Quest/NBS is managed on behalf of Sport England by Right Directions in partnership with Leisure-net Solutions
Quest helpline 01582 840078 NBS helpline 01603 813703
The Quest Board
Martyn Allison
Martyn is Chair of the Quest Board and currently National Advisor for culture and sport with the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).
Over the last three years until the work was mainstreamed by IDeA, Martyn headed up the cultural service improvement unit jointly funded by DCMS, Sport England, Arts Council England, MLA and English Heritage.
Prior to his appointment with IDeA in April 2005 Martyn was on secondment with Sport England part funded by ODPM to oversee the development and implementation of the TAES self assessment framework and support the wider development of the improvement agenda in the cultural sector.
Jon Argent
Jon was born and grew up in Haywards Heath, a market town in Mid Sussex.
After school and University he worked for a Canadian Charity in third-world countries setting up and running orphanages, on a volunteer basis. He went to work on site in Mogadishu, Somalia in September 1985 as Assistant Director, completing a short term contract of six months.
Jon’s career in Leisure Management commenced in 1986 where he worked for a number of local authorities in the South East prior to relocating to Herefordshire in April 2002 after achieving an MBA from the Greenwich Business School. Jon worked through the ranks and his current role is Chief Executive for Halo Leisure.
Jon takes a keen interest in the national drivers within the culture and leisure sector and influences this in a number of ways in his various roles as a Quest Assessor and Board member, as Vice Chairman of sporta (the trade association for social enterprises working within culture and leisure) and REPs Governor (with accountability for developing and delivering training programmes for health and fitness professionals throughout the UK).
Phil Collins
Phil’s career spans over 35 years with experience in the public, private and third sectors. He is currently the Chief Executive of Hertsmere Leisure, a charitable trust that manages leisure facilities on behalf of three local authorities and also 10 Sure Start Children’s Centres on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council.
Phil is a pioneer of quality within the management of leisure services being in charge of the fifteen facilities managed by Newcastle City Council when it became the first multi-site organisation to achieve ISO 9001 registration. He worked with the Sports Council (the forerunner of Sport England) to assist in the development of Quest and was one of the original Assessment Team when the scheme was piloted in the mid-90's. He has subsequently been involved with its development as part of the Quest Board and ‘walks the talk’ with six of the facilities for which he has responsibility being Quest registered including one Centre that is rated ‘Excellent’.
Chris Hespe
Chris is Kent County Council's Head of Sport, Leisure and Olympics and part of his role entails directing the Kent Sports Development Unit.
Chris has worked for three district councils in sport and leisure, London Docklands Development Corporation, Sport England, central government and the British Olympic Association; and has been an advisor to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Local Government Association.
Within Kent County Council, he has held positions outside the sport and leisure sphere, such as Organisational Change Manager and as Business Manager for the Kent Environment and Planning Agency and Project Director of Kent History Centre. He is Managing Director of Kent Institute of Sport, a Trustee of Kent Trust for Youth Sport and a member of the Kent and Medway Sports Board.
Andy Kelly
Andy is sportscotland’s representative on the Quest Board. He graduated with a BA (hons) Recreation from Dunfermaline College of Physical Education in 1988. Andy joined sportscotland in 2002 following a variety of roles in hotel and corporate leisure, and a short stint with Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade Fitness Advisory Unit.
Currently a Project Manager in the Facilities Development Team, Andy has responsibility for operational management assessment of funding applications, advisory service, clubgolf facilities and skateparks amongst other things. Andy is also part of sportscotland's Equity Project Team, and represents sportscotland on the Leisure Networking Group.
Ian Kendall
Having spent almost 30 years at Kirklees in local authority sports facility management, Ian is in the fairly unique position of having set up both Charitable and Industrial and provident trusts. For the last 5 years he has been Chief Executive of Oldham Community Leisure which has almost doubled the income since he arrived creating 50 new jobs and putting plans in place to replace or refurbish almost all the facility stock by 2012.
A past president of ILAM (now ISPAL) Ian was a key driver in the appointment of the new team at ISPAL with the brief of achieving Chartered status for the industry.
Stephen McIlveen
Stephen is Sport Northern Ireland’s representative on the Quest Board. He graduated with a BA (hons) from the University of Ulster and an MA in Sports Management from the University of Central Lancashire.
Stephen joined Sport Northern Ireland in 2007 following his role as Sports Development Manager with Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council on Merseyside. Currently a Facilities Development Officer, Stephen has responsibility for developing and promoting the first Facilities Strategy for Northern Ireland, and for the ongoing development of the Active Places NI website. Stephen also works closely with the Building Sport Team establishing priorities for funding programmes and projects.
James Owens
James is the Quest Board representative from Sports Council for Wales (SCW) and resides in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.
James is the Regional Manager for Sports Council Wales, having joined the organisation in 2003 and is responsible for all its programme delivery in South West Wales. He works in conjunction with local authorities and Governing Bodies to increase participation, improve standards and encourage Welsh Assembly goals of more people, more active, more often.
