People: The PureGym Group; Begbies Traynor Group; CP Media; and more

Leeds-headquartered gym operator, The PureGym Group, is making changes to its senior management team.

These include a change of role for CEO Humphrey Cobbold, who will become chair, and the appointment of Clive Chesser as CEO.

Chesser is currently CEO of Punch Pubs & Co, one of the UK’s largest pub companies. The changes will be effective from November 6, 2024, and at that point Chesser will join the group’s Board. 

Cobbold joined PureGym as chief executive in January 2015.

After 10 years as CEO, he – with the full support of the Board – has decided to transition to a different role which will see him still making a significant contribution to the business while handing over executive responsibility to Chesser.

As well as his credentials in multi-site leisure and hospitality, Chesser brings significant experience from international development and franchising and is a seasoned executive and leader within the private equity arena.

Humphrey Cobbold

Cobbold said: “It has been the stand-out privilege of my career to have guided PureGym through its development over the past 10 years.

“Working with an extraordinary group of colleagues we have succeeded in building a business from around 60 sites to over 600 now spread across six countries.

“We have enjoyed the highs of 10x growth and transformative M&A deals and managed the lows of a pandemic  (which saw us receive zero revenue for most of 12 months), a cost-of-living crisis and many smaller challenges.

“The Board and I are happy to have secured Clive as our next CEO, after an extensive international search.

“He has the perfect skill set to guide us on the next exciting stage of our growth journey and I am really looking  forward to working with him in my new role as chair.”

Chesser added: “I am thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to run such a brilliant business. I have long admired PureGym for its clearly defined purpose-driven mission to inspire healthier nations, with inclusivity at its heart.

“It is truly a great British business success story, and Humphrey and the team should feel immensely proud of their achievements to date.

“It is a really exciting time to be joining the group, and I very much look forward to helping the business achieve further success, both domestically and internationally.” 

Kris Galashan, a partner of Leonard Green, the majority equity owners, said: “Humphrey has been an exceptional CEO of the PureGym Group, and he is a large part of why we invested in the business back in 2017 and have remained so supportive of the business over the last few years – not all of which have been easy or straightforward.

“As investors we are happy that Humphrey will remain closely involved with the group and are really pleased to have secured Clive as the new group CEO.”

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Independent business rescue and recovery specialist, Begbies Traynor Group, has expanded its senior team with the appointment of Carl Lever as a director, working across the firm’s Leeds and Manchester offices.

Lever joins the firm from Leonard Curtis where he gained 13 years’ experience and has built a specialism in advising Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated businesses.

In his new role as director at Begbies Traynor Group he will continue to focus on advising, helping and providing options to firms in the financial services sector, particularly those facing financial or regulatory challenges.

Julian Pitts, regional managing partner for Begbies Traynor Group in Yorkshire, said: “We are really pleased to welcome Carl to the team.

“He brings with him huge depth of experience in dealing with FCA-regulated businesses, an area where we are seeing growing demand and in which we plan to drive growth.

“As a firm, we’re committed to developing our team by employing the most experienced and best qualified colleagues in their fields and Carl is another great example of this approach.”

Lever added: “This is an exciting time to be joining Begbies Traynor Group, which has an outstanding reputation for advising businesses that find themselves facing financial difficulties.

“I am looking forward to working with talented colleagues, and using my expertise and contacts to help support FCA-regulated firms across the north of England.”

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Peter Goodman has been appointed chief financial officer for growing Halifax-based outdoor media company, CP Media.

In the last five years, the company has tripled in size through a mixture of organic growth and three significant acquisitions: Eye Airports, Adverta Bus Advertising, and most recently, Lamppost Banners, which had previously been a joint venture.

Mike Brennan, CEO and co-founder of CP Media, said: “We’re ambitiously but strategically growing our company, which is very satisfying. But we need to make sure the businesses we buy make sense, are improved, and also to a sensible degree integrate into our existing company, so we can benefit from scale both economically and managerially.

“Peter brings energy and discipline to the organisation at a very important time as we are looking to accelerate our growth both organically and through further acquisitions in the next couple of years, and we need to do this both carefully but ambitiously.

“So, a number of different, high-calibre skill sets are required to achieve this goal.

“In 2022, we promoted three existing directors to the Board, and they became minority shareholders at the same time.

“This has worked well for them both personally and professionally, as well as benefiting the company, and we would hope in due course that Pete buys into CP Media as well.”

CP Media has a large portfolio of approximately 10,000 outdoor advertising sites that extend from the Shetland and Orkney Islands across the whole UK as far as Cornwall. These sites include airports, local authority signage, lamppost banners, buses, and trams.

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York-based APS UK Ltd, which specialises in dust & fume extraction and material handling systems, has appointed a new area sales manager, Rebecca Lee.

Lee brings nine years of experience working in the industry, having previously held various roles at a welding distributor, working in accounts, sales, and external sales.

In her previous roles in the metal fabrication and welding industry, she stayed across the enquiries for weld fume and grind dust extraction, retaining key knowledge of the HSE rules and regulations around protecting those working in welding.

Her role as area sales manager for the East Midlands and the South East will see her main responsibilities lie in maintaining customer relationships and helping to grow business in the area.

Lee said: “I’m extremely excited to join APS, as it’s a new challenge, learning a completely different sector to this industry, with a very knowledgeable and well-respected company.

“Having worked at the forefront of what is a male-dominated industry since my early twenties, my ambition is to become one of the leading women in this industry, and at APS, I believe I can do that.”

Matt Brown, sales director, said: “Rebecca will be a brilliant asset to our team, bringing valuable sales experience and a great ability to maintain and build customer relationships.

“I’m looking forward to working with her in making APS the industry leader in dust extraction systems and materials handling.”