”ukactive exists to improve the health of the nation by getting more people, more active, more often. ukactive provides services and facilitates partnerships for a broad range of organisations, all of which support our vision and have a role to play in achieving that goal.
We serve over 4,000 members and partners from across the public, private and third sectors, from multinational giants to local voluntary community groups. We do so by facilitating partnerships, campaigning and providing outstanding membership services.
ukactive
Improving the health of the nation
Together achieving more
Our Mission and Vision
In addition to his role as Chair, Mike also Chairs the Nominations Committee, is member of the Remuneration Committee, is the Board Champion for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, and Lead Board Director for Welfare & Safety
She has been a leading public face for the organisation, outlining several key ukactive policy recommendations in the past two years. Tanni has appeared regularly on TV as chair of ukactive, including on BBC Breakfast and Daily Politics, highlighting ukactive policy recommendations as well as promoting the myriad benefits of physical activity as a whole.
Tanni is also a regular feature in the print media, providing expert comment on all things physical activity related
As a Paralympian over an international wheelchair racing career spanning 5 Games she won 11 Paralympic Gold medals, held over 30 world records and won the London Marathon six times.
In 2005 she became ‘Dame’ Tanni Grey-Thompson for her services to sport. On 23 March 2010, Grey-Thompson was created a Life Peer on the recommendation of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Her title was conferred as Baroness Grey-Thompson, of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham.
In addition to her work at ukactive she is also a Board Member of several organisations including the London Legacy Development Corporation and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Katy chairs the Finance & General Purpose Committee, and is members of the Remuneration Committee
He is Secretary of Community Leisure UK and Co-Chair of the London Social Enterprise Leaders Business Club. Mark has enjoyed 40 years in the leisure industry, working at every level, from poolside to Managing Director.
In 2017, Huw was named Leisure Sector Champion for the Department of Work & Pensions disability taskforce, aiming to ensure that the work of the sector in the disability space is aligned to the DWP’s objectives. Previously, Huw was the Public Affairs lead at British Tennis, working across both the Lawn Tennis Association and The Tennis Foundation. He has also worked for both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Olympic Delivery Authority during the delivery of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Greg is an Olympian in modern pentathlon, and is a European and World Championship medalist. He is an expert in the field of sports and exercise science. Graduating from Brunel University, he furthered his studies with an MSc in human performance in the USA and completed his PhD at St. Georges Hospital Medical School, London. Greg is currently a Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moore’s University and Director of Performance at the Centre for Health and Human Performance at 76 Harley Street, London.
Greg's former roles include Director of Research for the British Olympic Association and Director of Science & Research for the English Institute of Sport.
Greg is the preeminent authority on Exercise Physiology and Sports and Exercise Performance in the UK. An internationally recognised expert in the field, Greg has extensive professional experience assessing, treating and improving the performance of patients, sporting enthusiasts and athletes ranging from cancer sufferers to celebrities attempting their first mountain summit to Gold medal seeking Olympians.
Greg is well-known for his charity work including his involvement in Comic Relief (Sport relief) and, as a result of his work, Greg has helped raise over £45million for charity.
Together, they grew the business from a one site, three staff operation into a multi-site contract management business operating health clubs and day spas, primarily in hotels, employing over 450 staff and with an annual turnover in excess of £10million.
Having sold out to a PLC in 2001, the pair bought the business back three years later and developed the Imagine spa concept to support the health club offering.
In 2011, Mosaic acquired it’s first freehold stand alone health club and day spa when it bought The Shrewsbury Club out of administration. Since then, the business has gone on to add two more freehold clubs; Holmer Park in Hereford and Riverhills in Ipswich.
Dave has always been passionate about the industry and was on the Board of UK Active, when it was known as the Fitness Industry Association, for seven years before serving as Chair for two years from 1999- 2001. He was the driving force behind a number of industry initiatives including the introduction of the industry’s Code of Practice and Register of Exercise Professionals.
He re-joined UK Active’s Membership Council in 2015 and is currently Chair of that group.
Dave is also on the Board of the Marches LEP, based in the West Midlands, and is the Small Business Champion for the region. Dave authored a book called “More to Gain Than Just to Game” which shares seven stories about the life lessons sport teaches us and was shortlisted in the Telegraph Sports Book of the Year Awards 2020.
In 2006, the government led by Tony Blair made Carol its national director for health and work and asked her to promote its policies across Whitehall, especially within the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions. In March 2008, she authored Working for a healthier tomorrow, a report which focused on the impact of sickness absence on the health of the working-age population and on the economy.
She was made a CBE in 2002 in recognition of her research work on scleroderma. Carol was upgraded to DBE in 2005 while she was President of the Royal College of Physicians. She was made an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Bristol in 2003.
“Carol chairs ukactive’s Remuneration Committee, and is a member of the Nominations Committee
In 1991 John started his first gym business, Dragons Health Clubs, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1997, with 22 clubs. Dragons was sold in 2000. He then lent his expertise to premium gym chain Esporta, before he concentrated on the launch of The Gym Group in 2008.
Under John’s leadership, The Gym Group pioneered the low cost gym model with contractless, 24/7 operations and online sign-up. In November 2015, The Gym Group became the first UK health and fitness group to debut on the London Stock Exchange in over 15 years. In February 2016 the business was named as a finalist and Ruban d’Honneur recipient in the 2015/16 European Business awards. John stepped down as CEO of The Gym Group in September 2018, but remains on the board as Founder Director.
Today, The Gym Group is nationwide with over 159 sites and a roll-out programme of 15-20 new gyms each year. It has had over 100 million gym visits since launch in 2008, and has a membership of over 750,000.
Dave’s companies work directly with over 9,000 businesses across 80 different countries which has given him the unique ability to view the global industry from a supplier, buyer and health club member’s perspective. An Antipodean with a BA in Recreation Leadership and Marketing, Dave is respected as a straight talking and energetic entrepreneur who has spent the majority of his life encouraging people to be more and stay more physically active.
Dave is a member of the ukactive Membership Council, and Chair of the ukactive Supplier Council
In 1991 John started his first gym business, Dragons Health Clubs, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1997, with 22 clubs. Dragons was sold in 2000. He then lent his expertise to premium gym chain Esporta, before he concentrated on the launch of The Gym Group in 2008.
Under John’s leadership, The Gym Group pioneered the low cost gym model with contractless, 24/7 operations and online sign-up. In November 2015, The Gym Group became the first UK health and fitness group to debut on the London Stock Exchange in over 15 years. In February 2016 the business was named as a finalist and Ruban d’Honneur recipient in the 2015/16 European Business awards. John stepped down as CEO of The Gym Group in September 2018, but remains on the board as Founder Director.
Today, The Gym Group is nationwide with over 159 sites and a roll-out programme of 15-20 new gyms each year. It has had over 100 million gym visits since launch in 2008, and has a membership of over 750,000.
Ukactive as an organisation is fully committed to championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion throughout all aspects of the organisation’s work. As part of this the ukactive Board has made a commitment to achieve and maintain the following targets:
- The Board has adopted a target of a minimum of 30% of each gender on the Board
- The Board demonstrates a strong and public commitment to progressing towards
a. achieving gender parity
b. achieving greater diversity on its Board, including, but not limited to, Black, Asian, minority ethnic (BAME) diversity and disability