Staff Profile

Executive Office Manager: Jillian Martin, Jillian.Martin@uws.ac.uk

A sports science graduate and postgraduate of Loughborough University, John’s first job was as Head of Human Performance for the Football Association which included a role as the fitness coach for the England team at the Italia 90 World Cup. Subsequently John owned and managed the Lilleshall Sports Injury and Human Performance at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire, working closely with many elite teams, national squads and elite athletes.

John left Lilleshall to become Director of Sports Science for GlaxoSmithKline, supporting the Lucozade Sport brand and commissioning research from many universities around the world. John entered academia in 2009, working at the University of Bedfordshire before joining St Mary’s University London as Pro Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement, and an interim role as Deputy Vice Chancellor at Bucks New University.

More recently, John was CEO of NCUK, a global education charity based in Manchester, providing foundation year qualifications to over 3000 students around the world, and supporting their progression to many UK universities. 

Alongside these roles, John has been Chair of the London Regional Sports Board, a Board Member of UK Anti-Doping, Chair of the British Handball Association and British Skiing, and has recently become Chair of the National Football Museum in Manchester. John’s research includes the development of the UK version of the Multi-Stage Fitness test (or “bleep test”), and work which has set the current minimum fitness standards for UK Police Officers.

John remains an active runner, hill walker and skier, and has completed the London Marathon 20 times.