The UK’s largest operator of affordable fitness, PureGym, has announced today that CEO Humphrey Cobbold will be moving from CEO to the role of chair on 6 November. Clive Chesser had been appointed to succeed him.

A health and fitness enthusiast, Chesser is currently CEO of Punch Pubs & Co, one of the UK’s largest pub companies, with 1,300 publicans and management partners across the UK. He brings significant experience from international development, franchising and the private equity arena.

Cobbold joined PureGym as chief executive in January 2015 and has overseen its expansion from 60 gyms to more than 600 across ten countries, and has topped two million members. Over the next four years, there are plans for 330 more locations: 200 in Europe and 130 in the Middle East and North Africa.

“It has been the stand-out privilege of my career to have guided PureGym through its development over the past 10 years,” said Cobbold. “We’ve enjoyed the highs of 10x growth and transformative M&A deals and managed the lows of a global pandemic – which saw us receive zero revenue for most of 12 months – a cost-of-living crisis and many smaller challenges.

“PureGym is a business with a remarkable culture and a big heart driven by our dual mission to make Everybody Welcome and to Inspire Healthier Nations wherever we operate. I am hugely grateful to my colleagues who make this mission a reality every day through their efforts and relentless commitment,” he said.

Chesser says it’s an exciting time to be joining the business: "I’ve 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. I very much look forward to helping the business achieve further success, both domestically and internationally.”

The majority equity owners, Leonard Green, also welcomed Chesser’s appointment and paid tribute to Cobbold’s achievements. Partner, Kris Galashan, says: “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 delighted that Humphrey will remain closely involved with the Group and are really pleased to have secured Clive as the new group CEO. Clive brings great experience in international development and franchising from his time at Häagen-Dazs and as a true leader in the pub industry. Alongside Group CFO Alex Wood and Rebecca Passmore, Group COO, he joins an exceptional business leadership team who are primed to deliver further growth and success.”

Despite his success, Cobbold is a humble leader and spoke candidly in HCM about being ”unceremoniously fired from Wiggle” and what he learned from the experience.

“The cloud had a silver lining,” he said. “It made me reflect on what I really wanted to do and I’m incredibly grateful because I found PureGym during that time and have ended up building a more successful business. I now believe bad things can happen which can lead to good things.”

A steady stream of high ranking leaders are joining the fitness industry from hospitality including Belinda Steward at Places Leisure, who will be speaking at the HCM Summit and Colleen Keating, the new CEO at Planet Fitness.

HCM will be discussing the hospitality trend in an upcoming issue.