Matthew Towers
Managing Director
Matthew is the instigator of the Club Towers project. Having graduated with a Masters in Engineering from Nottingham University, Matthew went into sales and marketing with Texas Instruments in Bedford. After 2 years at TI and aged 24, he left to set-up his own market research and consultancy company in the technology industry, IMS Research.
Over the next 22 years, IMS Research grew to be one of the leading global market research companies in the electronics sector. Exporting to more than 60 countries, the company had six offices spread around the world, and won two Queen’s Awards for Export. Major clients included most of the large, multinational technology companies including Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, Siemens, TI, Bosch, Toshiba, Sony, Philips, Hitachi and countless others. In March 2012, Matthew sold IMS Research to US conglomerate IHS and exited the business later that same year.
Matthew is a sports enthusiast, with a particular passion for squash and tennis. Since moving to Bedford in 1986, he has despaired of the quality of the racquet sports facilities in the town, and made it his mission to do something about this. Since 2013, he has been working on the Club Towers project alongside other investment and Angel activities, but the original idea germinated much earlier, when the Kimbolton Road squash club closed down in the 1990s.
Matthew is married to Ann, has five children, and continues to live locally in Bromham. He hopes the Club Towers development will help stimulate tennis and squash development in the town, as well as providing a first class gym and social environment for the people of Bedford to enjoy.
Although not working full-time on the operational side, Matthew is a regular fixture down at the Club, and is closely involved in ensuring the Club delivers the required high quality of service. He welcomes comments – positive or negative – from members at any time, either in person or by email.
To contact Matthew click here
Steven Davies
General Manager
Steven was appointed General Manager of Towers Health & Racquets Club in September 2016 and is a Leisure professional with over 10 years management experience working for IHG and Spirit Health & Fitness. Having graduated from Hull University with a degree in Sports Science and Business Management he moved straight into a graduate role with Spirit. Five successive promotions saw him work in a number of the companies 40 clubs and take on a variety of management roles. This included a duel site role responsible for the performance of two clubs and a regional support role focusing on driving business in the Health and Spa section of the company and providing additional support for 8 London clubs.
Along with his degree Steven has added further Leisure industry qualifications including Advanced Leisure Management, diploma in Performance Management, diploma in Advanced Leadership, Advanced Instructor Course and Pool Plant Operators Certificate. Notable career highlights came with an IHG employee of the year award in 2008 and a Club Manager of the year award in 2009. Steven also assisted Spirit Health and Fitness in winning the UK Active Flame award in 2013 for Health Club Operator of the Year.
Steven is a licenced level 3 England Squash Coach and in recent years has run his own Squash Coaching Company, teaching all levels and ages from beginner to advanced. He is a keen sportsman with cricket and Squash being his strongest disciplines. He has won the Bedfordshire County Squash tournament 8 times and will be happy to pass on some of this experience to the Squash playing members at the club.
Steven spent his school years at Bedford Modern and having lived for 7 years in London after university has now settled back in the county, living in Ampthill, with his wife and two young daughters. His spare time is either spent with his family or playing sport and he is certainly looking forward to getting his daughters involved with the racquets programme at the club.
To contact Steven click here
Ann Towers
Marketing Director
Ann joined the Towers Health and Racquets Club team in March 2016. An advertising and marketing professional for over 25 years, Ann rose through the ranks to Associate Account Director at the world renowned Leo Burnett Advertising Agency. It was here that she gained her expertise in brand strategy, consumer & trade promotions and event marketing. Ann served a wide range of multinational clients including Philip Morris, CITIBANK, Hennessy, IBM, Valentino and various fashion brands.
Before Joining Club Towers, Ann worked as a Marketing & Communications Manager at IMS Research, a global market research company specialised in the technology sector. Ann was the engine behind the company’s rebranding campaign which transformed the company’s image to a dynamic and respected multinational market research and consultancy company. This successful campaign culminated in the acquisition of the company by IHS Global in 2012.
When not working on Marketing, Ann is a trained leadership coach specialised in personal leadership development. There is nothing more satisfying for Ann than seeing her clients have the “ah-ha” moment, and making a personal breakthrough. Ann is currently in training to add nutrition & life-style coaching into her portfolio. Originally from Taiwan, Ann has lived in the US and the Netherlands before settling in England. She now lives with her husband, Matthew, and her two boys in the village of Bromham, just north of Bedford. Ann is a regular participant of various group exercise classes at Club Towers.
To contact Ann click here
Nick Boys
Raquets Manager
Nick was appointed Racquets Manager in January 2017. He is a club professional with over 20 years of Academy, Club and Racquets Centre experience, and has won many junior and adult county, national and international tennis titles.
One of the highlights of his tennis coaching career, was managing the IMG Academy (formerly Nick Bollitieri Academy) in the Middle East, working with many touring pros from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Nick also managed all the outreach programs to find the next stars of the region and worked with the local Davis Cup Teams culminating in their first ever victories in the competition.
Nick returned to his Bedfordshire tennis roots in 2002 when he set out to develop various clubs in south Bedfordshire focusing on increasing junior participation and membership levels. In the first 3 years Nick saw membership grow by 100% at each club and increased competitive team participation fourfold. Within these clubs Nick created a central performance hub encouraging the strongest players to train together as well as at their home clubs, coaching several county champions along the way. Since 2012 Nick has been managing the Adults tennis section at David Lloyd Milton Keynes. He has overseen an increase in player and team participation at all levels, with the teams recently winning all but one of the premier division titles they competed in.
Nick is a level 4 LTA registered coach and PTR Pro and international tester and still competes regularly on the Seniors Tour where he recently reached a career high ITF world doubles ranking of 9. He lives in Dunstable with his family and is also a keen golfer, playing off a handicap of 8 at his local club when time allows.
Nick is looking forward to setting up a first class coaching and playing environment for all racquet sports at Club Towers focusing on the members’ needs first.
You can contact Nick here
Katy Thomas
Fitness Manager
Katy was recruited as Studio Coordinator for Club Towers in October 2016 and was promoted to the role of Fitness Manager in February 2018, looking after the combined gym and studio operations.
Katy has over 20 years’ experience in the Health and Fitness Industry specialising in Group Exercise; both Les Mills and her own freestyle classes. She has been teaching classes locally in Bedford, Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas for many years with popular classes at Fusion Gyms (mainly Robinson Pool), DW Milton Keynes, 1life and Snap Fitness to name but a few.
Her popular classes and knowledge of the industry helped us to create our popular Group Exercise offering here at Club Towers, and with the support of our exceptional instructors our program is vibrant, successful and continually growing. Having been part of the Management Team prior to the opening of the Club in 2017 has helped equip her with the knowledge and drive to progress to her current role and help the Club achieve its long-term objectives.
Katy is YMCA Level 2 Exercise to Music trained, Aqua qualified and internationally certified in five Les Mills programs. Her weekly line up of classes includes Body Attack, Body Pump, Grit Series, Body Step, CXworx, LBT, Aerobics and Circuits. Having originally completed an Art College degree Katy’s love of Fitness and Group Exercise took over and it is clear to see that she loves what she does with a passion! She is currently working on her own development of teaching with a view to training instructors herself and plans to also become Level 3 PT qualified in the near future.
When Katy is not teaching you may find her training in the gym, helping new instructors achieve experience in the industry or quite possibly eating! Katy is very approachable and welcoming in her classes with a friendly and inclusive approach to teaching so please ask her for help if you need some guidance with any of our programs.
Originally from Potton Katy now lives just outside Bedford with her two sons. In her spare time Katy loves getting creative in the kitchen, socialising with family and friends and buying even more Reebok active wear!
To contact Katy click here
Alice Richardson
Sales & Retention Manager
Alice is our Sales and Retention Manager at Club Towers. Alice’s parents introduced her to sport at a young age as Physical Education wasn’t a big part of the curriculum in Hackney, where she went to Primary School. She and her three brothers participated in at least two sporting activities each, with Alice excelling at both netball and swimming.
After initially wanting a career in Teaching, following in her Mum’s footsteps, Alice changed her mind and decided to enter the Leisure Industry, driven by a desire to help others achieve their goals.
Having graduated with a Sport Science and Physical Education Degree from Bedford University, Alice started working for David Lloyd Health Club as a Membership Advisor, continuing within a Sales role for Nuffield Health Club.
After becoming a Senior Sales Executive, Alice relocated to Henlow, remaining in the Leisure Industry as a Customer Relations Manager, before joining Club Towers. In her 5 years’ experience to date, Alice has developed a passion for ensuring Members make the most of their Memberships and enjoy all aspects of the facilities.
Alice will be at Club Towers full-time and welcomes feedback in person, via email or telephone. She is there to ensure everything is running smoothly with your membership so please do introduce yourself.
Genevieve Brown
Reception & HR Manager
Genevieve, universally known as “Gennie”, joined Club Towers in June 2017, having previously worked as Assistant Manager at DW Cambridge and Wet Operations Manager at Robinson Pool in Bedford.
Gennie first worked in the leisure industry in 2004, having finished University where she studied English. She worked in a variety of roles before discovering a particular interest in Pool Operations, and is a qualified Level 2 Swimming Teacher, Pool Plant Operator, and Lifeguard Trainer-Assessor.
She enjoys all aspects of the fitness industry, especially club operations and organization of administration systems. Her role at Club Towers is to manage the club’s HR processes and Reception, ensuring whole team delivers consistently excellent customer service. Gennie lives in Brickhill with her boyfriend and house rabbit, Brian. She loves to travel and wants to see as much of the world as possible. Sports-wise, Genevieve is very keen on yoga, running, and kayaking.
To contact Gennie click here
Mark Traisneau
Maintenance Manager
Ten years later Mark was approached by Balfour Beatty, a global conglomerate and joined their railway business. This position included looking after a Council contract in Bedfordshire for many years until Balfour Beatty sold that part of the business in 2014.
Already aware of Mark’s capabilities, he was quickly moved onto the Network Rail contract where he looked after two depots. Each day as he was driving home Mark’s inquisitive nature kept him wondering what this new building was on his doorstep just outside Clapham.
Mark soon discovered it was Club Towers, a health and racquets club. Realising he wanted a career change and a new challenge to fire up his interest, his experience and enthusiasm secured the position of Maintenance Manager and Mark is now looking forward to passing on his skills to a new generation.
Mark’s objective in his new position is to maintain to an exceptionally high standard the building, grounds and equipment for this fantastic facility in Clapham for the benefit of the company and its members. He will constantly be keeping on top of the maintenance and would welcome any feedback being logged with Reception or to him in person, if something has been overlooked, so it can be rectified promptly.
Mark is married to Diane, has two sons and has spent most of his life living in Clapham.
Mark has already signed up all of his family as members at the club and is planning to spend many happy hours of leisure time with them here playing tennis, taking a swim or relaxing in the restaurant.
To contact Mark click here
