Director
Tom Davies has more than 15 years’ experience in marketing and communications, specialising in the sport, fitness and leisure industries. Since joining Parkwood in February 2019 Tom has initiated and delivered the biggest digital transformation in Parkwood history. He has overhauled all of the digital services and launched some major projects, including the introduction of the Leisure Centre app and the Digital Asset Management system. He now leads a team who are data-driven and digitally native with a customer-first approach.
In his previous roles as Head of Marketing at the agency 100AND10% and Account Manager at Goodform, Tom has some notable career achievements. He managed and delivered the marketing strategy for fitness training brand Lifetime Training, growing turnover almost 1000% in four years and was the agency marketing lead for a number of National Governing Bodies including The FA, ECB, RFU, British Weight Lifting, British Judo and Archery GB.
Business Development Director
Mike has nearly 20 years sport, leisure and culture strategic, board and operational experience and joined Parkwood Leisure in August 2019.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity and holds a Master’s Degree.
Having held senior roles in the public, third and private sectors he is particularly skilled in outsourcing and public sector procurement of Leisure and Culture Management contracts and delivering large complex and strategic capital schemes.
Additionally, he has extensive experience and brings a wealth of success in Business Development and Active Communities. He has a track record of growing businesses, increasing revenues, delivering value for money and demonstrating real outcomes and local impact through getting communities more active and participating regularly in sport, leisure and physical activity.
Regional Director, South East
Qualifications: Professionally Qualified to ISRM and active CIMSPA member
Pete joined Parkwood Leisure in April 1996. His operational experience in leisure and facility management spans over 35 years in both the public and private sectors. He was formally Leisure Manager for North Herts District Council, has held a Regional Director role for Parkwood Leisure for over fifteen years and is currently the Regional Director for the South East.
Pete is a qualified ISO 9002 Quality auditor, D33 / D34 NVQ training assessor and Quest quality systems assessor, and was awarded the HR Austin national award for achievement whilst studying for the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management. He is currently a member of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) and holds a NEBOSH Health and Safety qualification.
Pete has a broad base of experience in facility and contract management and has been actively involved in establishing and operating PFI, DBOM, PPP and best value management contracts in both the leisure and education sectors. The South East region is comprised of partnerships with 8 local authorities and the Forestry Commission, as well as the operation of a private fitness club. Overall, the region hosts 28 facilities either directly managed or via partnership arrangements.
Regional Director, Wales and South West
Colleen’s career in leisure spans 31 years in both the public and private sector, bringing a wealth of experience when she assumed her position as Regional Director for Wales and South West in 2013. During her time at Parkwood Leisure, she has overseen several contract extensions with Torbay, Cardiff International Pool and the Vale of Glamorgan.
Previous to joining Parkwood Colleen earned her BA(Hons) in Public Administration with a years placement with Sport Wales and an MSc in Recreation Management at Loughborough University. She then established her career at Bristol City Council which spanned many years. Beginning as Recreation Officer, Colleen progressed through various positions, including Sports Development Manager, Head of Sport and her final position as Service Manager. During her time Colleen oversaw the rationalisation and investment in Leisure Centre portfolio, partnering PFI schools investment, Bristol Council investment and Leisure PFI delivering £35m investment in leisure.
Colleen is also a proud mum of two children, 22 and 27, raising them throughout her full-time career.
Regional Director, North & Midlands
Francois has worked for Fusion Lifestyle for 10 years and 1Life for 18 months and has a vast experience in contract management, mobilisation of new contracts and new developments. He has a track record of increasing revenues and reducing cost. Francois has also agreed partnership agreements with several national governing bodies which include Badminton England, British Gymnastics and Swim England. One of his notable achievements at Fusion Lifestyle was being appointed lead for their Open Active Data project, where they pioneered as the first operator to have open bookable data.
In his spare time, Francois coaches football for his daughter’s team and plays golf socially.
Health, Safety and Compliance Manager
Peter is a registered safety practitioner and a leading specialist in the leisure industry, within his previous role as the founding director of QLM Ltd In this role he developed industry standards and conducted accident investigations for the HSE and solicitors. Peter holds over 40 years experience, and is responsible for driving continuous improvement within health and safety, developing operating systems and conducting internal safety audits of Parkwood facilities. Peter also provides 24/7 expert support to our managers and front line teams. He also sits on the ukactive Technical and Standards Committee.
