The WLS Group is owned and managed by like minded, passionate individuals who have many years experience working with weight loss surgery patients – we work hard to provide a ‘gold standard’ patient focused service by giving patients the care, knowledge and skills to work with the surgical procedure they have chosen to have – we want patients to feel safe in the hands of our specialist multi disciplinary team and learn the secrets of long term success.

Meet the Management team:

Michelle Bowater
Managing Director

Michelle was an obese child, adolescent and adult. In August 2004, after trying everything possible to lose weight and failed, she underwent weight loss surgery and has since gone on to lose over 14 stone.

Having lived the 'journey' she worked for weight loss surgery providers in the marketplace and developed a passion for helping patients fully understand the benefits and pitfalls of weight loss surgery.

It quickly became apparent to her that aftercare was crucial to success and for optimising weight loss.  After listening to so many patients who had not received the care they were ‘sold’ she decided to create a company that really does deliver what it promises

‘’I have always been a big girl... I found out early in my life that food was my addiction of choice,  I loved it and it was the perfect solution to all my emotional needs. When I was under pressure or had problems I found comfort in food and when I was celebrating I ate because I was happy and it was another reason to ‘blow’ that weeks diet .

I used every excuse to eat and every excuse to convince myself it was okay!

I really struggled over the years, tried every slimming club, every pill , every weird and wonderful way to lose weight and always found myself heavier than when I started!

I was disgusted with the way I was eating my life away,  my friends say I ended up ‘super obese’ because I had a personality disorder resulting from a lack of will power  and self control!

I soon learnt Obesity is a chronic disease and I just couldn’t stop myself...

Being overweight was a horrible way to live and I hated every minute of it, I didn’t have any medical conditions associated with obesity and at a 60 + BMI this was unusual.

What I did have though were lifestyle conditions associated with obesity and these were embarrassing – incontinence, skin fold infections, not fitting in chairs, aching joints and depression were by far the worst.

Don’t get me wrong, I  was a nervous wreck the night before surgery and didn’t sleep a wink – I was so scared of failing again and also very afraid of the unknown.

was I really going to make it this time?

My life has really changed since my WLS and I finally feel ‘normal’ but surgery isn’t magic , you have to work with it !

I have been given a second chance to live life and I intend to ......by helping others, on what can sometimes be, a difficult journey...

Live the dream! “

Wendy Stubbs
Clinical Director

Wendy qualified as a nurse in 1982 and following her love of children became a neonatal nurse before having her own family.

She went on to be a Senior Theatre practitioner and also managed a post anaesthetic care unit which is where she learnt more about weight loss surgery.

She was invited to join the obesity team in Leeds as a specialist weight loss surgery nurse and quickly developed a passion for the patient journey and this shines through in her day to day work.

In 2003 she was one of the founder members of the BOSS HCA, providing support and training for regional theatre teams, nurses and practitioners and also developed one of the first support groups in the country and a ‘drop in’ centre for weight loss surgery patients .

Wendy completed her gastric band adjustment training in early 2006 and is always willing to work with patients who are struggling along the way, her standard of care is second to none.

Not only does Wendy work very closely with patients she also develops and delivers weight loss surgery training programmes for other providers.

“I am committed to you and your success. I pride myself on the pre and post operative care I have given to patients over the years and can honestly say I love what I do. I too am passionate about making that difference to someone’s life.

As I tend to be the clinician facing the patient at reviews it can be an emotional journey to  see the patient go from strength to strength – I have shed many tears with patients who have achieved great things along their journey , this makes the hard work all worthwhile.

I feel as though I am helping them get their lives back and that is a precious gift. I pride myself on helping you through the fear and despair to give you health and hope. After having worked for other weight loss surgery providers I am proud to be part of a service that I know is going to deliver such great results for patients and the people around them.”

Steve Stubbs
Aftercare Services Director

Steve’s career has been in customer service and management. In 2003 he met Wendy and was invited to help facilitate the very popular weight loss surgery support groups in Leeds.

He went on to work for a weight loss surgery provider as patient liaison officer, clinic facilitator and support group co-ordinator so has many years experience dealing with weight loss surgery patients.

Steve is passionate about patient care and has developed programmes that are supportive, educational and fun. He really does want to ‘make a difference’ in the obesity world and strives towards delivering a ‘gold’ standard service to be proud of – by listening to the feedback our patients give us.

“After having worked with so many patients over the years I really am proud to be part of a service that is owned by such passionate individuals.

 Quality patient care and value for money is what the WLS Group aim to provide. It is a deep desire of mine to make a real difference in the lives of patients, to impact you in some way from the very beginning to the end of your journey. I want to add incredible value to the lives of people that I come into contact with.

Unlike other providers we give you what you want not what the business wants, we will give everyone interested in weight loss surgery tons of great information and let you decide for yourselves who to create a partnership with, we hope you join our fantastic world”

Colleen Campbell
Patient Services Manager - Nutrition

Colleen graduated with First Class Honours in Nutrition from Kings College, London and then went on to gain a Masters degree with Distinction in Business. Colleen is a registered member of the Nutrition Society (London). Since leaving university, she has dedicated her career to working with patients who want to lose weight – from 2 stones to 12 stones and more.

Her experience spans from developing and delivering weight loss/management programmes, through to advising and supporting patients who have had the most complex of weight loss surgery. Colleen understands obesity, and obesity treatments such as weight loss surgery, but more importantly she understands the weight loss patient. Her main objective is to help people achieve and celebrate their own weight loss goals.

“I thrive on achieving results, and one outcome that I am really passionate about is your success and your ability to achieve your weight loss objectives. People have all sorts of motivations for wanting to lose weight ranging from wanting to fit into a great outfit for a special occasion to improving obesity related health problems. Over the years it has been a joy to hear my patients tell me about their weight loss success stories such as reducing or coming off their various medications including diabetic, hypertensives and statins; being able to have the hip operation they so desperately needed; wearing clothes from Next for the first time in years and one that really brought a tear to my eye – getting pregnant.

These are the sorts of results I want to help patients achieve. Don’t get me wrong, I hear about the hardest challenges and struggles too, but it is my mission to help patients overcome them. It is what I have always done, really enjoyed doing and therefore will do for a long time yet.

I hope to have the opportunity to join you on your journey to better health and better quality of life!”