EMD UK, the national governing body for group exercise, has appointed Marcus Kingwell, the current managing director of AoC Sport, as its CEO.

Kingwell has steered AoC Sport – the lead organisation for sport and physical activity in further and higher education – for the past five years.

He will replace former CEO Ross Perriam in the role, who stepped down from his role in June 2019 to become CEO of charity RAF Central Fund.

Kingwell has been MD of AoC Sport for the past five years where his main responsibility was getting students aged between 16 and 19 more physically active.

He has more than 15 years’ experience in active leisure and his previous roles include Interim CEO for London Sport.

As CEO of EMD UK, Kingwell will be tasked with further growing and promoting participation in group exercise.

"Marcus joins the EMD UK team at an important phase in our development," said Nigel Wallace, chair of EMD UK.

"He will add impetus and foresight to grow our footprint and influence. More directly he will build upon the existing platform to make a significant difference in supporting our industry’s instructor base and a positive contribution to the quality of exercise delivery across the sector.

Commenting on his new role, Kingwell said: "Participation in group exercise increasing and the social and health benefits that it brings are widely recognised.

"By supporting and expanding the workforce of instructors, I want group exercise to be enjoyed by even more people, in particular, the harder to reach groups."

• In September, EMD UK launched Classfinder, a new directory of group fitness classes aimed to make it easier for people to find suitable exercise sessions.