[Other Sport] Impulse Leisure close to closing down

[Bold Seagull]

Leisure facilities across Sussex could be impacted. Bad news.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.worthingherald.co.uk/business/hundreds-jobs-danger-worthing-adur-and-horsham-leisure-centres-brink-collapse-2895946%3famp

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Certainly bad news for the staff but maybe Adur can find a better contractor now ( Impulse are just awful ). Our very own Head of Facilities and Maintenance - Dave Baler - came from them.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Repeated across the country, sadly.

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

[MENTION=26444]Wrong Direction[/MENTION] does work at all those Centres

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Certainly bad news for the staff but maybe Adur can find a better contractor now ( Impulse are just awful ). Our very own Head of Facilities and Maintenance - Dave Baler - came from them.

The absolute best you can hope for is for a trust to run the site as is for a long period. GLL, the biggest trust in the country, announced the other day that they are struggling. The days of putting the sites out to save the council money and get investment in the centres are a long way in the past now. Contracts are normally for a minimum of 10 years and, if the contract is profitable, any management fee due will be invested in the centre at the start of the contract. I don't know the finances of Impulse but my guess would be that the council would be the ones paying a management fee leaving no scope for investment.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

The absolute best you can hope for is for a trust to run the site as is for a long period. GLL, the biggest trust in the country, announced the other day that they are struggling. The days of putting the sites out to save the council money and get investment in the centres are a long way in the past now. Contracts are normally for a minimum of 10 years and, if the contract is profitable, any management fee due will be invested in the centre at the start of the contract. I don't know the finances of Impulse but my guess would be that the council would be the ones paying a management fee leaving no scope for investment.

Impulse are about 10 years into a 30 year contract ( it seems very strange to me to award such a long contract for such a service ) and have had a whole years' worth of fees up front.

 

[Steve in Japan]

Got to let gyms snd pools open, or many will shut, possibly for good.

Let people decide if they want to go.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Impulse are about 10 years into a 30 year contract ( it seems very strange to me to award such a long contract for such a service ) and have had a whole years' worth of fees up front.

You say about the fees up front as if that is unique. The overwhelming majority of leisure providers for councils are not for profit trusts. Most surplus is reinvested in the facilities with a small reserve. All sites have been closed since late March meaning zero income. But costs are still incurred in maintaining the centres at tick over. This alone would have wiped out most providers without support from councils. A lot of trusts also spent the last few weeks preparing to reopen on 4th July only to have the rug pulled from underneath them by the government. This has incurred more costs. Providing Covid compliant centre will incur yet more investment. Then finally when they are allowed to reopen, there will be reduced capacity and vastly reduced membership numbers. The industry estimates between 12-18 months to get back to previous participation levels. Without cost underwriting from local authorities, there will be swathes of them that get the keys to their centre back as would appear to be the case in Adur if they don't blink. And given that they went to leisure providers in the first place to save the council the cost of running the sites themselves, these centres will likely close.

 

[Coach_Carter_92]

Used to work for them at the storrington branch, sad news

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Been doing their general plumbing down this way for quite a few years now, going to be quite a big loss for me [emoji852]

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Looks like the local MP isn't confident.

https://www.timloughton.com/news/impulse-leisure

 

[Pickles]

Looks like the local MP isn't confident.

https://www.timloughton.com/news/impulse-leisure

Blimey, when a Conservative MP starts telling the truth, you know it's curtains.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Blimey, when a Conservative MP starts telling the truth, you know it's curtains.

Yeah - seen the council sticking the knife in as well. Don't think they will get the bumper deal they were looking for though. I do wonder if it is a way of getting out of the 15 years they had left on the contract. A 30 year deal in 2005 was unheard of. Even now 20 years is a long contract.

https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/news/pr20-068.html

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Not great for Mid Sussex folk either. They signed up for a massive management fee and now aren't getting it.

https://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/ne...leisure-centres-wont-reopen-some-time-2896591

 

[LamieRobertson]

This caught my attention on the way out of MS tonight ...it was in Thursdays edition for the Shoreham Herald

https://www.shorehamherald.co.uk/bu...dation-over-150-people-made-redundant-2918215