Rushcliffe Borough Council awarded the contract for the management of five of the Council’s leisure centres to Parkwood Leisure in August 2007. In 2011, due to the good value being delivered by Parkwood Leisure and a strong performance with regards to KPIs, the contract was converted to a NPDO and extended by 5 years to 2022.

Parkwood Leisure worked in partnership to manage the closure of the old Rushcliffe Leisure Centre, transitioning the customers, staff and programmes as part of the opening of the new Rushcliffe Arena site in January 2017. The contract between Parkwood Leisure and Rushcliffe Borough Council was extended until July 2025.

Contract highlights:
Increasing active participation - in 2007, the contract welcomed 1,137,798 active visits across its five leisure centres. In 2018, visits reached 1,231,845 across four sites; an increase of nearly 100,000 active visits per year.

Boosting revenue opportunities - in 2019, new sensory lighting equipment was installed in the learner pool at Keyworth Leisure Centre to support users with special needs. Since the install, swim 'pay and play' income has increased by 25%, party hire income by 663% and swimming lessons by 10%.

Maximising partnerships to improve community engagement - Supported by Parkwood Leisure, Rushcliffe Borough Council has worked in partnership with a number of sports organisations and associations to help engage its sites' visitors. These include Swim England, Nottingham Rugby, Nottinghamshire FA and Nottinghamshire Cricket Club. Edwalton Golf Centre, also managed by Parkwood, has also previously held taster sessions in partnership with a local dementia charity.

Future investment - Parkwood Leisure are supporting the council with the development of the new Bingham Leisure Centre, due to open in 2022.

Parkwood Leisure commenced the contract to manage Torbay Leisure Centre on 1st December 2017 for 12 years.

As part of the bid, Parkwood identified £1.7m of investment to improve the facility; working in partnership with the Council who funded the capital improvements, significant upgrades were made to the site which included more than doubling the size of the gym, refurbished squash courts and upgraded changing rooms, as well as the installation of an outdoor artificial pitch.

The facility is a large wet/dry site and also includes a 25m pool and training pool, 8-court sports hall with event seating, café and soft play, plus a British Cycling funded 1.5km outdoor closed road cycling circuit.

There is a lease and management agreement in place between Torbay Council and Parkwood Leisure, who manages the contract via a subcontracting arrangement with Lex Leisure. Lex Leisure Ltd is a Community Investment Company, with charitable objectives to deliver activities which benefit the community. This arrangement provides the Council with confidence that the partnership is financially sustainable as it is underpinned by the extensive experience and commercial expertise of Parkwood Leisure, coupled with a local, bespoke community focus through Lex Leisure.

Contract highlights:

More children learning to swim - The conversion of the main pool and introduction of the learner pool has increased the capacity of the Centre's swimming lesson programme to 600 (Oct 2019) - this is an increase of 100 children each week.

Increased participation and customer satisfaction - Following the investment, customer satisfaction grew from 63% in September 2018 to 90% in September 2019. Active memberships also increased by 400+ new customers per week.

Extension of the partnership - Parkwood Leisure has secured a 25-year agreement with the Riviera International Conference Centre (RICC) in Torquay, South Devon. The new contract will start on 01 April 2021 and will see £1.4m investment into site improvements including a full gym refurbishment, high and low ropes adventure course and new reception area, as well as structural upgrades to the building.