Our mission is healthier communities through group exercise.

As the recognised national governing body for group exercise, EMD UK has one focus – supporting the group exercise workforce.

We work with:

  • Group exercise instructors of all genres
  • Employers such as leisure operators and gym chains
  • Brands from inception to business acceleration
  • Sport England, as a system partner for group exercise
  • Did you know...

    EMD UK is the go-to membership organisation of choice for group exercise instructors. As of July 2024, we had over 10,000 members and counting!

Who we’re here for

There are thousands of group exercise instructors in the UK. Collectively, they get millions of people active every week. From Pilates to HIIT and everything in between, group exercise instructors are key to boosting the nation’s health.

As the only sector body committed solely to group exercise instructors, EMD UK is proud to support and advocate for them. Our work includes:

  • Helping instructors gain professional recognition for the work they do.

  • Supporting instructors and employers with structure for fair pay.

  • Providing free resources and learning to support instructor careers.

  • Giving them a voice in the sector through events, press, white papers, and more.

Our board and senior team

Samantha Cullum

Chair of the board, EMD UK

Having spent a significant amount of her early career in the health and wellness industry, as Director of Operations for YMCAfit, Operations Director for FitPro, Chair of the Women’s Sports Foundation and as a part of the core team that set up Les Mills UK, Samantha has a solid understanding of the fitness sector.

In the last ten years she has worked with a diverse set of organisations from design, spa and fitness to architecture and PPE; advising Board and Senior Teams; helping them to take their next leap forward and increasingly to support them to develop and deliver a digital strategy, taking products and service online and in-app.

Gill Cummings-Bell

CEO, EMD UK

Gill has been a group exercise teacher for over 40 years and has provided education for hundreds of fitness professionals.

Gill has considerable skills in the fitness sector, including class development, strategic management, quality assurance, and planning and development. Gill consults and presents both nationally and internationally, presenting workshops on education and health related topics around the world.

  • Did you know...

    EMD UK has the largest pool of group exercise data in the industry? Here’s just a snapshot of what we know…

Media enquiries

EMD UK have a wealth of speakers to assist you with your stories. Please contact Alex Martin, Head of Marketing and Commercial, via email on marketing@emduk.org.