About Mike
Mike is best known as the founder and former CEO of Fitness First, taking the business from a single club in Bournemouth to one of the world’s largest health and fitness groups, with more than 550 clubs across 21 countries, 1.5 million members and 20,000 employees.
He has spent decades building, investing in and advising businesses, with deep expertise across health, fitness and wellbeing.
Fitness First floated on AIM in 1996 and was sold to private equity for £835 million in 2005. In 2008, Mike was awarded an OBE for services to business, recognising his contribution to British business and entrepreneurship.
What does Mike bring to Fueld and our clients?
As Chairman, Mike works closely with Fueld founder Russell on the direction and growth of the business, with a particular focus on how we help ambitious health and wellbeing brands grow and scale.
Having spent much of his career in the sector, Mike understands the opportunities and challenges these businesses face — from building a strong proposition and acquiring customers to expansion, investment and creating a commercially scalable business.
That knowledge brings another dimension to the work we do with our clients. Mike helps challenge thinking, identify opportunities and bring a broader commercial perspective to businesses with ambitious growth plans.
For founders and leadership teams, that means we can look beyond the immediate marketing brief and understand how marketing fits into the wider commercial picture.
Alongside Russell and the wider Fueld team, Mike helps us stay focused on what ambitious brands ultimately want to achieve: building stronger businesses, accelerating growth and scaling sustainably.