New operator for sports and leisure facilities

Back in June the Council's Executive appointed Freedom Leisure as the new operator for Guildford Spectrum, Guildford Lido and Ash Manor Sports Centre. Since then the two organisations have been crossing the 't's' and dotting the 'i's' to ensure a smooth transfer to Freedom Leisure from the contract start date which is Tuesday 1 November 2011.

 Freedom Leisure is a not for profit charitable leisure trust currently managing 29 leisure facilities across the South-East including K2 in Crawley and The Triangle in Burgess Hill. Freedom will be operating the three sports and leisure venues in Guildford and Ash by working in partnership with Guildford Borough Council who will retain ownership of these award winning community facilities.

Freedom Leisure's mission statement reads;

"We are committed to the provision and development of inclusive leisure and fitness facilities that with continued investment will offer a range of opportunities for improvement in health and social wellbeing for everyone. Our teams are empowered to deliver a service that will exceed our customer's expectations."

This underpins their absolute commitment to the communities in which they operate and Freedom will work with everybody to enhance and improve the already excellent service and facilities in Guildford and Ash.

Cllr Nigel Manning, Lead Councillor for Service Transformation, says: "Quality of service and value for money were top of our list when assessing potential operators for our award-winning sports and leisure facilities. They play a key role in enhancing the quality of life and health of local people. This is something we take huge pride in and are absolutely committed to."

Jeff Hart, Managing Director of Freedom Leisure says: "Customers can be reassured that they will still receive the same great service from the same staff teams who can answer any questions you might have. We are looking forward to working with the existing staff teams and customers to make the Guildford and Ash venues, great places to work out and enjoy your leisure time.

The Council commissioned an independent consultant to look at the best options for its leisure management service in 2009. This resulted in the decision to market test interest from external agencies (private contractors and established trusts) to operate Guildford Spectrum, Guildford Lido and Ash Manor Sports Centre on behalf of the Council.

As there was a strong interest from private contractors and established trusts, the decision was made to go out to tender. We worked in partnership with Woking Borough Council on this tender process.

Following the competitive procurement process, the Council selected Freedom Leisure to operate its leisure management service for an initial ten year contract period starting on 1 November 2011.

For more information on Freedom Leisure and the sites they currently manage please visit their website at www.freedom-leisure.co.uk