Leisure enthusiasts across the Vale of White Horse are set to reap the benefits from the award of a new contract to manage all district council owned leisure centres across southern Oxfordshire.
Vale of White Horse District Councils have selected GLL as their preferred bidder to manage leisure facilities under their ‘Better’ brand across both the Vale and South Oxfordshire from 1 September 2014.
The move to a shared contract will mean that users of leisure centres will shortly be able to benefit from the use of facilities across both districts, as well as from investment which will be made to individual sites and programming.
The decision to select GLL as preferred bidder for the shared contract was made following an extensive tender process lasting 12 months.
Cllr Matthew Barber, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Councils, said, “We are very pleased to announce GLL as the preferred bidder to manage all district council owned leisure facilities across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse. We look forward to working with them to increase participation, improve facilities and offer more leisure opportunities for all our residents.”
“Moving to a shared leisure management contract will be a lot more efficient than the current arrangement of working with a number of different contractors. There will also be significant benefits for those using our leisure centres and more freedom to tailor programming to local need.”
Mark Sesnan, Managing Director, GLL, said, “We are delighted to have been awarded the leisure management contract for both South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council. Working in partnership with both, we are ideally placed to implement a long-term strategy that will see continued investment into the leisure centres.
“As the UK’s largest charitable social enterprise and leisure provider, we are committed to providing accessible and affordable facilities, and we look forward to working to increase sports participation and opportunities across both regions.”
More details about how leisure centre users will benefit from the joint South and Vale leisure contract will be announced in the summer.
The ten-year joint leisure management contract will begin on 1 September 2014, and will cover the following leisure centres:
- Abbey Meadow Outdoor Swimming Pool and Water Feature, Abingdon
- Faringdon Leisure Centre
- Wantage Leisure Centre
- White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, Abingdon