Scott Lloyd (BSc 1996)
Chief Executive, David Lloyd Leisure Group
After graduating in 1996, Scott worked for the accountancy firm Robson Rhodes and Société Générale investment bank. The following year, he founded the Next Generation chain of fitness clubs, designed to provide large-scale premium fitness and leisure facilities to families.
Fitness is very much in Scott’s blood: his father is David Lloyd, the former tennis player and captain of the UK’s Davis Cup team, who founded David Lloyd Leisure Ltd in 1982. David sold the company in 1995 to the Whitbread leisure group, the year before Scott started his venture. Raising £23 million from some of his father’s original backers, Scott started a chain of fitness clubs in the UK and Australia, known as Next Generation Clubs. After a decade of growth, the company was acquired by the investment firm London & Regional Properties in 2006.
In 2008, Scott brought the management of David Lloyd Leisure back into the family when Whitbread sold the chain to London & Regional, owners of Next Generation, and HBOS for £925 million. Scott is now Chief Executive of the enlarged chain, known as David Lloyd Leisure Group. The company runs 78 clubs in the UK and 10 in Europe, including locations in Belgium, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Spain.
Questions
Why did you choose to study at Bristol?
Bristol is a lovely city and a perfect size for a university. The course ticked all the boxes given my ambitions at the time.
What is your favourite memory from Bristol?
The ambience and social life, the sport and camaraderie.
Who has been an inspirational person in your life?
My father and mother first and foremost, and I’m lucky enough to have worked in my business life with two great chairmen, Denis Brosnan and Bob Ivell.
What are you most proud of?
Merging Next Generation Clubs and David Lloyd Leisure to form David Lloyd Leisure Group.
If you could study again, what subject would you choose and why?
I would choose the same subject again, economics and accounting, as it gave me the platform I wanted, and the theory behind the real life business situations you face.
I will never forget my time at Bristol, both for the fun I had and the city itself. Most importantly, though, I will never forget Bristol for the lifelong friends I made
Scott Lloyd (BSc 1996)