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Who is Pure Gym CEO Humphrey Cobbold?

IN 2015, Pure Gym had 84 gyms.

Humphrey Cobbold took over as CEO in 2015 and has steered the growth of the business to over 200 facilities.

 Humphrey Cobbold is CEO of Pure Gym
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Humphrey Cobbold is CEO of Pure GymCredit: Getty - Contributor

Who is Humphrey Cobbold?

The 55-year old was born in Kenya and went on to graduate from the University of Cambridge.

He has held several roles in a number of top corporate institutions.

The father of three formerly worked for global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company as a partner.

He was later appointed Director of Strategic Development at Trinity Mirror before serving as Chairman for Fish4.

In 2009, he joined Wiggle, an online retailer based in Portsmouth as CEO.

The company experienced huge growth during his time as CEO, with a revenue increase from £33 million to over £140 million.

He also managed to expand Wiggle's business into new territories such as across Europe, China and Australasia.

Upon leaving Wiggle Ltd as its CEO, Cobbold said: “I have had the privilege to work with a truly fabulous group of colleagues and business partners over the last four years. The time is now right for someone else to lead the peloton and take Wiggle forward to future success.”

In 2015, after joining Pure Gym, he spearheaded growth in the company from 84 gyms to over 200 currently.

He also oversaw the sale of Pure Gym from founder Peter Roberts to Leonard Green & Partners for over £600 million.

When asked about how Pure Gym shook up the fitness industry, Cobbold said: "In the early days, when Peter Roberts, the founder, was thinking about setting up PureGym, industry incumbents said people in the UK don’t want a low-cost gym – they want fluffy towels and swimming pools and all these extras.

"Really what the incumbents meant is, we’ve been able to charge a premium for giving customers these things and people have accepted it.

"The incumbents also believed that people wanted to sign up to a 12-month contract.

"That turned out to be absolute rubbish.

"No one ever wakes up in the morning and says: 'Today I want to sign a 12-month contract,' for anything.

"That’s a construct of a business model.

"What Peter had the courage to do was to raise some money and say, I think this might work in the UK.

"And he went out and made it happen.

"It took the industry three or four years before they started taking what he had done seriously.

"And by then it was too late for them to do much about it, because PureGym was up to 40 or 50 sites."

 Under Humphrey Cobbold, Pure Gym has gone from 84 gyms in 2015 to over 200 currently
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Under Humphrey Cobbold, Pure Gym has gone from 84 gyms in 2015 to over 200 currentlyCredit: Alamy

Is he married?

Humphrey Cobbold married Nicola Hacker in 1991.

Nicola has worked as a lawyer specialising in media and copyrights.

She is currently the co-chair of the Hebrew University Alumini Campaign.

The couple have two sons and one daughter.

Humphrey also has two brothers, Timothy and Jeremy.

 

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