Marcus Kingwell

Marcus Kingwell is now back full time with the Sport, Leisure and Culture Consultancy (SLC) as Associate Director. He has just finished a seven month assignment with the Institute for Sport, Parks and Leisure (ISPAL) as interim Chief Executive. As well as running ISPAL’s day-to-day business, Marcus led the ISPAL team in the merger with the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM) to create the single professional body for the sport and physical activity sector. That professional body - the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity - is now open for business in SportPark, Loughborough. 

Marcus said, “With many local authorities now looking at joint working opportunities, the ability to successfully implement mergers is very relevant. The merger of ISPAL and ISRM was complex and challenging, despite the considerable levels of goodwill on both sides. We’ve taken the lessons from this merger and distilled them into 12 key principles which can be applied to local authority leisure and cultural services. We’re looking forward to applying those principles to our clients’ projects – starting later this month with two London Boroughs.”

Prior to his spell with ISPAL, Marcus was well known as a consultant, and he specialised in strategic planning in sport, leisure and culture. He made his name as the author of the Sport England guidance on playing pitch strategies, ‘Towards A Level Playing Field' and went on to deliver over 30 strategies for open space, sport and recreation. More recently, he has become known for his work in the education sector. He has advised numerous local authorities on improving the delivery of community sport through schools.
His article, ‘Death of the Four Court Sports Hall', (which can be downloaded opposite) proposed an innovative, low cost model for community and school sport and has since won support at conferences and on-line. As a strong advocate for the transformation of the sport, leisure and culture sector, he lead a review of all cultural services in a major two-tier local authority and devising radical new models of commissioning and service delivery.

Marcus can be contacted at marcus.kingwell@sportleisureculture.co.uk and by phone on 07887 546496.