ukactive, the UK’s trade body for the physical activity sector, is pleased to announce that Cameron Saunders has been appointed as its new CEO.
Cameron will join the organisation in April, bringing a wealth of leadership experience, commercial acumen and marketing expertise.
He will replace Huw Edwards, who announced in October that he would be leaving ukactive after six years as CEO.
Cameron is a senior leader with more than 20 years’ experience running complex, high-profile organisations across entertainment, media and public-interest sectors.
He was previously Managing Director of 20th Century Fox UK, where he built a high-performance culture and led the organisation’s commercial growth.
He also served on the Board of Cinema First, the UK’s trade body for the film industry, where he played a lead role aligning rival cinema operators and film studios around shared priorities, convening senior leaders through structured roundtables, and translating discussion into tangible outcomes.
Throughout his career, Cameron has built influential brands, mobilised audiences and forged commercially strong partnerships in high-profile environments.
He was Group Strategy Director for renowned advertising agency, Engine, and has held senior positions at Sky, Paramount, Showmax Africa and Channel 4.
Alongside his commercial career, Cameron served as Chair of The Film & TV Charity, where he led industry-wide action on mental health and wellbeing — commissioning landmark research into workforce mental health, building cross-industry coalitions around shared standards, and demonstrating that a diverse sector can come together to be a powerful force for the wellbeing of the people it employs.
Cameron is an avid runner and advocate for physical activity, having been inspired to start running when he was working on the re-release Chariots of Fire as part of the London 2012 celebrations. He has since become an endurance runner, helping to raise over £200,000 for charity and building a community of followers on Instagram.
David Stalker, Chair of ukactive, said: “I am delighted to welcome Cameron to ukactive. His leadership record and his experience bringing an industry together will help us to build on our work to improve our services and grow our sector’s impact.
“Cameron joins ukactive at an important time for our sector’s future and I look forward to working with him and our members to capitalise on the clear opportunities we have to get more people active across the UK.”
Cameron Saunders said: “Physical activity is one of the most powerful and most underinvested tools we have for improving national health, productivity and wellbeing – and ukactive is uniquely placed to make that case.
“With unparalleled access to expertise across the sector, there’s a real opportunity for ukactive to act as a trusted convenor, catalyst and national voice – raising its influence, relevance and impact with members, government and the public alike.
“I can’t wait to use my experience to drive forward ukactive’s mission. Together we can get more people more active, more often — and having more fun doing so.”
