Keith Burnet has been appointed managing director of the Hilton group's health club division LivingWell.

The news follows the announcement that the current managing director, Patrick Fitzgibbon, has been promoted to take on a new role as the senior vice president of Hilton's development in Europe and Africa.

Burnet joined LivingWell in 2001 as a regional director and was appointed the company’s operations director in September 2003. He previously spent eight years with David Lloyd Leisure (DLL).

During his time with LivingWell, he has expanded LivingWell's hair and beauty concept – The Sensory Spa – and grown the number of spas from 18 to 26.

"I have observed enormous growth and development in the health and leisure sector during my four years with LivingWell," he said.

"While we are facing competitive and challenging times, I look forward to driving the business to be even more succesful in the future."

LivingWell operates 72 health clubs in the UK, four clubs in Australia and one each in Germany, Malta, Turkey, Brazil and the Netherlands.

Burnet's appointment comes a month after the company announced that it had hired Johnny Thomson, formerly a senior manager for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, as finance director.