North Kesteven District Council has selected preferred partners to manage its leisure services following a competitive procurement process. The preferred partners, all of which are not-for-profit or trust organisations for three Lots are:

  • Lot 1: Sport and Physical Activity – Greenwich Leisure Ltd
  • Lot 2: Whisby Natural World Centre – Lincs Inspire
  • Lot 3: Countryside service – Hill Holt Wood.

The Council has undertaken a £7 million investment programme at Sleaford Leisure Centre and ONE NK in recent years. This has resulted in a significant increase in visits from 492,399 prior to investment to 739,468 in 2016/17.

To target the services the Council has developed a Sport and Physical Activity Strategy which will be delivered by GLL as part of the contract with a mission of:

“Inspiring Everyone to be More Active More Often”.

The new contract will also see further investment at the Station Fitness facility in Sleaford and an enhanced outreach service to deliver the sport and physical directly in local communities aimed at hard to reach to reach groups.

The procurement which was supported by specialist consultants SLC, will result in the Council gaining a significant return on its investment with the combined savings of over £7.5 million over the next 10 years. The previously subsidised services will now yield an overall surplus to the Council.

David Rushton, Managing Consultant at SLC said, “We believe this procurement demonstrates how what is already a good service can be transformed and made sustainable. The division of facilities and services into Lots has ensured that the best placed partners have been chosen for specific services. The result shows that it is possible to focus on quality and outcomes whilst delivering transformational savings to the Council. We are very proud of this project and are delighted for our client.”

Karen Bradford, Deputy Chief Executive at North Kesteven District Council said, “The
procurement will result in the Council securing its excellent and innovative leisure services for
the next decade. The service will no longer require a subsidy which reflects sound investment
decisions by the Council to increase usage and to meet customer expectations over the last
two to three years. We are also looking forward to working with our new partners who as
not-for-profit organisations who will be focused on improving health and wellbeing opportunities for North Kesteven residents”.

The new 10-year contracts will commence on 1st April 2018.

For more information please contact: info@slc.uk.com or 01444 459927.