It’s Time for New Leadership in the Fitness Industry – Or We’ll Miss This Moment Again

 

It’s Time for New Leadership in the Fitness Industry – Or We’ll Miss This Moment Again

For as long as I’ve been in this industry, I’ve seen strategies come and go. Big visions, government-backed initiatives, and policy documents promising to get the nation moving, tackle inactivity, and make fitness part of the national health solution. Yet here we are — decades later — still having the same conversation.

Now, with the announcement of the government’s new 10-year plan, we’re being presented with another chance. But if we allow the same structures, the same organisations, and the same people to lead the charge, I fear we’ll end up in exactly the same place: full of potential, but with very little delivered.

The 10-year plan, formally known as the “National Physical Activity and Health Strategy,” aims to tackle the growing crisis of inactivity, rising obesity rates, mental health concerns, and chronic illness by embedding movement and physical activity into everyday life. It recognises the role that fitness, sport, wellness, and active communities must play in reducing pressure on the NHS and improving the health of the nation. It talks about prevention over cure. About reducing health inequalities. About changing behaviours and building a more resilient society. And on paper, it’s the kind of strategy our industry should be perfectly placed to deliver.

We are the ones who see people daily. Who support them through life’s challenges. Who provide the structure, encouragement, and community that drives long-term change. No other industry has our mix of reach, frequency, and behavioural influence. We are, arguably, the single most underutilised asset in the entire healthcare system.

But here's the problem: the government doesn’t fully trust us to deliver it.

Why? Because we don’t act like a unified sector. Because they see division, fragmentation, and a lack of consistent standards. Because every time they look to us for leadership, they get the same handful of organisations offering the same limited reach. Because for too long we’ve been inward-looking, protective of our corners, and unwilling to build something that represents all of us. And until we change that, we won’t be taken seriously as a national partner.

Let’s be brutally honest. UK Active, formerly the FIA, and CIMSPA have played their part — but they haven’t united the industry. In fact, in many ways, they’ve reinforced the divide. Independents feel underrepresented. Hotel and hospitality fitness barely features. The private sector is often treated like an afterthought. And public sector delivery, while important, hasn’t exactly set the benchmark for progress. If it was going to work, it would have by now. We’ve had enough pilot schemes. Enough consultations. Enough of the same voices saying the same things on the same stages.

What we need now is leadership that isn’t based on legacy. We need something new — an organisation, or at least a leadership group, that truly represents the whole sector. One that doesn’t default to the same public delivery mechanisms or assume that only the largest operators should have a voice. The fact is, the big names don’t always know best — and some of the most innovative, community-focused, and impactful work is happening in clubs that never get invited into these conversations.

This can’t be another public-sector-led plan. It hasn’t worked before, and there’s no evidence it’ll work now. We need a plan that includes everyone: public, private, independent, commercial, hotel-based, and wellness-focused. Yes, it’s more complex. But that’s the reality of the industry today. It’s diverse. It’s multi-faceted. And any policy that fails to acknowledge that is destined to under-deliver.

We also have to take a long, hard look at the idea of leadership in our industry. Who decides the agenda? Who gets to sit at the table? Because, frankly, it’s been the same people for the last 20 years. Many of them are good people. Some have great experience. But experience alone isn’t what we need now. We need innovation. We need people who understand today’s consumer, today’s economy, and today’s expectations. And we need to be brave enough to say that the people who brought us here might not be the people to take us forward.

Wellness is another area we need to get serious about. It’s not just a trendy word or a quick rebrand of what we already do. Wellness is its own discipline — and one that needs real experts to lead it. I’ve lost count of the number of operators now claiming to deliver “wellness” with no qualifications, no credibility, and no outcomes. If we’re going to make wellness part of the national conversation, then let’s bring in the people who specialise in it. Mental health professionals. Nutritionists. Recovery specialists. Sleep researchers. Let’s stop pretending we can be all things to all people and start collaborating properly.

It’s also time to stop begging the government for tax breaks and rate relief as our first response to every challenge. That’s not a strategy — it’s a symptom of our lack of confidence. What we should be doing is showing government how we solve their problems. How we can drive down NHS pressure. How we can reduce health inequality. How we can get people moving again in ways that schools, doctors, and public campaigns haven’t been able to. We need to position ourselves as partners, not petitioners.

This isn’t just a call for change. It’s a call to completely rethink how we lead, how we organise, and how we represent ourselves as a sector. If the government is serious about this 10-year plan, then we have to be serious too. That means looking at our own structures. Our own failings. Our own outdated assumptions.

Let’s stop dividing the industry. Let’s stop allowing a chosen few — who, in my opinion, have delivered very little of substance over the last two decades — to control the narrative. Let’s bring in new people. New energy. New ideas. Let’s build something that includes everyone and benefits everyone.

Because if we don’t, then we’ll waste this opportunity just like we’ve wasted the others.

And I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Many of the people I speak to — club owners, consultants, PTs, and wellness providers — all say the same thing behind closed doors: the current model doesn’t work. It doesn’t represent them. It doesn’t deliver for them. And it’s not going to suddenly change unless we make it change.

We need national campaigns that clubs can actually use — with support, resources, and proper backing. We need awareness drives that the government can co-brand and fund, like Change4Life once was. We need boards and committees that include real operators, not just corporate faces. We need governing bodies that give every club — especially independents — something of value. And we need national standards that are affordable, realistic, and supportive.

We don’t just need a plan. We need a system shift. A mindset shift. A structural shift.

We need leadership that reflects the industry we have — not the one we used to be.

If this 10-year plan is going to work, we can’t just dust off the same strategy, put a new logo on it, and expect different results.

It’s time for something new. And if we don’t act now, we may never get another chance.