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
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.
Mark Traisneau
Maintenance Manager
Mark has been with Club Towers since we opened and is responsible for keeping the building in the tip top shape we’ve all become accustomed to. Mark left college with outstanding engineering grades and started working in the plant and tool hire industry, it wasn’t long before he was running a workshop in Biggleswade and dealing with customers on a daily basis.
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
Steve Adams
Racquet Operations Manager
Steve joined the Towers staff team in late 2021 in a new role as Racquets Operations Manager.
He graduated in 1982 with a BSc degree in Systems & Management from City University in London and for 20 years had a varied career at Granada TV in roles ranging from Area Management, Operations, Marketing Communications and IT.
In 2003, Steve decided on a career change and set up on his own, buying a franchise supplying Office Supplies to North Bedfordshire businesses and schools. He is also involved in his son’s Media Production business (EpicTech Media Ltd).
His organisational and communication skills, combined with an infectious enthusiasm for all things “racquets” make him well qualified to enhance the tennis, squash and racketball programmes at the Club. He also liaises closely with the coaching team, the junior section and the Club Towers team captains.
Steve is married to Dominie and has two grown up sons. He has lived in Milton Ernest and Sharnbrook for 30 years, having spent much of his early life living in Tanzania, South Africa, Hampshire and London. His other interests are gardening and travel.
As one of the first members to join Club Towers in 2017, Steve was our inaugural Racketlon champion in 2019 and was part of the Squash Team which won the Bedfordshire League in the same year. He also plays for Club Towers in the County Tennis Vets team matches. He is a very keen racketball and tennis player and loves to inspire players of all ages and standards to play.
To contact Steve click here.
Erzsebet Albert
Club Lounge Front of House & Reception Team Manager
“Erzsebet, universally known as “Elizabeth”, joined Club Towers in July 2020, having previously worked as Restaurant Manager at the Old Bridge Hotel & Wine Shop in Huntingdon and before this as Deputy Food & Beverage Manager at the Holiday Inn Cambridge Hotel in Impington. She lived in London for 5 years and worked as Restaurant Supervisor & Receptionist at KX Gym, Spa & Restaurant – a private members health club in Chelsea.
Elizabeth first worked in the hospitality industry in 2011, after she moved to the UK, having finished her European Baccalaureate exams in Romania where she studied Tourism Technician. She has also achieved a QFC Level 3 Diploma in Customer Service at Concept Care College in London. She worked in a variety of roles in the hospitality sector before discovering a real passion for Customer Service Management. She enjoys all aspects of Customer Service, especially engaging with customers and training people. Her role at Club Towers is to manage the Club’s Lounge processes, ensuring the whole team delivers consistently excellent service to our members.
Elizabeth lives in Thrapston with her husband and son. She is fluent in both Hungarian & Romanian, loves to travel and wants to see and discover as much of the world as possible. Sports-wise, Elizabeth is very keen on fitness, running and basketball, and enjoys swimming at the Club and recently started to have some Squash/Racketball lessons.
To contact Elizabeth click here.
Marlon Erne
Head Chef
Marlon joined Club Towers in March 2020 as our new Head Chef after previously working in the same role at the Green Man Hotel & Restaurant in Stanford. He explains his cooking philosophy very simply: “I love cooking and try to deliver wholesome, tasty food to my customers as if they are were my family – I try to put smiles on their faces”.
Marlon was born in Angeles City, Pampanga, which is about an hour’s drive outside of Manilla in the Philippines. He came to the UK in 2001 to develop his career as a chef, expand his cooking horizons and gain experience in London, which these days is one of the gastronomic capitals of the world. Since 2001 he has cooked in a variety of roles, working his way up to Sous Chef and finally to Head Chef in his last couple of positions. He spent over 10 years at Champneys Health Clubs, so has a great deal of experience of catering for a health club membership.
As a Head Chef, Marlon has demonstrated that he can successfully run an efficient kitchen, ensuring that everyone involved keeps to food safety, hygiene and other guidelines. He firmly believes that customer satisfaction is the most important aspect of running a successful operation. Marlon uses many different cooking techniques and methods, and particularly likes to infuse Asian flavours into European/Mediterranean food – a great combination!
When not working, Marlon likes to spend his time with his family – wife, son and daughter – and they particularly enjoy outdoor activities. Marlon is a keen tennis player and can’t wait to get onto our courts and meet our tennis members!!
Ross Wick
Operations Manager
Ross joined the Club at the end of November 2023 as our Operations Manager with a vast experience in the leisure industry. This started at the age of sixteen where he worked at Hitchin Swimming Centre as a lifeguard. Ross, then joined the Army at age seventeen and served two years, leaving due to medical reasons. He returned to leisure and the centre in Hitchin as a fulltime lifeguard. During his time here he progressed his career to a management position and was then promoted to Operations Manager for the Letchworth contract which oversaw three sites including North Herts Leisure Centre. Alongside this, Ross has been working in Health and Safety for the last six years gaining his IOSH qualification.
With a strong swimming background, Ross is also a RLSS Trainer Assessor which means he can teach new lifeguards and run first aid training and has also swum competitively. There’s not much about swimming and pools he doesn’t know!
Personally, he is very sporty enjoying most sports but particularly football, boxing, cricket (county level player) and squash.
His role at the Club is the management of our Duty Management team and overseeing our swimming, cleaning, creche and health and safety departments.
You can contact Ross here.
Jo Saywell
Marketing Manager
Jo joined Club Towers in October 2018 as Marketing Communications Executive and was promoted to Marketing Manager in 2022. She works part-time alongside our Marketing Director Ann, looking after all of the Club’s internal and external communications as well as co-ordinating many of our events. The role includes managing our website and our social media channels, the posters and Brightsigns you see in the Club, supporting with blog and newsletter writing and running our membership loyalty programme.
Jo has over twenty years’ experience in Marketing. After gaining her Business Studies degree, she has worked in a variety of roles including as an account manager at a local Marketing agency, Marketing Administrator at Charles Wells and Marketing Account Manager at Play.com where she managed studio accounts Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers. Through these roles she has worked in most areas of Marketing: campaign management, PR, account management, copywriting and event management, and also covered many aspects of digital and social media. She studied alongside her first role to gain her Charted Institute of Marketing Professional Diploma.
Jo lives locally and has two young sons, both of which are active Club members either in the pool or on the courts. Jo is more likely to be in the Club Lounge enjoying a latte but you will see her attempting to play squash with them and she does enjoy a swim. Her favourite class is Yoga.
You can contact Jo here.
