Mark began his career as a PE teacher, advancing to Head of Department and School Improvement Consultant. His work with the Commonwealth Games 2002 organising team sparked a transition into Sport Development and public sector leadership as Head of Service for Sport and Physical Activity. Mark went onto spend 13 years at Chief Executive level for public leisure organisations where he led transformative change, driving innovation and enhancing service delivery across sport, health, education and social service sectors. Recognised with the ukactive Outstanding Leadership Award, he now leads The Performance Blueprint, empowering organisations to achieve sustainable success through leadership and high-performing cultures.

Grow Your Swim School with Confidence

A practical and personal session with KJ

Running a swim school isn’t just about filling classes. It’s about building something strong, a place where your team feels supported and your swimmers thrive.

With over 16 years in the aquatics world, KJ brings real hands-on experience. This session gets straight to the point with practical ideas you can use right away.

We’ll cover improving customer experience, tightening up systems and building confident leaders. It’s interactive, with group work to help you find a quick win and figure out the next steps for long-term growth.

You’ll leave with clarity, confidence and real actions to move your swim school forward.

With over 14 years in the industry, KJ brings a wealth of experience in fitness, business growth and leadership. A founding member of 3-1-5 Health Club and now co-founder of The Elevate Company, KJ is passionate about helping others raise their game.

Driven by a love for progress and purpose, KJ supports gyms, studios and swim schools to grow, perform and succeed. Known for high standards and positive energy, they’re all about motivating people, removing barriers and making things happen.

Inspiring Health, Sport, and Community: The Story Behind Our Latest Campaign

This session will explore how Barnsley Premier Leisure’s most recent campaign was thoughtfully crafted to resonate with a wide range of audiences, from busy families to health-conscious individuals, sports enthusiasts, and everyone in between. We’ll walk through the strategic considerations that shaped our messaging and approach, as well as the successes and challenges we’ve encountered along the way. Most importantly, we’ll look ahead to the future of the campaign and how we plan to expand its impact. This includes an ambitious vision to bring health and sport to the high street, making wellbeing activities more accessible, active and engaging for all.

Over 25 years in the leisure industry, extremely passionate about understanding our customers and always looking to stretch boundaries and reach new audiences by being brave and different when it comes to marketing.

Our purpose is simple: to help people feel good. One of our core priorities is to engage with the wider community, a commitment we bring to life through our ‘Good for All’ approach, which is very much at the forefront of our business.  

To enhance our purpose, we developed the Let’s Get Going campaign which marked a turning point in BPLs pivot to health, to tackle local inequalities in our local area. Engaging with the 80% of the inactive population to increase health awareness and participation.  

Let’s Get Going is a community-focused campaign created to enhance the overall wellbeing of local community in Barnsley and Bassetlaw. 

Its aim is to encourage everyone to embrace a more active lifestyle; encouraging sustainable behaviour change and equipping them with tools to take on a more proactive role in their wellness. 

Let’s Get Going speaks to a new target audience; people who wouldn’t necessarily think health and wellness was for them and who may not be aware of what we offer in our facilities or support available to them in the wider community.