17
Jun
Mark Tweedie has resigned as managing director of council-controlled leisure firm Brimhams Active.
His departure means Brimhams Active will not have a permanent leader until leisure services are brought back in-house later this year.
Harrogate Borough Council set up the leisure company in August 2021 with former PE teacher Mr Tweedie at the helm.
Overseeing 250 staff, he led the creation of new leisure centres in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough at a cost of more than £40 million.
Mr Tweedie at the opening of the Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.
The community health approach adopted by Mr Tweedie’s team was praised by North Yorkshire Council after it replaced Harrogate Borough Council in April last year.
Nevertheless, the new council decided to abolish it and bring leisure services back in-house as part of its bid to harmonise services across the county.
Mr Tweedie’s departure was not announced by the council but the Brimhams Active entry on Companies House was recently updated to say his appointment as a director had been terminated on May 31. In his Linked In profile, Mr Tweedie says he is "semi-retired".
According to Companies House, Brimhams has appointed three directors — Nigel McCloy, David Watson and Elizabeth Green — since Mr Tweedie’s departure.
The Stray Ferret asked the council for further details of the changes and why it had not announced Mr Tweedie’s exit.
Jo Ireland, the council’s assistant director for culture and leisure, said in a statement:
In January, we made the decision to operate all leisure services in house as part of a wider review of leisure services. This includes Brimhams Active, which is expected to formally transfer later in the year.
Therefore, when the managing director of Brimhams Active resigned in May, it was decided to adopt interim management arrangements to ensure services continued and to manage the transition process.
These changes do not affect the delivery of services in any way. Until the formal transfer of the service, the existing Brimhams Active board remains in place and new directors have been appointed to cover the board’s vacancies.
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