Places Leisure partners with EMD UK to provide professional recognition to all group exercise instructors
Places Leisure is the first public leisure operator in the UK to provide all its group exercise instructors with professional recognition from the national governing body for group exercise, EMD UK.
Through this partnership, every Places Leisure Group Exercise instructor will achieve EMD UK Professional Recognition status. This unlocks official professional recognition for their qualifications alongside immediate access to a wealth of resources, training, and ongoing support for their personal and professional growth. While membership and formal recognition remain optional across much of the sector, Places Leisure is taking a leading stance by fully embedding EMD UK Professional Recognition status across their group exercise workforce.
Over 5.4 million adults take part in group exercise classes in England every month with the top three most important qualities participants look for from their instructor being personality (positive), good coach and knowledge1. Those who attend group exercise classes led by instructors holding an EMD UK Pro membership can expect to attend expertly led classes with consistency across all Places Leisure sites.
Places Leisure run around 20,000 group exercise classes per month with over 1,200 instructors working across the centres. By the end of 2026, all Places Leisure instructors are expected to hold a membership with EMD UK.
Sam Bryant, Head of Fitness at Places Leisure, said: “We are extremely proud of the Group Exercise programmes that we deliver across Places Leisure. Our instructors are incredibly knowledgeable and highly experienced. We see the value in consistently providing opportunities for our colleagues to increase their knowledge and be able to provide better all-round customer experience. That’s why we are proud to be the first public leisure operator in the UK to offer this qualification to all of our group exercise instructors.”
Nick Appleby, Group Exercise Product Manager at Places Leisure, said: “We are thrilled that Places Leisure has been able to deliver this partnership with EMD UK, giving our instructors the professional recognition and development opportunities they deserve while continuing to raise the quality and consistency of the experience we offer members.”
Sue Wilkie, Head of Workforce at EMD UK, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with an operator as forward-thinking as Places Leisure. Their proactive investment in workforce development sets a benchmark for the sector, ensuring instructors are equipped with professionally recognised status. By placing high-quality training and ongoing CPD right at their team’s fingertips, Places Leisure is empowering instructors to create truly safe, welcoming, and inclusive movement spaces for every community they serve.”
Dan Rees, CEO at EMD UK, also said: “This partnership represents a significant step forward in our shared commitment to strengthening the group exercise workforce. This collaboration reflects Places Leisure’s commitment to ensuring instructors are valued, professionally recognised, and equipped to deliver high-quality, engaging and inclusive experiences for every member.”
To find out more about Places Leisure visit here.
About Places Leisure
Places Leisure, part of the Places for People Group, is a social enterprise which is passionate about ‘creating active places and healthy people’ and improving opportunities for communities to be physically active. It experiences over 30 million visits per annum across the 101 leisure facilities that it operates on behalf of local authorities across the country and supports over 126k children and adults learning to swim each year.
