As GLL celebrates 30 years of operation, CEO Peter Bundey talks about the leisure trust’s new five-year vision and how he looks forward to partnering with Technogym to increase participation in physical activity across the UK.

Greenwich Leisure Ltd was the first leisure trust in the UK, and now operates 245 leisure centres, 120 libraries, and 15 children’s centres. As a staff-owned organisation GLL has people at its heart, from staff members to customers, members of the community, and chosen partners.

GLL has worked with Technogym since 2003 in a two-way partnership that thrives on ideas, data, and innovation. As GLL celebrates ts 30th year, it has set ambitious new goals.

“We want to use our unique structure to show how charitable social enterprise can change local communities, tackle health inequalities, and have a significant impact on sustainability,” said Peter. “Our five year vision is a great opportunity to set out exactly what we stand for as an organisation, and the ambitions we have for communities, our staff, and the leisure sector.”

Supporting local businesses, athletes, and people

Since 1993, GLL has invested in sport, leisure, and culture. It’s serious about its commitment, offering incubator and accelerator programmes for local social businesses, supporting 25,000 young athletes through its Sport Foundation, and offering impressive learning and development opportunities to its staff members.

GLL’s new five year Corporate Plan is built around sustainability, tackling health inequalities, being a partner of choice, putting customers and communities first, being more than a job for its staff members, and promoting better ways of doing business. It includes tangible KPIs of getting 1m people more active, serving 275m customer visits, and raising £2bn in social value.

Aligning with strategic partners on vision and values

Technogym has been one of GLL’s primary partners for 20 years, and are delighted to be part of the long-term vision.

“Technogym have long been out there at the forefront of ideas, innovation, and driving sustainability in the supply train,” Peter said. “We are excited to join our ambitions and work together on specific projects. Our partnership with Technogym allows both organisations to make bigger inroads on developing wellbeing for the community.”

Over the next five years, GLL and Technogym will work together on projects around ethical business, the health agenda, Technogym’s Let’s Move For A Better World campaign and the GLL Sport Foundation, leveraging data and innovation to make the most of the partnership.

Partnering on product innovation led by customer feedback

With 245 leisure centres around the UK, GLL are in a unique position to be able to collect customer data, analyse feedback and look at the effect of product design across numerous demographics.

With Technogym’s support, these insights can be turned into innovations that will impact accessibility and engagement, making physical activity more attractive to all populations.

GLL and Technogym look forward to supporting each other on their digital journeys, using real-time data and innovation to help more people access and stay engaged with exercise.

“As the largest charitable social enterprise in the UK, we have a responsibility to invest money in schemes that subsidise physical activity where necessary,” said Peter. “We have the reach to do this through leisure centres, digital products, and our libraries where we are giving people digital access to health and wellbeing information to improve education.”

Going beyond traditional partnerships

Technogym’s partnership with GLL involves working together to provide a great user experience, train leisure staff, and ultimately get more people active.

This valuable feedback loop starts on the ground, in GLL’s 245 leisure centres, and this year will extend to GLL’s new created Product Innovation Campuses dedicated to end-to-end product innovation and implementation using immersive customer interaction.

“As Technogym bring ideas through, we are keen to use our unique position to support them with feedback and data,” said Peter. “The Biostrength product range is a great example of how we can do this by monitoring how customers use the equipment, and seeing how the products give users better knowledge and incentive to exercise.”

As Peter explains, GLL is excited to develop areas that will have a tangible impact on the future of physical activity – including digital, AI, human-powered equipment, and sustainability.

“The GLL and Technogym partnership is a strong one,” he said. “They bring the concept, innovation and support, and we can offer granular data, customer input, and feedback on usability. We both have very clear ambitions, and we will continue to work together to have the widest possible impact on physical and mental health.”