The UK has fewer public-use swimming pools in 2023 than in 2022, but revenue streams have been buoyed by surging demand for lessons and an average adult pay-per-swim fee that’s topped £5 for the first time. These are the headlines of the State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2023, compiled by market intelligence expert Leisure DB.
State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2023
WELCOME TO LEISURE DB’S STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
Leisure DB is a leading independent data specialist in the UK leisure sector, providing robust market intelligence and analysis that spans the full breadth of the ever diversifying, ever-evolving industry. For over 30 years, our reports have provided UK operators, suppliers, investors, consultants and government bodies with invaluable business insights and analysis of the trends within, and performance of, the sector. This empowers businesses with the insights and tools they need to make strategic decisions with confidence and precision, to in turn thrive in their market.
© Leisure DB. All rights reserved unless otherwise agreed in advance by Leisure DB. No part of this report may be sold, passed on, communicated, or disseminated in any form.
CONTENTS
LEISURE DB
STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
LEISURE DB FOUNDER FOREWORD
PUBLIC SECTOR DEFINITIONS
4
55
5
56
COO FOREWORD
OVERVIEW
6
57
INDUSTRY VIEWS
OPENINGS & CLOSURES
62
POOL LOCATIONS
TOTAL MARKET OVERVIEW & TRENDS
63
FEES & PRICING
19
64
MANAGEMENT MODELS
29
OPENINGS & CLOSURES
70
POOL FACILITIES
31
UK POOL LOCATIONS
75
TOP 10 POOL OPERATORS
PRIVATE SECTOR DEFINITIONS
ABOUT LEISURE DB METHODOLOGY
34
84
35
OVERVIEW
85
OUR PARTNERS
39
POOL LOCATIONS
88
WORK WITH US
40
OPENINGS & CLOSURES
89
OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS
41
TOP 30 POOL OPERATORS
47
TOP 10 POOL OPERATORS
49
INDEPENDENTS & MULTI-CLUBS
NEW TO THIS YEAR’S REPORT
New to this year’s report are expert and operator interviews and commentary, for insight into the story behind the statistics.
20
50
A NATIONAL CRISIS
THIRD SPACE
24
58
MAKING SWIMMING SUSTAINABLE
GLL
27
67
1LIFE
EVERYONE ACTIVE
32
73
TIME TO CHANGE
FREEDOM LEISURE
43
79
TOTAL FITNESS
PARKWOOD LEISURE
Our thanks go to everyone for their time and willingness to share their expertise and experiences.
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
FOUNDER FOREWORD
LEISURE DB
LIGHTBULB MOMENTS
I have a confession to make while writing this foreword: something I haven’t admitted before. In spite of my love for triathlon, I’m a hopeless swimmer. There, I said it – and I’m happy to share this news now as part of the wider sharing, openness and frankness that’s taking place in this transformative report. As is the case every year, the State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2023 paints a clear picture of the UK’s swimming pool stock – and this year, it’s a story of continued decline, albeit not as dramatic as might be expected, with pool count down -0.8% and the number of sites with pools down -1.8%. What’s new this time is our deep dive behind the statistics, as 12 partners share a fascinating and insightful narrative around a shared interest in our swimming pools. They are joined by a collection of experts who have been designing, building, maintaining, operating, managing, programming, researching and redefining the carrying capacity of the water. I have learnt so much, and I’m sure you will, reading all these contributions to the national debate on what the pool stock should look like, who should provide it, fund, programme and manage it. I had never before thought about applying retention strategies to swimmers, for example, so thanks to Marc Jones for that lightbulb moment. Also interesting is that premiumisation exists in swimming as it does in fitness, with ‘PT in the pool’ from the likes of Swimming Nature and luxury operator Third Space naming pools as its top-performing digital marketing asset. Then there’s the tech that’s making an impact on the swim customer experience, from AI lifeguarding to learn-to-swim tracking apps to online bookings that mean we finally have rich, product-informing data on all types of swimmers. Yet we still need to put much more thought into the customer experience, says Sophie Lawler of Total Fitness. Other contributors, including GLL and 1Life, vent their frustration over funding; public sector operators call for a financial model to protect pools by rethinking the tendering process; and new partnerships with the likes of Good Boost show how pools can be harnessed to support the NHS. Finally, Helen Bull is spot on when she says there’s no one single leading voice in the industry. To that I would add ‘or data source’. This report – and the database sitting behind it – is the most granular facility data available and the only complete audit of all UK pools, but usage data remains limited and patchy. More must be done, and I urge the whole sector to dive in and embrace the best practice showcased in this year’s State of the UK Swimming Industry Report .
I have learnt so much, and I’m sure you will, reading all these contributions
to the national debate on the UK’s pool stock. DAVID MINTON Founder, Leisure DB
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
COO FOREWORD
LEISURE DB
SHARING BEST PRACTICE
As a former operator leading portfolios of private health and wellness clubs for 30 years, I know first-hand the challenges the industry faces in its attempt to future-proof pools – especially when up against today’s many variables, from eye-watering energy costs to rising wages that put pool safeguarding resources at a premium. There are, however, numerous opportunities to maximise pool revenue streams, and ways to get energy costs under control; the operator interviews interspersed throughout this report offer invaluable advice and best practice from which we can all draw great learnings. We’ve also partnered with some of the sector’s leading suppliers to supplement our report with additional operational recommendations and solutions. It all adds up to make this year’s State of the UK Swimming Industry Report a more compelling read than ever – a report that since its first edition in 2010 has been the go-to resource for the sector, providing a comprehensive annual audit of all private and public swimming facilities in the UK. As always, this year’s report embraces all the different types of swimming pool facilities and includes a full breakdown of pool numbers and regional coverage, openings and closures, public and private sector analysis and expert commentary on the trends. You can review our research methodology on page 84. For me, one of the most interesting challenges and opportunities lies in the realm of energy consumption: across the UK, pools are a major energy consumer, with heating pool water and ventilating pool halls accounting for around 65% of total pool energy bills. Address this and we also address carbon emissions, which is something we’d all like to see, creating a more environmentally-sustainable network of swimming pools across the UK. Conducting a carbon audit can be a good first step, analysing current carbon performance and offering actionable steps to reduce pools’ carbon footprint – and in the process, promote better energy management. And there’s good news for operators, with some government funding available to support these efforts. Often only visibly promoted to the public sector – in the shape of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, for example – funding is in fact also open to some private sector operators too. In this case, operators must be serving the local community, and must be able to demonstrate – via a means test and open book policy – that they are under pressure to future-proof their pools and need financial support to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption. So there is some support out there, and combined with the data, advice and partner solutions in this year’s report, we hope to support our sector as it moves to future-proof the vital, life-saving resource that pools represent to communities across the UK.
We hope to support our sector as it moves to future- proof the vital, life-saving resource that pools represent.
HEIDI BLACKBURN COO, Leisure DB
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INDUSTRY VIEWS
LEISURE DB
TOWARDS A ZERO CARBON FUTURE WHY INVESTMENT IN SWIMMING POOLS’ FUTURE HAS TO START RIGHT NOW It’s a heatwave! As I write this, there are parts of Europe hitting close to 50°C, while the average temperature across the Earth is at its highest level ever. The 2015 COP21 Paris Agreement, signed by 196 countries, is clearly at risk of failing to achieve its goal – limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C – as a direct result of too many countries’ apathy to committing to reduce carbon emissions. Through the 2008 Climate Change Act – amended in 2019 – the UK has a set a target to be net zero carbon by 2050. This gives our sports and leisure industry just 27 years to be a contributor to this target. If 27 years sounds like a long time, let me assure you it is not: there isn’t a sports facility nor swimming pool being designed or built today that isn’t envisaged to still be standing in 2050. And yet so much of what our industry is doing right now is not fit for a zero carbon future – and yes, it’s zero carbon, not net zero carbon. Anyone can offset their carbon use by greenwashing or buying electricity off a decarbonised grid, but at what cost? Need the evidence? Across the UK, there are local authorities where over 50% of their total carbon emissions are discharged just through their leisure buildings. Quite simply, we must all agree – right now – that sustainability-focused investment today is good for our future. Fail to do this and we face incredibly expensive retro-fits and decarbonisation programmes for all those still-standing leisure facilities – a potentially existential threat to our swimming pools that could mean the 2050 version of this report is a whole lot thinner! For best practice, look no further than the sports centre designed and delivered by SPACE&PLACE this year, for Exeter City Council: the world’s only multi-zonal Passivhaus sports centre. This has moved the dial significantly, with a 50% saving on water use, a 70% reduction in energy, and zero in-use carbon. This was no ordinary project, yet this approach needs to become ordinary. Certainly at British Swimming, where I am non-executive director, we’re doing more to rethink our carbon footprint – particularly through travel – with the next generation of eco-conscious athletes driving change from within. We must all come together to turn our swimming industry into a much more environmentally sustainable one – one in which pools support the health and wellbeing of communities, rather than continuing to contribute so heavily to the sweltering, health-threatening heatwaves.
We must all agree – right now – that sustainability- focused investment today is good for our future.
KEITH ASHTON CEO, SPACE&PLACE Board Director, British Swimming
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
This is not an ordinary project, but it needs to be.
SPACE-PLACE.COM 0800 909 8008 answers@space-place.com
ST SIDWELL’S POINT THE WORLD’S FIRST MULTIZONAL PASSIVHAUS SPORTS CENTRE FOR EXETER CITY
INDUSTRY VIEWS
LEISURE DB
RELAXING THE ‘RULES’ DRIVING PARTICIPATION BY CHALLENGING NORMS
My focus is on driving participation in swimming, which is ironic as I never saw the point in swimming when I was younger. It was only in my late 20s that things changed. I worked for a group of leisure centres, heading up retention and sales. We’d done lots of retention work in the gym, boosting gym floor interaction, then received Swim England funding for a range of projects including retention in swimming. I knew I needed to understand swimming in the same way I understood fitness: by taking part. So in my late 20s, I enrolled on a learn-to-swim course. It was a revelation. I realised it was a mental thing: everyone can swim if you get past the negative self-talk. We took learnings from the gym and brought interaction to the poolside, with coaches at each end offering tips and technique. They were private swim trainers and did it for free to promote their services. We also introduced swimming inductions and programmes to give people structure. And it worked: we carried on those initiatives even after the funding ended. We also looked at barriers to participation, with body consciousness a big one. If you’d rather swim in a T-shirt, why shouldn’t you? It’s time old-fashioned pool rules were relaxed and swimming made more fun, interesting and engaging. We introduced dynamic pricing, too, making swimming cheaper and more accessible at quiet times and more expensive at peak times. Of course, driving participation also means broadening your audience and maximising use of your space. Only ever getting the same limited group of regulars swimming lengths? Consider laying the pool out differently throughout the day to suit each daypart’s user groups – and those you’d like to attract. Recreational swimmers aren’t worried about precise distance, for example: their lanes could be shortened to create a full-width area for another activity. Family time could be scheduled alongside swimming lessons – because demand for lessons is surging, with a huge backlog of kids who couldn’t learn during COVID. Parkwood’s doing some great work here, with automated waiting lists ensuring every spot in class is full, maximising revenues. My challenge to operators: if you want to drive participation, it’s time to look at things from a user needs perspective and be less rigid in your approach. Finally, data is key to driving participation, and we’re working on new software to give NGBs the data they need to secure Sport England funding. If they know how long it takes a child in the south of England to learn to swim 25m versus a child in the north, for example, they can make a strong case for funding to address inequalities.
If you want to drive participation, it’s time to look at things from a user needs perspective. Be less rigid in your approach.
MARC JONES Head of Customer Experience, Fitronics
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
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INDUSTRY VIEWS
LEISURE DB
THE POWER OF PERSONAL TRAINING HOW PRIVATE CLASSES SUPPORT POOL SUSTAINABILITY
My vision is of a country where everyone can swim. Group swimming classes are of course key to this vision: I have no desire to criticise the NGBs or pool operators in this respect. Teaching the masses must be the priority, catering for all the children who need to learn this vital life skill. However, particularly at a time when operators are struggling to keep pools open in the face of rising costs, we should recognise the value of also offering private lessons for those who wish to pay for them. Most gym operators already offer personal training for those seeking personalised, specialist fitness support from an upskilled coach. It’s a great revenue driver for the gym and it meets a clear consumer need. Private swimming lessons are exactly the same. What we deliver is PT in the pool, and our experience proves beyond doubt that the demand is there: Swimming Nature has been going for 30 years, with 150 highly skilled instructors running fully-booked courses that serve 5,000 students a week. We’ve even taken over struggling pools – we now have three Swimming Nature pools in the UK – and have turned them into success stories based around private lessons, predominantly for children but also for adults, as well as classes for babies. It doesn’t need to be at the expense of group swimming classes or other pool- based activities, either. Depending on an operator’s pool length, we can have three instructors in one lane, each teaching two children. Classes last for 30 minutes, so that’s 12 children an hour using just one lane. I don’t want to turn this into a pitch for Swimming Nature, so suffice to say there are different models available, from us running the whole thing to operators licensing our brand, programmes, training and systems. We also offer CPD in collaboration with the Swimming Teachers Association (STA) and are developing a new qualification and training body so instructors across the country can upskill; if we want to achieve our vision, we have to put the framework in place to scale. As that happens, it’s going to be critically important that recognised standards, safeguarding and regulations are put in place, and this is something we’re pushing for now. In conclusion, the market for private swimming classes is categorically there. This is a product customers want – and the customer is always right. We should be looking at how best to deliver it, with new standards to ensure it’s delivered consistently well. It’s also a creative way to maximise pool revenues, serve the community and ultimately keep pools open. Now more than ever, operators must capitalise on every opportunity to make pools sustainable.
Now more than ever, operators must capitalise on every opportunity to make pools sustainable. EDUARDO FERRÉ Founder and Director, Swimming Nature
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
INDUSTRY VIEWS
LEISURE DB
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CREATING FIT-FOR-PURPOSE, MODERN SWIMMING POOLS As the leading leisure developer in the UK, we’ve been developing leisure facilities for over two decades. It’s given us strong insight into the many factors an operator must consider when looking to create the perfect pool provision. We’ve seen plenty of changes over that time, too, so when I asked our team for their thoughts on modern swimming pool design, the responses were varied. There was, however, one underlying theme: rarely are two swimming facilities ever created the same. Each and every pool development is nuanced around the client’s specific brief and objectives. For example, one notable project – completed back in 2018 – was our ‘Ship in a bottle’ development at Monmouth Leisure Centre. In an impressive feat of construction engineering, a 25m swimming pool and spa was successfully built within an existing sports hall structure. Don’t rule anything out! Today, client briefs range from eight-lane 25m pools with large seated viewing galleries, to new leisure centres with six-lane, single-depth pools and limited poolside seating – and everything in between. More flexible programming has certainly led to an increased demand for movable floors, but this comes at a cost that has to be balanced against commercial returns, operational issues and energy efficiencies. Meanwhile, reducing viewing areas and glazing, or simply restricting the pool depth, all have a significant impact on accessibility and pool usage. Funding partners and local swimming clubs also play an influential role when scoping the vision for a new pool. From a sustainability perspective, we’ve advocated and installed numerous technologies – such as micro filtration and decarbonising measures – all of which can help operators move towards the goal of achieving a BREAAM Excellent rating. And sustainability has increasingly become a factor for operators. However, commerciality is still front and centre in decision-making, and consideration should be given to the size, location and features of the pool hall itself, with options including energy-efficient lighting, heat recovery systems and automated control systems. One of our clients, Brimhams Active, told me that from a commercial perspective, there are two key areas to consider: understanding your customers and understanding your cost to serve. We asked Natalie McGuire, Director of Business Development at Brimhams Active, for her top tips on maximising the commercial opportunity of pools – because as she points out, the pool might be your biggest cost in terms of its energy consumption, but the commercial opportunities are great. You can read that full interview at allianceleisure.co.uk/news
Sustainability has increasingly become a factor for operators, but commerciality is still front and centre in decision-making.
SARAH WATTS CEO, Alliance Leisure
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
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INDUSTRY VIEWS
LEISURE DB
THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF POOLS EMPOWERING LIVES, ENSURING INCLUSIVITY, PRIORITISING SAFETY Our charity’s purpose is rooted in the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy water and be safe in aquatic environments. The importance of swimming pools in achieving this – inclusively promoting confidence and competence in the water, and in turn saving lives – cannot be overstated. Indeed, sitting at the heart of local communities, swimming pools have a transformative power. These are not only spaces for physical activity and recreation, promoting physical fitness. They are places where children and adults learn to swim, building confidence and competence in the water. They are venues for lifesaving and lifeguard training, equipping people with essential skills for themselves and others. They are instrumental in saving countless lives. By teaching water safety and swimming techniques, swimming pools play a vital role in preventing drowning incidents, especially among children and vulnerable individuals. RLSS UK is therefore dedicated to advocating for policies and regulations that prioritise water safety, actively engaging with government bodies, policymakers and stakeholders to raise awareness about the importance of drowning prevention measures; in 2022, this led to the Education Bill on water safety. Swimming pools also play a key role in creating employment opportunities, with over 50,000 lifeguards working in the sector. Neither does it stop there, as many of these individuals then harness their skills to springboard into new careers such as the police, paramedics and fire service. You only have to look at our #IStartedAsALifeguard campaign to see the benefits. Yet while swimming pools offer a gateway to a healthier and safer society, the industry faces significant challenges in ensuring inclusivity. Collaboration with local communities, schools and organisations plays a pivotal role in addressing these disparities, and RLSS UK has been actively engaging with underrepresented groups: initiatives such as our scholarship fund for migrants and people from low-income backgrounds enable these individuals to access our quality education programmes. We believe it is our collective responsibility as an industry to create a more inclusive swimming culture, ensuring swimming facilities are accessible to all, regardless of background or circumstances. Everyone must have the opportunity to learn how to enjoy water safely. And so we will continue to work closely with the industry to understand the demands and challenges, and to provide support and guidance. To set industry standards, provide consultancy, conduct audits and offer ongoing support to help swimming pools across the nation adhere to the highest safety measures, foster inclusivity, create a culture where everyone can enjoy the water and its many benefits, and provide peace of mind to swimmers and their families.
It is our collective responsibility as an industry to create a more inclusive swimming culture to ensure everyone has the chance to enjoy water safely.
JO TALBOT Director, RLSS UK
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
TRAINING
QUALIFICATIONS
SINCE 1891
CONSULTANCY
GUIDANCE
We’ve been sharing our expertise in watersafety, lifesaving, and lifeguarding to educate everyone to enjoy water safely.
EDUCATION
www.rlss.org.uk
INDUSTRY VIEWS
LEISURE DB
SUPPORTING LEARN-TO-SWIM PROVIDERS HOW STA QUALIFICATIONS ARE CREATING WORK-READY SWIMMING TEACHERS With swimming pools increasingly costly to run and maintain, maximising pool space and increasing occupancy is key – but how can this be done? As a national governing body for swimming, the STA is invested in helping operators achieve exactly this, with initiatives such as our Swim Academy programme proving hugely valuable, particularly as the demand for swimming lessons continues to boom. All of our academies have cited that they’ve been able to retain and significantly increase the number of learners in their swimming programmes as a result of the Swim Academy model; one council recently told us that over a two-year period, it has seen a 76% increase in the number of young learners enrolled onto its learn-to-swim programme. We also offer all learn-to-swim providers the opportunity to become an STA Approved Training Centre (ATC), which many harness to help retain and upskill existing staff, as well as to attract new aquatic professionals to the industry at this time of nationwide swimming teacher shortages. Once set up as an ATC, providers can deliver professionally accredited courses internally – including our lifeguarding and pool plant qualifications – and plan and cost-effectively manage the training process based on each leisure centre’s requirements. The most in-demand qualification is our STA Level 2 Award in Teaching Swimming. CIMSPA-endorsed, this qualification was created to meet the needs of leisure operators delivering non-swimmer, beginner and improver lessons – the largest market in grassroots swimming and the area in which we’re seeing the highest demand for qualified, professional swimming teachers. A unique swimming teaching qualification, it does not require an employer or learner to invest in an assistant teacher as well as a swimming teacher qualification: with a Level 2 Award, a swimming teacher is work-ready and can move straight in to independently teaching non-swimmer, beginner and improver lessons. Its popularity is borne out in the latest figures from Ofqual, which show that STA delivered 50% of all Level 2, CIMSPA-endorsed swimming teaching qualifications in England in 2022 – and that 100% of our teachers were able to directly teach on poolside. By working with the leisure industry to create modern-day solutions for grassroots swimming – alongside our charity campaigns like STAnd Up and STArlight – we can help leisure operators run efficient, cost-effective learn-to-swim and training programmes. In turn, this helps us meet our charitable objective of teaching swimming and saving lives: the more we can help learn-to-swim providers, the more people of all ages and abilities will have the opportunity to learn a key life skill.
The more we can help learn-to-swim providers, the more people will have the opportunity to learn a key life skill.
DAVE CANDLER CEO, STA
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
TEACHING SWIMMING, SAVING LIVES As a national governing body for swimming and an educational charity, STA is dedicated to the teaching of swimming and water safety through the delivery of accredited swimming teaching and lifesaving qualifications for the leisure industry.
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sta_team
@STAHealthLeisureLife
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STA (Swimming Teachers Association)
OVERVIEW & TRENDS
TOTAL MARKET
NO DATA 2020 & 2021 DUE TO COVID-19
2019 2022 2023 % vs 2022
-1.8 %
2,955
3,170 3,008
Total number of sites with pools
-0.8 %
Total number of pools
4,351
4,559 4,386
-2.6 %
Private clubs with pools
1,309
1,468 1,344
-1.1 %
Public centres with pools
1,646
1,702 1,664
“Some of the smaller independent pool operators in particular are relying on that funding to keep them afloat. They’ve told the banks it’s coming. It’s been one of the biggest frustrations of the past 12 months.” For some, it is already too late. Even in the week this report was compiled, Manchester Evening News reported on the closure of three facilities in Tameside, stating: “Active Tameside says it has been left in an ‘unenviable position’ after being stung by rising costs, while Tameside Council insists it cannot afford to pick up the bill and rescue the sites.” With this in mind, what’s surprising in our 2023 figures is that we haven’t seen a more significant decrease in pool numbers: there’s been less of an overall reduction in pool stock over the past 12 months than in the year directly following COVID. It is, however, almost inevitable that rising costs will cause more casualties. It is also important to note that the figures in this report include pools temporarily closed but slated to re-open. The coming 12 months will be critical as big decisions are made on the future of pools across the UK.
In the 12 months to the end of March 2023, the total number of UK sites operating a pool fell to under 3,000 (-1.8% compared to March 2022), with the drop more marked in the private than in the public sector: -2.6% for the private sector versus -1.1% for the public sector. The continued downward trend is sadly to be expected given the very significant repercussions of persistently high energy costs. Indeed, leisure trust GLL says the rough cost to heat and treat a 25-metre pool has gone up from about £100k to about £250k a year, making this one of the most challenging areas of leisure facility operation in terms of hiked energy costs. Neither has government support been forthcoming at the time of writing this report; the application process for the funding announced in March – originally £63m, now £60m – has has only just been opened up.* “A year too late,” says Steve Bambury, COO at 1Life. “The peak of the energy crisis was during the winter of 22/23 and only now are potential funds available to apply for, with no guarantee of an award.” GLL CEO Peter Bundey explains: “We lobbied hard to get government help for the sector, campaigning on all fronts to save swimming pools as operators and local authorities were taken to the brink of affordability. Eventually government said it would give £63m – not a huge amount, but something – yet nobody’s seen a penny of it.
*www.sportengland.org/guidance-and-support/facilities-and-planning/ swimming-pool-support-fund
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
ANALYSIS & COMMENT
A NATIONAL CRISIS
We need a financial model in place for swimming that recognises the real cost of provision of public swimming pools, says GLL’s Mark Sesnan
“Despite massive campaigning for support and relief for pools in the face of rising energy costs, still nothing has actually come through from Treasury since the energy price caps were withdrawn,” says Mark Sesnan, the founder of leisure trust GLL. “The figure promised by government in the budget is also far from generous and unlikely to alleviate the majority of the problems. “No two ways about it: this will impact the service, both in terms of pricing – affecting operators’ ability to offer concessions – and the financial model of leisure centres, where traditionally health and fitness was able to subsidise swimming. With pool operating costs rising as they are, that’s no longer possible. Something has to give. “We’ll be left with fewer pools nationally, and the areas that suffer most will be the areas of deprivation, where there isn’t as much money in the system, and rural areas where there aren’t enough people to justify an intensive programme.
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ANALYSIS & COMMENT
“GLL hasn’t closed any pools as a direct result of energy costs, but future planning decisions will certainly be affected, with all pools being reviewed on the basis of sustainability. “That doesn’t just mean energy costs, either. Zero carbon is also a factor: it’s very difficult to retrofit zero carbon technology into any building constructed pre-2000. Clearly many public swimming pool facilities fall into that category.” The challenge of tendering Sesnan continues: “The biggest problem is that local authority leisure has been commoditised as something you can tender, with a 10-year bid requiring you to predict usage levels, price, costs… everything for the next 10 years. The provider is left trying to put in a bid that’s competitive, so they have a chance of winning it, but without putting themselves in a position where they’ll lose money and go bust if their forecasts prove wrong. “It’s a harsh regime, because nobody could predict COVID or the energy crisis, for example. Fortunately GLL has good local authority partners, so we’ve managed to get through it. Not all organisations have. “And that’s a big issue, because swimming is a core part of keeping the population healthy and fit, not to mention safe. We also need pools for competition – although as an aside, not every pool has to be 25m. As long as there’s one 25m pool in the town or borough, other community pools can be 20m. These are more cost-efficient and easier to run, and still provide a very adequate swimming experience for a large proportion of swimmers.”
Pools cost a lot to run, but we can’t charge £10-15 a swim to cover those costs, because then it becomes a rich person’s sport.
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ANALYSIS & COMMENT
He adds: “Even then, pools cost a lot to run – but we can’t start charging £10–15 a swim to cover those costs, because then it becomes a rich person’s sport. There are such sports, of course, but swimming is meant to be for everyone. It’s part of the national curriculum. We’re an island nation with a vast inland network of rivers, lakes and canals: it’s important that everyone can swim. “And so we need to wake up and realise that to achieve this, it’s essential that we have good quality pools and a financial model in place that enables public subsidy. It shouldn’t just be about who can provide swimming the cheapest. Pools are too vital to the community to go down that path where things can go wrong. “I believe the future of pools should be much more widely discussed and debated. What is the real need in terms of numbers and types of pools? What should the national provision look like? At GLL we know what works and what is needed, but it’s clear that in many places, councils simply aren’t investing adequately.”
It’s essential that we have good quality pools and a financial model in place that enables public subsidy.
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
OVERVIEW & TRENDS
TOTAL MARKET
NO DATA 2020 & 2021 DUE TO COVID-19
Number of sites with a swimming pool: 2010 - 23
4000
Private clubs
Public centres
1725
1728
1719
1706
1701
1694 1698
3000
1694 1694 1702
1664 1646
2000
1549
1541
1540
1534
1532
1521
1475
1468
1464 1467
1344 1309
1000
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2022
2023
KEY STATS FOR 2023 ■ Across the UK, the total number of clubs/ centres with a pool is down -1.8% since our 2022 report. ■ The number of pools is also down -0.8% compared to last year. ■ At the end of March 2023, there were 2,955 sites with pools across the UK, accounting for a total of 4,351 pools; some locations have multiple pools. ■ Of this total, the private sector operates 1,309 pools and the public sector 1,646. ■ Nuffield Health and GLL remain the UK’s leading private and public operators, respectively, by number of sites with a pool. ■ Public leisure trust GLL leads the way with 136 swimming centres, followed by Nuffield, which operates 113 private clubs with a swimming pool. ■ Trusts dominate in the public sector, managing 51% of all UK pools; in Scotland, the figure is 67%. ■ GLL and David Lloyd Clubs are the only two top operators to have added more than one site with a swimming pool in the last 12 months, logging seven and two respectively. ■ In the 12 months to the end of March 2023, the average public pay and play swim fee increased by 5.9% to £5.22.
Looking specifically at this year’s report, pool closures continue at a lower rate than in the 12 months directly following COVID. However, it’s interesting to take a historical look at pool stock, beyond the obvious impact of COVID and energy costs over the last few years. Relatively stable from 2010–15, a small drop in pool numbers followed between 2015 and 2019 – most notably in the private sector, driven in part by factors such as low-cost operators acquiring clubs with pools, then removing all wet-side facilities. Set against this backdrop, the financial crisis-inflicted drop in private sector pool stock in particular is notable over the last few years – a sector in which the decision to provide swimming is purely commercial, uninfluenced by local authority targets or tender specifications. “If you have 10 clubs and they all have pools, you could be spending half a million pounds on energy,” observes Third Space Managing Director John Penny. “I’m not surprised that some of the lower price-point operators that have pools are perhaps contemplating whether this is a facility they value enough to justify these costs.” (For a full interview with Penny, see page 50.)
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
ASK THE EXPERTS
MAKING SWIMMING SUSTAINABLE
“With many small operators facing closure, it’s important to look beyond current capacity to understand what true pool optimisation means,” says Bethan Laker, Director at The Leisure Experts. “Our findings indicate that many operators achieve only around 60-70% pool optimisation, which might increase to 75% when running a well-optimised swimming lesson programme. Encouraging greater awareness of ceiling capacity rather than current capacity is crucial. “We believe there’s a need for more innovative pool layouts that accommodate multiple user groups simultaneously. However, beyond the larger operators, there’s been minimal multi-use innovation over the past decade. In cases where multi-use facilities do exist, many operators fail to measure participation in each separate activity, leading to a lack of understanding about what works for them and their customers.” She adds: “The industry must also shift from a service provision mindset to recognise that pool operations are businesses. “Currently, the sector lacks the know-how to turn pool operations into profitable ventures. There’s no single quick-fix solution: it requires a holistic approach, addressing various aspects simultaneously including financials, physical layout and pool optimisation, workforce and qualifications, customer journeys and programming, health and safety, and a broader range of KPIs and reporting. “Our experience demonstrates that by adopting this comprehensive perspective, it’s possible to take a typical five-lane, 25m pool – previously at 65-75% optimisation – and generate an additional £1m in annual turnover. Our clients typically achieve these results within 12-18 months.”
The industry must shift from a service provision mindset to recognise that pool operations are businesses.
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
OVERVIEW & TRENDS
TOTAL MARKET
of the total UK population live within 2 miles of a swimming pool 83.1 %
Want to know where your members come from? Why not ask Leisure DB
83.1% of the total UK population live within two miles of a swimming pool, compared to 83.4% in 2022. However, our research for this report indicated changing trends in pool access; while pool numbers might not have declined as much as one might have expected, in some cases access is more limited than previously. For example, in the public sector, some school pools that pre-COVID were also open to the public are now limited to in-school use only. Similarly at some hotels, access has been narrowed to hotel guests only. Originally enforced by pandemic restrictions, these changes in model have remained in place as operators struggle to justify the additional costs involved in a return to the old ways. It is also the case that many operators are upping the ante on swimming lessons, both to meet surging post-pandemic demand and to maximise revenues to keep pools viable. While all those we interviewed are working hard to strike a balance to continue to meet the broader needs of the local community, there will inevitably be an impact on casual pool access as more time is allocated to lessons. We explore this topic on the next page…
Changes in model remain in place as operators struggle to justify the costs of the old ways.
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
OVERVIEW & TRENDS
TOTAL MARKET
THE CONTINUED BOOM OF LEARN-TO-SWIM
So, just how significant is the demand for swimming lessons? Clearly there’s a backlog to work through of five- to seven-year-olds who weren’t able to learn during COVID: 1Life reports average class levels to be 115–120% of pre-COVID levels, and COO Steve Bambury sees opportunities beyond this, too. He explains: “A child might come in at level 1, but it isn’t just about them getting their 20m badge and then that’s it, they can swim, job done. We need to look at ways to extend their swimming journeys, encouraging them through the levels, maybe even training them as 15-year-old rookie lifeguards.” Read more from 1Life and Bambury in our interview on page 27 . Meanwhile, revenue streams are shifting at Freedom Leisure, says Commercial Director Emma Reeve: “Five years ago, 45–50% of our revenues came from fitness. It’s now roughly one-third fitness, one-third pool – lessons, casual swim, school hire – and one-third from sports, children’s activities and social space provision. Our 68 pools now host 60,000 learn-to-swim participants and we’ve worked hard to achieve that, reconfiguring pool layouts and lesson timings and training up talent.”
Balanced sensibly against the needs of other user groups, swimming lessons clearly present a significant opportunity for operators to maximise usage of their pools, driving revenues and making pool provision more viable moving forward – provided there are enough swimming teachers to deliver all the lessons needed. And this, at present, is one of the major challenges facing operators across the sector. “We’re all having to fight for lifeguards and swim teachers,” says Bambury. “Swim teachers are now typically earning £25 an hour, compared to £15 an hour pre-COVID.
Photo: Freedom Leisure.
“Meanwhile, youngsters have been lost from the industry altogether, drawn to other better-paying sectors, and this has led to a shortage in lifeguards. In time, this will impact more senior roles like duty manager, because we won’t have anyone to progress through the ranks.” Ivan Horsfall Turner, Freedom Leisure CEO, agrees: “It’s hard to keep pace with pay in other sectors. We’re having to rely on promoting the social value of what we do – and the corresponding sense of fulfilment – through working as a swim teacher, for example, rather than working in a supermarket.” You can read more from Freedom Leisure on page 73 of this report.
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
OPERATOR PERSPECTIVE
1 LIFE
“For public leisure centres, swimming is a balancing act. Lessons are where the money is. The rest – casual use and wellness-focused activities – are generally loss leaders.” So says Steve Bambury, COO at 1Life. “With the continued high costs of energy, pool chemicals, staffing and so on, it’s getting to the point that councils – not themselves in a position to financially support us – are willing to allow more flexibility to dedicate more pool hours to lessons, to drive the revenues that ensure pools remain viable and open. “There’s still plenty of time for casual swim, but in our pools there are some times of day that are totally dedicated to classes. It allows us to meet the demand: average swim school levels are currently 115–120% of pre-COVID levels, with up to 2,500 students in our largest swim schools. There’s also plenty of opportunity to drive that number even higher. “Swimming lessons have been a key product line for us for the last few years, but we do need to get better at marketing, as well as improving our systems and software so it’s easier to book and manage lessons. 1Life was recently acquired by Parkwood, which has led the way with its online swimming platform: online joining, automated waiting lists, pre-qualification so you know which level to book your child onto, and so on. We have commenced migrating sites to these systems and I have no doubt it will drive our occupancy levels even higher.”
Public sector pool operators must strike a balance between revenue drivers and casual use, with the
support of local authorities, says COO Steve Bambury
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
OPERATOR PERSPECTIVE
He continues: “As long as energy prices don’t return to where they were between September 2022 and March 2023 – up to four times what they were pre-COVID – we believe we can generate sufficient revenue from swimming lessons to subsidise other pool sessions. “And the requirement to subsidise is more than you might think, because actually there are very few people paying £5 a time to come and swim. Most frequent swimmers have a membership – fitness, which includes swimming, or just a swim membership – so they can swim as often as they like, which for the consumer represents amazing value for money. “We do also have some schools that hire our pools, which is decent off-peak revenue, although even here some are pulling back for financial reasons. So we have to be realistic: having 2,500 kids whose parents pay £30–35 a month for swimming lessons is really the only way for a pool to be viable now. “We have to hope that local authorities understand this and continue to allow some flexibility around the services being delivered in pools.”
We have to hope that local authorities understand this and continue to allow some flexibility around
the services being delivered in pools.
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
OPENINGS & CLOSURES
TOTAL MARKET
New pool openings in the private sector are at their lowest level since 2014. Looking at public sector openings, it’s interesting and indeed concerning to review the longer-term trend. Since 2013 – the first year Leisure DB monitored pool closures – every year bar 2022 we’ve seen more centres with pools close than open. The worst differential was in 2020: 46 closures versus 17 openings. This year, it’s 15 closures versus 13 openings.
Number of new openings: Since 1 April 2022
TOTAL OPENINGS: 15
5
Private clubs
Public centres
4
3
2
1
0
April 22 May 22 June 22 July 22 Aug 22 Sept 22 Oct 22 Nov 22 Dec 22 Jan 23
Feb 23 March 23
Number of closures: Since 1 April 2022
TOTAL CLOSURES: 31
5
Private clubs
Public centres
4
3
2
1
0
April 22 May 22 June 22 July 22 Aug 22 Sep 22 Oct 22 Nov 22 Dec 22 Jan 23 Feb 23 March 23
counted by this report, but would not appear in the openings/closures data. Similarly, if a hotel with a pool previously only for guest use only opened up a membership scheme to the local community, it could appear in the report without being detected in openings/closures. Leisure DB also regularly picks up a small number of pools that weren’t previously listed on its database, but that aren’t new openings. This number is not significant, but it nevertheless contributes to the discrepancy as we continue to push for the most comprehensive data set possible for this market.
Readers comparing this year’s report to last year’s may notice a discrepancy between reported total pool numbers versus what one might assume from reported closures and openings. There are a few factors at play here. First, a number of pools move in and out of public access, both in the public and private sector. You could, for example, have a local authority pool that hands back management to the host school, which then decides not to continue with pay-and-play swimming – i.e. the pool becomes for school use only. In this scenario, the pool would no longer be
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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
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