More than 150 sports trust employees attended the inaugural UK Fitness Network (UKFN) staff conference last month at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley.

The UKFN is a collaboration of 15 UK leisure trusts, operating a total of 126 leisure centres. It was formed in February this year following the success of the London Fitness Network, which allows members of one trust's facilities to also use those managed by other trusts within the network.

A spokesperson for Freedom Leisure, which hosted the conference, said: "Over 150 trust staff attended the event, ranging from receptionists to fitness instructors, and from sales staff to duty managers.

"The content was delivered by a group of the trusts' senior managers; sessions included a keynote speech by Olympic swimmer Steve Parry, an active team building session, interactive planning sessions on sales and marketing, with the event including the 2009 UKFN Staff Awards."

Following an evaluation of the event, more than 90 per cent of delegates wanted to see the conference become a yearly event.