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the face of rising energy costs, still nothing has actually come through from Treasury since the energy price caps were withdrawn,” says Mark Sesnan, the founder of leisure trust GLL.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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STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
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