Board of Directors

John Treharne Chair of the Board
Richard Darwin Chief Executive Officer
Ann-marie Murphy Chief Operating Officer
Emma Woods Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
David Kelly Non-Executive Director
Wais Shaifta Non-Executive Director
Elaine O’Donnell Non-Executive Director
Richard Stables Non-Executive Director
Luke Tait Chief Financial Officer

John Treharne

Chair of the Board

John founded The Gym Group in 2007 and has over 20 years’ experience in the health and fitness industry.

John launched Dragons Health Club plc in 1991, before its flotation on AIM in 1997 and sale to Crown Sports plc in 2000.

Richard Darwin

Chief Executive Officer

Richard possesses extensive experience working for leisure and FMCG companies in the UK and internationally, including The Rank Group, Hard Rock Café International and Diageo. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand.

He has previously held the positions of Chief Financial Officer of Essenden plc (now Ten Entertainment Group plc) from 2009 to 2015 and Chief Financial Officer of Paramount Restaurants from 2003 to 2008.

Richard served as The Gym Group’s Chief Financial Officer from 2015 to 2018.

Ann-marie Murphy

Chief Operating Officer

Ann-marie joined the Company in April 2018 as Director of People and Development and was appointed as Chief People Officer in January 2021. Ann-marie was subsequently appointed as Chief Operating Officer in February 2022.

Ann-marie has held over 15 years experience across a variety of senior Human Resources roles, particularly in the travel and retail industries. Prior to joining the Gym Group, Ann-marie was Group Human Resources Director at New Look Retailers.

Emma Woods

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Emma has wide-ranging marketing experience within the FMCG and leisure sector.

Emma was the former CEO of Wagamama and previously held Marketing Director roles at Merlin Entertainments plc, Pizza Express and Unilever.

David Kelly

Non-Executive Director

David is an experienced digital operating executive.

David was previously the Operations Director at Amazon in the UK from 1998 to 2000, the Chief Operating Officer at Lastminute.com from 2000 to 2003, the Vice President, Operations/Chief Operating Officer at eBay from 2003 to 2007 and Senior Vice President of International at Rackspace from 2010 to 2012.

Wais Shaifta

Non-Executive Director

Wais has gathered substantial e-commerce expertise from a number of leading online businesses. As the former CEO at Push Doctor, one of the leading digital healthcare companies in Europe, Wais worked in partnership with the NHS to connect thousands of patients each week with clinicians. Before joining Push Doctor, Wais was Director of Global Operations at Treatwell, and prior to that was International Operations Director at Just Eat. 

Elaine O’Donnell

Non-Executive Director

Elaine is a highly experienced financial professional and Audit Chair. She is currently Chair of Games Workshop Group PLC and Chair of the Audit Committee and Non-Executive Director of On the Beach Group Plc, and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and Non-Executive Director of SThree plc. She was formerly a Non-Executive Director of Studio Retail Group PLC. Elaine was previously a Partner at Ernst & Young and is a Chartered Accountant.

Richard Stables

Non-Executive Director

Richard is an experienced corporate financier, having spent 32 years at Lazard. Currently Richard is a Partner at Fulcrum Advisory Partners LLP, an independent advisory firm, and a Senior Advisor to Blantyre Capital. Richard is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Luke Tait

Chief Financial Officer

Luke is the Chief Financial Officer and joined us in October 2022. Luke was formerly Group CFO of Nando's Group Holdings Limited, the global restaurant business, which he joined in 2017. Prior to this, he held various finance roles at SSP plc, including CFO of the UK and US businesses and Group Corporate Finance Director, culminating as Group Financial Controller. Luke is a qualified accountant.