OVERVIEW
PRIVATE SECTOR
Across the UK’s 1,648 private sector pools…
■ 59% are main pools ■ The average (mean) dimensions are 17m (length) by 8m (width) ■ 21.5% are teaching pools, 9% leisure pools and 10.5% outdoor pools ■ And only one – The Western Baths in Glasgow – has diving boards (two boards in total)
Swimming pool type
60%
59%
50%
40%
30%
20%
21.5%
10%
10.5%
9%
0%
Main
Teaching
Leisure
Outdoor
She addresses this perception and explains why Total Fitness is committed to pool provision in a fascinating interview on page 43. As our facility breakdown shows, many private sector clubs also have a more extensive wet offering alongside the pool – including sauna and steam – as consumers increasingly look for relaxation and recovery as well as fitness (see Third Space interview, page 50).
In our data, every private club that has a pool also has a gym; in many cases, the membership is a combined one. This in itself can be challenging, says Total Fitness CEO Sophie Lawler: “As a full-service operator, it’s hard to get granular usage data and cost to serve stats for pool-side and dry-side products and customers, so there’s always a sense that private sector pools may be running at a loss.”
Facility breakdown
Gym Swimming Pool Sauna Steam Room Spa Pool Studio Cycle Studio Sunbed Squash Golf Indoor Tennis Sports Hall
100% 100%
93%
92%
78%
70%
48%
20%
14%
11%
9%
7%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
37
STATE OF THE UK SWIMMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2023
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator