Sean Holt, regional director for the South East and London at Sport England, has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM).

Holt's appointment was confirmed at ISRM's annual conference at the Alton Towers resort, having previously helped to oversee the development of the new Wembley Stadium in London, Nottingham Ice Centre and the National Cycling Centre while at Sport England. Holt will replace outgoing ISRM chief executive officer Ralph Riley, who is set to step down from the position in mid-December but will remain with the organisation as a technical adviser.

ISRM chair Marc Newey said: "Sean's impressive breadth of experience in so many aspects of the sports and recreation sector - from strategy, policy and advocacy, through to project delivery - will add so much to our organisation." Meanwhile, new ISRM president John Wileman - head of sport and leisure in the department of community and culture at Nottingham City Council - has admitted that the sport and active leisure industry will have to adapt to economic realities caused by the recession.

In his presidential address at the ISRM annual conference, Wileman said: "The next 12 months will probably see a slight recovery in the willingness of customers to spend, but in particular local authorities have woken up to the fact that they must save millions of pounds. "The industry is still very much based on statutory service delivery and in spite of everyone's love of sport and recreation we are starting to feel the cuts more like a blow of an axe than the surgeon's scalpel."