Allen Bewley– Chairman
Allen Bewley has over 50 years’ professional experience in high-level commercial management specialising in business leadership, organisational development, corporate governance and strategic risk management. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (F.C.M.I), former Managing Director of IRC, a Corporate Governance and Occupational Risk Management Consultancy and former Head of Risk Management at RAC/AVIVA, as well as a UK Government – Enterprise Nation, approved growth advisor. In addition, he has also logged over 30 years management experience at senior levels within the volunteer sector including independent Chair of The FDF, a Centre for Independent Living (CIL) based in North Wales; Faculty Board Member at Edge Hill University and former Board Trustee at Ronald McDonald House Charities.
He became directly involved in aquatics way back in 1988 as a basic level swimming teacher before moving into local and regional event organisation and gala IT management, as well as being a qualified swimming referee.
In the early 90’s he became the Club Secretary, then Club Chair of Holywell ASC, accepting the role of CEO of the North Wales Amateur Swimming Association (NWASA 2002 – 2006). When the old areas were restructured in 2006, he was recruited to the board of Swim Wales as an independent director with additional responsibility for the Swim Wales National Judicial Panel. He was appointed to the role of Swim Wales Chair in 2015.
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Fergus Feeney– Chief Executive Officer
Fergus Feeney is Chief Executive Officer of Swim Wales and a member of the company’s board of directors. He joined Swim Wales in 2016, bringing more than 20 years of executive management and high profile corporate change management experience to his role with the company.
Fergus specialises in leading business transformation and effective operational delivery and has worked internationally between the UK, US, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
Past employers and clients include – CMC Partnership, Roche Pharmaceutical, The Royal Mint, HM Treasury, MoD, MoJ, Home Office, DCMS, LOCOG, IOC, Mitel, The Ryder Cup 2010, Deloitte, Fujitsu, Marks & Spencer, Panasonic, Bosch, Nokia, Orange & AT&T.
Fergus manages corporate direction and strategy at Swim Wales, facilitating company activity in consulting, sales, marketing, partnerships, alliances and channel support. He also represents Wales on the British Swimming Board of Directors and is an elected Non-Executive of the Welsh Sports Association advising Welsh Government on Sport policy.
Fergus has developed a clear understanding of how sport contributes to the wellbeing of people in Wales through education, health and communities policy, and has worked to share Swim Wales’ strategy and vision with customers, partners, stakeholders, and investors.
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Ian Jones– Independent Non Executive Director
Ian is currently a Senior Manager within Gwynedd Council, North Wales with responsibility for Human Resources, Welfare, Health and Safety, Customer Contact and Procurement Services. His previous role within the Authority included Sport and Leisure where he was responsible for the Authority’s Leisure Facilities, Sport Development and Healthy Living Services.
In his previous role, Ian also represented CCLOW (Chief Culture, Leisure Officers, Wales) on the National Aquatics Group and was also Chair of the North Wales LA Aquatics Group.
He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and a Member of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).
Ian is a former Welsh Schools Swimming International and achieved success at both National and Regional Age Group level. He is also a former Swimming Club Coach. Ian is currently the Chair of Swim Gwynedd.
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Hema Luqman– Independent Non Executive Director
Hema is an experienced board member with skills in areas such as strategy, innovation, governance and risk, and partnerships. Hema is currently a Director of Eureka Solutions and also a Non-Executive Director of Treasure Earth CIC and LinkAble.
Hema’s key expertise and experience are in project management, strategy and operational alignment, governance and risk, budgeting and cost control, business development and building engaging relationships. Hema has held Board positions with various employers including Clark Construction Group LLC, SDN and MMLC. Prior to his current role Hema was the Interim CEO for Saudi Power & Data Network LLC where he challenged and mentored the team to focus the business strategy.
Hema has a reputation for commercial, operational and project success in a global arena and will use his extensive experience and advisory skills to bring independent counsel and constructive challenge to executive boards and committees.’
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Sian Prigg– Independent Non Executive Director
Sian is an HR professional who is a Senior Learning Consultant with Opel Vauxhall Finance, responsible for the learning and development of 1200 staff across Europe.
She is also the founder of Start Sooner, an organisation that focuses on coaching parents and their daughters to navigate the career maze and make brave career decisions sooner. Sian has always had a passion for tackling gender inequality and decided to put this passion into helping young women whilst they are in education.
Sian is CIPD accredited with a clear understanding of how learning and development fits into the wider business objectives, including training design and delivery across various platforms with a particular specialism in creating and delivering forward thinking online development interventions.
Sian’s career has included Talent and HR Manager roles with learning and development a key theme. Her previous employer’s include Kelly Services, The Juice Group, Insight Direct UK, My Job Group and t2 Group.
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Nicola Rylett-Jones– Independent Non Executive Director
With over twenty years’ experience working in the science, technology and medical education industries, Nicola Rylett is a senior sales, marketing and communications executive who has held both Regional and National Director roles with some of the UK’s most prestigious organisations. She has a proven track record in building effective and efficient organisations that focus on its engagement with members and wider stakeholders, revenue generation and long term profitability.
Nicola has previously worked at member organisations such as the Institute of Physic Publishing, Society for Endocrinology and BMJ, part of the British Medical Association providing strategic direction for a number of membership resources and services.
Nicola enjoys breaking new ground; she is tenacious, energetic, and creative, with focused desire to make things happen.
In her spare time, Nicola loves keeping fit, so much so she has trained as a personal trainer and is currently training for a Triathlon.
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Huw Lewis– Independent Non Executive Director
Huw is an ACA qualified accountant and is currently the Chief Financial Officer at The Royal Mint. Huw is a commercially focussed finance leader with a proven track record of supporting organisations to achieve strategic objectives through business partnering, development of teams and analytical thinking.
Huw has had a varied career both in accountancy practices and the business sector. He started his career with KPMG and was seconded to their New Zealand practice for almost two years. Huw’s first commercial position was with Legal & General before moving to multi-national firms including Gyrus Group and GE Healthcare. Huw has also worked for the BBC, the AIM listed Pure Wafer Plc and Cardiff Airport before taking up his current role with The Royal Mint.
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