About SpaFest

Brian has worked in the hospitality industry all his life and in the spa sector for the last 25 years. After beginning his career overseas, Brian opened both The Scotsman Spa and One Spa at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. More recently he was Director of Spa Developments, a Glasgow-based spa design and consultancy company, then Owner and Principal of the prestigious Mary Reid International Spa Academy. Brian become involved with the Lifehouse Spa & Hotel in Essex in 2012 as Operations Director until late 2015 and is currently Spa Director, Kohler Waters Spa at The Old Course Hotel Golf Resort and Spa, St Andrews.

Barbara was born in Sweden and spent her early childhood there until the whole family moved to the UK, in her early teens. After completing a Business Studies degree, she spent 20 years selling Financial Software to large corporates.

Barbara was looking for a complete change of career at the same time as also wanting to spend more time with her growing children, so in 2001 she set up BC SoftWear, and she carried on working from home until the first office/warehouse in 2007. BC SoftWear has grown in the 20 years of trading, to the substantial company it is today, supplying over 10,000 customers worldwide, and over 85% of UK Spas.

Mark Smith is The Spa Man. One of the few male spa writers in the world, Mark has been writing about men’s grooming and wellness for over 20 years. Reviewing spas since 2007 he is Contributing Editor at European Spa magazine, and has written for Vogue, Tatler, and the Daily Telegraph. Originally from Tasmania and now based in Sussex he has always found solace and healing by the sea.

Practicing mindfulness for over a decade, he has combined the therapeutic benefits of the sea with meditation, aromatherapy, visualisation, affirmations, self-massage, sound therapy and simple breath work techniques in his new venture, Kalm Horizons.

Leon is a passionate believer in Spa, Wellness, Hospitality and all it stands for especially its ability to make people feel good. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry working for global brands like Marriott Hotels to small luxury independent properties and exclusive private members clubs, more recently he held the role of Group Spa Director of IHG (UK). His proudest achievement to date is as the Co-Founder and Director of ishga Skincare, This role gives him the opportunity to develop ishga as a company focused on having a positive impact on consumers, employees, wider society and the environment.

Kicki Carlsson is the Ambassador for, and Co-Founder of, Dröm UK. She was born and raised in Sweden and learnt about the benefits of sauna and steam bathing from an early age. She has helped to make positive wellbeing more accessible to a wider audience through Dröm UK, which she founded in 2002 with Barry Smith. Kicki is passionate about helping people to understand how to get the best out of their spa bathing experiences and immerses herself in the wellbeing industry promoting Dröm UK at key networking events. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga and long country walks, preferably with a pub stop midway!

Iain is an expert in health and wellness with a skill set developed over 3 decades. His expertise is on lifestyle medicine, holistic well-being and as a highly acclaimed international speaker.

Iain’s training and background reflects an extensive directory of skills including university lecturing, detoxing, human physiology, physical training and therapy. Iain’s approach is people centric-working closely with individuals and companies to leverage potential and live more productive and healthier lives.

Iain has appeared on BBC, ITV and Channel 4. He is a long term supporter and presenter at SpaFest.