Sheila McCann, the general manager of Thailand’s famous Chiva-Som spa, is moving to the UK to head up two sites that form part of the ever-expanding portfolio of Austria-based health and medical resort specialists the Lanserhof Group.

One location, announced today (21 February), is an urban health centre in the heart of London that’s expected to open by the end of this year. Lanserhof has partnered with the Dover Street Arts Club, a private club in Mayfair, and will be launching a ‘medical gym’ in a building opposite to it.

The other location which McCann will oversee as general manager is Grayshott Health Spa, a historic destination health spa in Surrey, south England, which Lanserhof acquired last August.

With 59 rooms and 36 treatment rooms, Grayshott has built up a reputation for its health-based wellness programmes – ranging from those targeting the digestive system, weight loss and regeneration following injuries or illness.

As part of the acquisition, Lanserhof plan to refurbish Grayshott and focus on its medical wellness offering.

McCann is a key figure in the global spa industry and was general manager at Chiva-Som for five years.

She began her career as a therapist in Canada and over her 35-plus years in the sector, she has worked for leading brands worldwide. Prior to Chiva-Som, she was corporate director of spa brand quality at Asia-based Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, where she was responsible for the growth of 35 spas globally.

McCann is also a founding member of the International Health and Wellness Alliance, an organisation devoted to uniting all sectors of the wellness industry and educating the world about wellness.

Lanserhof teamed up with real estate agency London and Regional Partners to purchase Grayshott, with each company having a 50 per cent stake in the business.

In an interview with Spa Business last year, Lanserhof’s CMO Nils Behrens revealed that the UK was next on the group’s expansion “hit list”, adding to its existing portfolio of clinics in Lans, Austria; Tegernsee and Medicum in Germany, and the forthcoming location in Sylt, Germany.