Dame Kelly Holmes Trust searches for permanent CEO

Emma Atkins, the chief executive of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, is leaving the organisation for the newly-rebranded UK Coaching.

Atkins will become director of the company – formerly known as Sports Coach UK – in June, and will work alongside chief executive Mark Gannon.

She will be replaced, in the interim, by Tracey Fletcher, who was the trust’s vice-chair between 2011 and 2017.

The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust expects to make a permanent appointment for the role by early August 2017.

Atkins spent nine years with the the trust, helping to support 300,000 disadvantaged young people and 500 athletes over that period.

“This is an incredibly exciting period for UK Coaching and for coaching and I am thrilled to be joining the organisation at a pivotal point in its history,” said Atkins.

Earlier this month the organisation changed its name and brand, and launched a strategy with a mission of putting coaching at the heart of physical activity and sport.

Of Fletcher’s interim appointment, Dame Kelly Holmes Trust Board of Trustees chair Michael Kelly, said: “Until we recruit a permanent replacement, Tracey will help ensure the continued success and growth of the charity.

“With her sector experience and vast knowledge of the Trust’s model, the board is confident that the organisation will undergo a smooth transition until we find a permanent replacement.”