Ice Hockey UK (IHUK) and England Ice Hockey (EIH) have confirmed that Grant King will act as interim chief executive officer in 2026, following the announcement that Henry Staelens will step down as CEO in early 2026.

Grant currently serves as chief operating and development officer across IHUK and EIH, leading day-to-day operations and supporting delivery of strategic priorities across governance, safeguarding, finance, programme operations and organisational change.

Grant brings extensive executive leadership experience from international organisations across Europe, Canada and the United States, with a background spanning talent management, governance, financial controls, operating models, people strategy and complex transformation programmes.

He also brings a deep understanding of the sport from inside the game, a former goaltender for Great Britain juniors and a former player for Slough Jets and Guildford Flames in the British National League.

Grant King said: “I’m grateful to the boards for the confidence they’ve placed in me. Henry has helped drive significant progress, and it’s important to recognise the collective effort from boards, staff, volunteers and stakeholders that has brought us to this point.

“The next six months are not simply about legal structure, they’re about integration and delivery.

“We will be working across the organisations to align operating models, people and processes, strengthen safeguarding and integrity systems, improve financial controls and transparency, bring greater consistency to competitions, discipline and officiating frameworks, and improve communication and services for members across the sport.

“Alongside this, we remain focused on performance and pathway priorities and on growing participation. My commitment is to lead with clarity, pace and fairness, and to ensure the sport emerges stronger, more connected and more resilient.”

Clifton Wrottesley, chair of Ice Hockey UK, said: “Grant brings continuity, credibility and a strong delivery focus at a critical moment for the sport, especially with his close working relationship with Henry over the past 18 months.

“We’re very fortunate to have someone of Grant’s ability and stature in place to lead the next hugely exciting phase of the sport’s evolution.

“He has played a central role in recent reforms and is well placed to lead the next phase, ensuring stability day-to-day while the merger and integration programme progresses. I’m really looking forward to working closely in partnership with Grant to deliver the merger that all stakeholders overwhelmingly approved to pursue.

“He is a brilliant successor, and someone I know will drive the sport forward on all fronts.”

Duncan Hough, chair of England Ice Hockey, commented: “Grant stepping into this role is an easy choice as he brings a high-level of expertise, as well as important continuity, in addition to his deep understanding of the sport at all levels.

“In his current role as chief operating officer, he has played a key part in strengthening our governance and standards, and I very much look forward to working with him even closer in the future.”

Henry Staelens will continue to support the sport as a strategic commercial consultant, focusing on commercial development and partnership opportunities. If you missed the full news article yesterday, you can read it here.

Further updates will be provided in due course as the organisations progress the next steps of the merger and integration programme.

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