Issue - meetings

To provide the Panel with an update on Leisure provision (report of the Assistant Director – Leisure and Culture enclosed).

The Area Manager and Contract Manager of Parkwood Leisure Ltd will also be in attendance to deliver a presentation to the Panel regarding performance over the last 12 months and to answer member questions.

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Leisure and Culture which provided the Panel with an update on Q3 & Q4 performance for 2023/2024.

• The Leisure Services Officer introduced the report and presented the following summary of performance outcomes for the period:
  • Usage of the Castle Sports Complex, the Castle Swimming Pool, and the Peele Leisure Centre steadily increased in Q3. The Castle Swimming Pool site reported an increase in general swim, swimming lessons and school usage. The Castle Sports Complex site reported higher usage in class attendance, although gym usage reported a decrease. The Peele Leisure Centre reported an overall increase in all areas compared to Q3 2022;
  • In terms of sales, the Castle sites reported mixed results in Q3. Gym membership sales were below target for October but exceeded targets for November and December;
  • The Castle Pool sales varied month on month;
  • The Peele Leisure Centre consistently exceeded all sales targets;
  • In Q4, the leisure facilities produced strong results with increased sales and usage overall. Whilst the Castle Sports Complex experienced a decline in gym visits, the Peele Leisure Centre experienced increased sales and usage for gym and class visits; and
  • Membership sales exceeded targets in January, February and March 2024 at the Castle sites.

The Area Manager and Contract Manager of Parkwood Leisure attended to deliver a presentation to the Panel (appended to the minutes) which included an update on the following areas over the last 12 months:

• Introduction and review of 2023/2024;
• Memberships – Health and Fitness;
• Memberships – Swimming;
• Memberships – Swimming Lessons;
• Usage;
• Marketing and Promotion;
• User feedback;
• Challenges;

• New site – opportunities and challenges.

Members considered the Parkwood Leisure presentation and raised the following questions:

• It was suggested that posters/flyers be circulated to local community groups and libraries in Long Sutton and the surrounding villages, as not all potential customers engaged with social media.
  • The Area Manager - Parkwood Leisure responded that they did not exclusively advertise on social media platforms and recently flyers had been inserted into all council tax envelopes that were distributed to every resident across South Holland District.

• Members queried the catchment area of users of both sites.
  • The Area Manager - Parkwood Leisure responded that the membership system could provide a postcode breakdown, which would be provided to the Panel.

• Members requested that the marketing campaign for the Peele site be broadened to incorporate a wider catchment area to increase the current usage levels. Did Parkwood have targets to increase usage?
  • The Area Manager - Parkwood Leisure responded that:

§  This was dependent on what the usage was for, he explained the sports hall remained booked throughout the week, but was quieter at the weekends;

§  The gym had a steady flow of customers throughout their opening times but would continue to maximise usage;

§  It was particularly difficult to increase memberships at the Peele site, in reality the school site numbers decreased during Covid and had not returned to previous levels. Increased membership numbers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8