Industry: News
The Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support take over Walking for Health
T
he Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support have announced they will jointly take over Walking for Health, providing support for the largest network of health walk schemes and over 75,000 participants in England.
Having won a national tender to provide central support services for Walking for Health, The Ramblers, Britain’s leading walking charity, will officially take over the management of its national centre from Natural England at the beginning of April. The Ramblers will work closely with Macmillan Cancer Support to continue to support and develop the existing programme of over 600 walks.
This strong new partnership of two highly regarded organisations will help secure the future of Walking for Health and their expertise will be used to encourage growth and the development of services for local health walks schemes as well as increase the opportunities for people affected by cancer, or any other condition, to participate. Benedict Southworth, Chief Executive of the Ramblers, said: “We are delighted to be taking on Walking for Health from April and look forward to this exciting new opportunity to bring the benefits of walking to even more people. Walking is the easiest and most accessible form of physical activity and can make a real difference to people’s health and well being. We are particularly pleased to be working with another great charity,
Silva O
appoints new CEO
utdoor company Silva has appointed Patrik Elfwing as new CEO. Elfwing joins from IRW Consulting and will succeed Lars Gullikson by 1st of April 2012.
Macmillan Cancer Support.”
Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “I very much look forward to working in partnership with the Ramblers to ensure that Walking for Health continues to grow. Together we can increase opportunities for people to become more active, whether it is because they have cancer, some other condition, or just want to be healthy. For cancer, being active can help manage some of the debilitating consequences of treatment. Exercise can even help reduce the chance of some cancers coming back.” Natural England is working closely with both organisations to ensure a smooth transition of management. Insurance for local schemes and access to the Walking for Health database will continue uninterrupted.
Whitby website launch W
hitby & Co. – one of the UK’s most established wholesale distributors of leading international consumer outdoor accessory brands – has begun a two phase launch of a new website.
The company, who stock and supply thousands of different premium brand products to trade customers throughout the UK, say the new website will give retailers, consumers and journalists, a vastly improved online experience and the opportunity to browse through the wide range of brands and products quickly and easily. Garry Woodhouse, Marketing and Sales Director, said: “The launch of our new website is great news for all of our customers and is testament to our ethos of quality, value and our total commitment to service.
“Retailers can now view Whitby’s entire product range and look at each product in more detail than ever before as well as ordering stock on line.
“Journalists who register with the new site will now have access to all press releases as well as being able to download product images and place a priority request for samples.
Silva is now owned by Swedish investment company Karnell since the summer of 2011. In connection with the change of ownership, the previous CEO Lars Gullikson announced his intention to step down. During the autumn a new board with long experience gained in the sport and outdoor industry was elected. Patrik Elfwing has experience from leading positions within the pharmaceutical industry and from sport and leisure business, including Nordic director at Reebok CCM and Marketing Director of the ice hockey team Frolunda Indians.
New EOCA leaders F
ollowing the untimely death of Holger Bismann last autumn, Managing Director of Patagonia Europe and President of the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA), the association has announced the appointment of two new leaders who have agreed to lead the association until the Annual Assembly in July.
“We are working hard to improve our website for the public too – consumers can now learn more about their favourite products from Whitby & Co – it is very satisfying to see the new website in place and we look forward to making the site even more user friendly in the months to come.” The second phase of the launch, scheduled for April 2012, will enable retailers to upload their Whitby & Co. stock levels to the website, allowing consumers who are browsing the site to see exactly what they can order and from whom. Garry added: “Crucially, this second phase of the launch will give the public a guaranteed, legitimate source of Whitby distributed products. “Customers will be able to search by postcode for retailers stocking brands supplied by Whitby & Co. If there are no retailers nearby with stock available, the consumer will be directed to an online retailer.
“We remain committed to driving trade through high street retailers as well as online outlets, but in the event that products are not available through either, customers will be able to purchase any item from the entire range, directly from Whitby & Co. at the full SRP.”
John Jansen, Managing Director and Head of Keen EMEA will take the role of acting President for EOCA and work alongside Nick Brown, Owner and Manager of Nikwax, who will continue in his role as Vice President and advise on strategy. Other board members of EOCA are Jan Lorch, Sales & Marketing Director of Vaude, Peter Waeber, CEO of Bluesign, Mark Held, General Secretary of the EOG and Andrea Tomasini, Interim General Manager of Patagonia Europe. John and Nick have worked together on the EOCA board for the past 2 years and are looking forward to the challenges ahead. “EOCA is at a very interesting stage,” said John, ”By this July it will have raised its first €1 million for conservation projects since its inception just 6 years ago. That is massive growth and demonstrates what can be achieved by working together. With over 70 members currently, we need to look at ways of growing the association in a sustainable and meaningful way for the industry.” Nick agrees: “These are very exciting times for an organisation that is the only one of its kind in the European outdoor industry. But the industry itself is huge, and we really need to engage as much of it as possible – there is so much more that needs to be done to support and protect the great outdoors that we all enjoy”.
www.sgboutdoor.co.uk 5
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