Huntingdon Leisure Centre - 1 year on

“All our ambitions for the Centre have been realised with CREATEABILITY’s development. The upgraded facility is a quality, up to date product with activities that have enabled us to improve participation and revenue.

CREATEABILITY worked closely with us through the design stage giving advice from a practical building and cost perspective which was extremely useful. They phased the building work so it was ‘business as usual’.

We’ve made something out of nothing by creating an extra floor over part of the sports hall, which has contributed £130k to annual revenue. It was, in part, a result of CREATEABILITY’s experience and understanding of the market that we incorporated this area to house children’s activities and it is the positive response to these that has had the biggest impact on performance.

The new fitness offer includes a larger gym, heat treatment suite and changing areas. These have elevated us into a commercial market – but at an affordable price. Fitness revenue for the year is up by 15%, with potential for further growth.

The whole thing has been a fantastic success with record admissions in the last few months”.

Bevis Moynan – Business Development Manager

Hartsdown Leisure Centre

Results Part 4 of 4

Warren Reeves, Head of Operations for Thanet Leisureforce said “The new facilities have been exceedingly well received and the development has brought a fresh outlook to the Centre with increased participation over all areas. Our customers have commented on the standard of the finish and the overall look of the building, which has been transformed by Createability. People are quiet amazed at what has been achieved in such as sort period of time.

The introduction of the soft play area appeals to the family market that we wanted to target but did not previously cater for. This new market sector has had the side effect of contributing to improved levels of participation in swimming.

Uptake of the fitness area has also increased markedly. Incorporating this within the main building along with new studios and changing rooms has helped make it more accessible and given a ‘club’ feel which puts us on the same footing as local private sector competitors – but at a more affordable price”.

Hartsdown Leisure Centre

Construction phase Part 3 of 4

Because the construction phase stretched over six months CREATEABILITY worked with Thanet Leisureforce, the operating Trust, to sequence a programme of works that would minimise its impact on customers and revenue. To achieve this reception and the café were temporarily relocated but most areas remained open throughout. Warren Reeve, The Trust’s Operations Manager says “CREATEABILITY have been very helpful on site and managed to keep the operation running.

Only the sports hall and dry changing rooms had to be taken out of action but as soon as individual areas were finished they were reopened. The first of these was the sports hall, followed by reception and the cafe. The new activity areas, which have taken longest to complete, the fitness facilities including gym, studios and dry change and the children’s play section are on time and on budget for the final handover in early April... so far so good.

With any project of this size it is inevitable that issues will crop up as work progresses. Both parties have adopted a flexible approach so we have been able to deal with these amicably".

Hartsdown Leisure Centre

Design development Part 2 of 4

The Centre currently has a pool, sports hall, café and fitness. New competitors have eroded uptake of fitness, the primary revenue stream. The fitness offer will be upgraded and expanded to include two studios and dedicated changing. To make access easier the gym will become part of the main centre – at present it is in a separate building.

The customer experience begins and ends at reception so this area will be remodelled - and include a café to encourage secondary spend. A children’s activity area will be incorporated on the ground floor.

More space is required but it is not possible to extend beyond the footprint of the building, which is bounded by essential car parking. To provide this a mezzanine floor will be built above the sports hall, which will also be refurbished to create design cohesion throughout.

Steve Davis, Chief Executive of Thanet Leisureforce Limited, who operate the centre on behalf of Thanet District Council says, “CREATEABILITY’s preliminary work has been excellent. They appear to be exceptionally efficient and have moved the project forward”.

The construction phase has now begun. Follow progress on this section of the website.