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Alliance Leisure supports investment of more than £30 million in funded decarbonisation projects

Since the government first announced its Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) in 2020, Britain’s leading leisure development specialist, Alliance Leisure, has been supporting Councils across England to implement energy efficiency measures that will not only help offset rising energy costs but will also reduce the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere, supporting the government’s net zero targets.

To date, Alliance has been involved in multiple PSDS funded projects with a combined value of more than £30 million. Working in partnership with Leisure Energy and delivering works through the UK Leisure Framework, Alliance has made energy efficiencies at 23 leisure venues in partnership with 10 Councils.

Leisure Centres tend to be the most energy intensive assets in a councils’ estate. A recent report by the Association for Public Service Excellence, Local Government Association and Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association, titled Securing the Future of Public Sport and Leisure Services, found leisure facilities are responsible for between 10-40 per cent of district and unitary councils’ direct carbon emissions. With nearly two thirds of leisure facilities past their replacement date, investing in decarbonising schemes is crucial to achieving net zero targets.

Phase one of the PSDS provided £1 billion in grants as part of the Chancellor’s Plan for Jobs 2020 commitment to support economic recovery post COVID-19. This was closely followed by a further £75 million fund with a strong focus on heat decarbonisation to deliver greater carbon emission reductions. Phase 3 offers a further £550 million fund. The first Phase 3 funding application window is now closed. It is anticipated that a second window will open in September this year.

Tom Gardner, Business Development Manager, Alliance Leisure, says: “We have partnered with councils to deliver a variety of outcomes. In some cases we are delivering an end to end solution from funding application and procurement through to scoping and completion of works. In others we are contributing to part of the process.”

Phase 3 works Alliance has been commissioned to deliver across 13 leisure sites are due to complete by the Spring of 2023.

Get in touch with us to find out more about the decarbonisation work we're doing.

Julia Goddard celebrates 20 years of service

This month Julia Goddard, Senior Business Development Manager, celebrates 20 years of service with Alliance Leisure. Here she talks about her long and successful career with the Alliance team.

What have been the highlights of your career at Alliance Leisure? 

The people; from Sarah, who gave me the opportunity to join the company in 2002, through to the many colleagues who have joined the company over the last two decades.  There have also been many projects I have been proud of:

  • Completing my first large development which involved refurbishing four sites for Monmouthshire County Council in 2004 – a client I’m still working with today.
  • Winning the Development Partner Framework for Flintshire Council and then delivering £6m of refurbishment at Deeside Leisure Centre in 2010
  • Being awarded the first UK Leisure Framework in 2017 which was hard work with most of the summer of 2016 spent writing the bid. The last three days were spent in the office with Paul Cluett, Kelly Anderson-Kaye and John Leaver, working till the early hours of the morning with the odd Chinese being delivered. We finished at 3am ahead of the 12-noon submission deadline.
  • Delivering my first new build with Jamie Groves at Denbighshire Leisure (SC2) in 2018

Deeside Skatepark
Monmouth 2004
SC2

How has your role evolved over the last 20 years?

In the early days Alliance was a small team of 6 to 10 colleagues and we were developing £200,000 – £1m projects, while TA6 had multiple partnership clients. I started running my region in 2002 with just Sarah Watts and spent most days travelling the country and meeting clients. As Alliance expanded (we now have over 35 employees and our projects are up to circa £35m), we’ve had to develop our governance and processes, and I now have a team to help deliver the region – Will Gardner, Gillian Dunster alongside Paul and Sarah. We have a strong head office team also to provide the legal and financial support and TA6 to ensure each project is a success. And we are expanding again with another team member joining Will and Gillian soon. I still deliver projects, but today my role also involves managing and supporting Will and Gillian and mentoring other colleagues in the business.

Why do you think you’ve you stayed so long?

I can genuinely say I get up every morning and look forward to my day. When I started with Alliance, we were involved in small, predominantly fitness refurbishments, but over time we’ve taken on larger schemes and the sheer variety of projects (indoor and outdoor play, fitness, spa, café’s, zip wires, outdoor pitches, outdoor gym) plus the learning on the job has kept the role interesting, challenging and fun. Every project has been different and together with the wider ALS team our region has delivered over 90 projects at a value of more than £115m.

I first met Sarah in 1993 when she became my manager at Bristol City Council and consider myself very fortunate that she offered me the opportunity to join Alliance. She’s unique; a great boss and a great friend. I’m lucky to work with such a fantastic group of people –  Alliance is my second family.

What has been the most challenging time over last 20 years? 

Probably writing the bid for the UK Leisure Framework in 2016. It was all absorbing for six weeks and it was during the school summer holidays, so I had my children to juggle as well as my day job. 

What’s your most memorable project?

It has to be Deeside Leisure Centre. It was 2008 and was by far the largest project Alliance had delivered at the time. It involved creating six 5-a-side 3G pitches, a large gym, an assisted-exercise suite, studios, café, spa and the conversion of an old ice rink into the largest indoor wooden skatepark in Wales. The queues outside the skatepark on opening day were amazing.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The flexibility to work around other commitments which was very appreciated when my children were young.

The variety of the job is great and I love having the freedom to just get on with it, knowing support is always there if I need it. And of course, seeing projects complete is always a positive.

How do you spend your spare time?

Being a mum, socialising with friends, playing Racketball & Padel Tennis at least two to three times a week and walking with friends and our lockdown addition ‘Yoda’ the Border Collie.

Alliance Leisure is developing some amazing leisure facilities. How do you see public leisure provision evolving over the next 20 years?

I think facilities will become less sport and more leisure orientated in line with the wider wellness, health and physical activity agenda. I’d like to see the health sector embrace the benefits that leisure centres offer more and prescribe exercise / healthy eating instead of pills when appropriate. It’s been a great journey and I’m excited about the next chapter of my career with Alliance.

Meet the rest of the team

Kent Country Park Opens New Amenities To Encourage Active Visitors

In a bid to encourage even more people to enjoy the beautiful 230-acre Leybourne Lakes Country Park in Kent, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has enhanced the incumbent water sport provision through the development of  a café, outdoor seating area, toilets and changing facilities.

Procured, designed and developed by Alliance Leisure through the UK Leisure Framework, which is owned and managed by Denbighshire Leisure, the new facilities have been largely funded through the developer contributions paid to the council under Section 106 payments, leaving the council with just 10 per cent of the £880,000 to invest.

Speaking of the development, Councillor Des Keers at Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, says: “Since its creation in 2004, Leybourne Lakes Country Park has been popular with families, cyclists, walkers, anglers and water sports enthusiasts alike. It received Local Wildlife Site designation in 2008 and has achieved the Green Flag Award for over 15 years, whilst maintaining Country Parks accreditation with Natural England.

“Located on the waterside of the Ocean Lake, the watersports centre offers a range of activities including stand up paddleboarding, open water swimming, kayaking and windsurfing. Whilst many people take advantage of the facilities, the site lacked a social hub and basic amenities to enable families and individuals to extend their stay beyond an hour or so.

“This recent investment changes that. Now, with the option to purchase food and drink in the café whilst enjoying the beautiful lakeside view from the outdoor seating area, with access to baby changing facilities and bathrooms, people are more likely to visit and to extend their stay. In addition, the changing facilities make visits more comfortable for our regulars whilst also attracting new participants to give the sports a go.”

Working as Lead Development Contractor, Alliance Leisure appointed Saunders Boston Architects to design an environmentally sustainable building that complements its surroundings. Cutting-edge ‘green technology’ is being incorporated to drive energy efficiency, including the installation of a Water Source Heat Pump using water from the lake and solar power to create a unique, environmentally friendly, development in this  beautiful parkland setting.

The new café opened to the public on July 15 and is being managed by tmactive.

The new amenities are expected to have a transformational effect on the way people interact with the Country Park. Rather than popping by for a quick water-based activity session or walk, people are now much more likely to enjoy a longer period of time enjoying the great outdoors whilst utilising the facilities. The inclusion of the café introduces a sustainable revenue stream, creating an opportunity for the development to become commercially self-sufficient.
Tom Fairey
Development Director
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Fitness Facility Upgrade Completes in Newcastle Under Lyme

Residents in Newcastle Under Lyme are enjoying a completely overhauled fitness provision at the Jubillee2 Leisure Centre, thanks to work delivered by Alliance Leisure and funded by the Council.

Works have included a complete refurbishment of the gym from redecoration and new flooring to the installation of new Technogym equipment throughout. Technogym has also added TEAMBEATS, fitness technology that enables heart rate-driven energising classes for added motivation and community interaction.

In a bid to encourage more older adults and those new to exercise to visit the centre and adopt an active lifestyle, a new wellness hub, complete with a Innerva (formerly Shapemaster) circuit has also been incorporated.

The renovations took just three weeks to complete and  facilities reopened to the public on May 25 2022. The project was delivered by Alliance Leisure through the UK Leisure Framework, owned and managed by Denbighshire Leisure. The appointed building contractor was Universal Civils. Build architecture and interior design was delivered by Bignell Shacklady Ewing.

The new facilities look fantastic and are a great example of how a relatively small investment can have a hugely positive impact on the modern relevance of an ageing leisure centre. Works have reinvigorated the fitness provision and created opportunities to engage new segments of the community.
Will Gardner
Business Development Manager

Alliance Leisure Named Supplier Of The Year 2022!

In recognition for an outstanding deliverance of transformational projects that create engaging active environments and support healthy, happy, and prosperous communities, Alliance Leisure has been named Supplier of the Year at the prestigious, national, ukactive awards.

Over the last 20 years, we have worked in partnership with local authorities up and down the country, designing, procuring and developing leisure transformations that deliver huge community value. During this time, the company has delivered 192 projects representing investment of more £250 million. Projects have ranged from pump tracks and 3G pitches to multiple facilities across entire leisure portfolios. Every project is unique and designed to address the bespoke needs of the community it serves.

Earlier this year, Alliance Leisure also extended its tenure as Lead Development Partner on the UK Leisure Framework, owned and managed by Denbighshire Leisure. This will ensure public sector leisure providers can continue to invest efficiently and effectively in their leisure stock, both now and in the future.

This award reflects the hard work, dedication and experience of our team. Even through tough economic times, we have continued to work with councils to find ways to fund and deliver projects that are essential to community health, cohesion and prosperity. We look forward to continuing this journey, creating sustainable, active environments that encourage more people to be more active, more often.
Sarah Watts, CEO
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Alliance Leisure Supports Vision 2030

Alliance Leisure welcomes the recent release of ukactive’s strategy setting out its milestones to achieve Vision 2030.  As a long-standing Strategic Partner we fully support the ambition to secure long-term investment in order to support infrastructure sustainability, and to navigate and access health funding and systems.  

As a leading leisure specialist development partner, we are uniquely placed to see the benefit of infrastructure investment in the sector. Since the call for a £1bn investment in the industry Alliance has completed or is now at an advanced stage of development of £300m of new and remodelled facilities. Positioning leisure firmly at the heart of regeneration, along with Levelling Up and Towns Deal placement, we are committed to the vision.

Vision 2030 also aims to ensure that there is ring-fenced investment for strategically designed sport and physical activity-based interventions through the plan for Health and Social Care.  Working with Abbeycroft Leisure we have recently developed three leisure facilities that have delivered a range of health and social care benefits, ranging from sensory rooms and improved disability access, through to therapy rooms and clinics providing for community healthcare professionals such as district nurses and physiotherapists.  Improving the health and wellbeing of the nation is a key focus of government in addition to addressing health inequalities, as outlined in its recent Levelling Up White Paper. Building relationships with health delivery partners and investing in fit-for-purpose facilities which meet both the leisure and health needs of local people is the only way we can realistically address the public health challenges of our time and build a healthier future.

Abbeycroft Leisure Facility Developments

Supporting children, young people and families to make activity a life habit is another way the strategy will achieve the mission of more people, more active, more often.  In 2021 Alliance Leisure supported the ukactive in the production of the Active Families Report which outlined the opportunities for increasing family physical activity levels.  In addition, the development of Sport England’s new 10 year strategy, and ‘Positive Experiences for Children and Young People’ as one of the 5 big issues is testament to the importance of providing activity provision now that can cater for families with children of all ages.  Alliance Leisure have responded to this call for improved family activities with many recent projects including active family facilities.  Notably, King George Playing Fields in Brentwood was a £7m investment in various facilities including a new splash pad, outdoor adventure play, TAGactive arena and sensory room.

King George Playing Fields, Brentwood

And finally, Vision 2030 intends to deliver insight-led, inclusive and targeted campaigns to drive engagement in physical activity.  Alliance Leisure are ideally placed to support this ambition through our support team TA6.  In 2021 TA6 was directly responsible for delivering marketing campaigns that generated over 50,000 membership sales (worth around £15m of revenue) across 70 leisure operators in the UK.  In just the last 12 months, our digital adverts have generated over 100 million impressions to an estimated 10 million people (approx. 19% of the UK adult population), resulting in almost 1 million visitors to our clients’ websites.  Alliance Leisure will continue to promote health, wellbeing and physical activity in order to assist in the vision to engage 20% of the population by 2030.

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Why Sports 2022 – 6 Takeaways

Why Sports 2022 – 6 Takeaways

Following his attendance at the Why Sports conference at the Royal Society of Medicine, Alliance Delivery Manger Chris Ames feeds back some of the essential takeaways that he identified at the compelling event.

  1. Opportunity to integrate GPs with principles of the Physical Activity Guidelines

    Physical inactivity costs the UK £7.4billion p.a., but shockingly only 36% of GPs are “somewhat” familiar with the Physical Activity Guidelines. This statistic gives us the impetus to engage more thoroughly with local GP surgeries, from the initial stages of our projects, to share and promote the future services that can be utilised for referrals as a result of our local development projects. This will in turn help GPs to understand the benefits of physical activity, the guidelines, and hopefully increase the number of ‘aware’ GP surgeries who can promote new leisure facilities to their patients for the benefit of their health.

  2. NHS Link Workers

    We learned about the invaluable role that NHS Link Workers play in identifying gaps in local provision: gaps that the most vulnerable in our communities would benefit from. As a company, we will endeavour to seek out and engage with these Link Workers in a consultee capacity as part of our stakeholder work when developing concepts for our projects. This will undoubtedly improve our work of providing community leisure facilities that provide for these gaps and better address local inactivity and inequality needs even further.

  3. The issue of isolation

    Isolation is becoming a bigger and bigger issue amongst those working in a hybrid manner or solely from home. Following our learning from Why Sports, we are more eager than ever to work with local authority partners to promote community working spaces as part of community leisure development. Providing these active, shared working spaces will offer a chance for people to collaborate with others in a communal, safe, and familiar space, as well as being a break from the isolation of home working.

  4. Active travel

    It was established through discussions and presentations at the event that we are in a position to truly champion behavioural change around how people travel. Public consultation could easily be utilised to educate and challenge the established behaviours and thought process behind travel and to develop concepts that enable people to move better and easier by foot or by cycle in safe and attractive environments.

  5. Active Design Champions

    A concept presented at the event inspired both Chris and Alliance Leisure as a whole, that of the “Active Design Champion”. Said champions focus on promoting movement within all elements of design, from access and egress to correlation between indoor and outdoor areas, as well as further afield through promoted active travel plans. We are keen to develop a corporate pledge or strategy committing ourselves to ensuring that activity is designed into all elements of our concepts, and to challenge, educate, and promote behavioural change amongst planners and policies that may restrict design innovation in this way.

  6. Improving the health of hospitals

    A staggering statistic revealed at Why Sports was that those hospital patients with a length of stay between 8-15 days lose; 20% of their quad strength, 10% of their cardiovascular capacity, and around 1.5kg of muscle mass, due to being at ‘rest’ as an inpatient. This in turn spurned the idea of proactively reaching out to hospitals and medical universities to see what support we can offer them. This could even take the form of championing and designing “active wards”, providing active areas for staff and visitors and tackle these issues. Furthermore, there is plenty of room for the exploration of collaborative developments or joint development initiatives between health, education, and leisure/sport. Bringing these sectors together would generate greater cohesive learning, understanding of the benefits of activity, education through enjoyment of leisure within a safe and trusted space, and, of course, efficiencies of cost.

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Leisure centre energy efficiency ‘highly commended’

Work to reduce the carbon footprint of the Teignbridge leisure centres has just received a Highly Commended for the Large Scale Project Award at the recent Energy Efficiency Awards – South West.

The award was won by Teignbridge District Council in partnership with Alliance Leisure and Leisure Energy for energy reduction installations at Teignmouth Lido, Broadmeadow Sports Centre and Newton Abbot Leisure Centre. Energy measures include solar panels and air source heat pumps. These projects are estimated to save approximately 280 tonnes or 51% of carbon.

The council were also Highly Commended for demonstrating their commitment to energy reduction and net zero.

This award is testament to our Council’s commitment to tackle climate change and provide carbon efficient buildings that are part of our own estate. 

Many leisure centres and pools have been forced to close this year because the rising cost of heating has meant that they are simply too expensive to run; but by making our leisure centre buildings energy efficient we will actually reduce our heating and running costs, saving over half the original carbon emissions on the three facilities, totalling 280 tonnes.

The success of this project lies in the strength of the partnership between Leisure Energy, our Climate Change Officer and the local project team who have kept this build on track despite a number of challenges, including Covid.  We look forward to seeing the completion of the building work and the benefits it will bring to local residents.

Councillor Jackie Hook
Councillor Jackie Hook
Executive Lead for Climate Emergency Declaration

Work to start on flagship leisure centre for Halifax to drive local levelling up agenda

Work is due to get underway on a new multi-million pound leisure centre in Halifax, bringing state-of-the-art facilities to the town. Led by development partner Alliance Leisure for Calderdale Council, the project aims to reduce health inequalities by enabling more people to be more active, more often.

Calderdale Council secured £12.2m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund to help fund the new facility, which is being built on the site of the former North Bridge Leisure Centre which closed to the public in March 2022.

The new Halifax Leisure Centre will replace North Bridge Leisure Centre, and Halifax Swimming Pool, which were both outdated and the failing pool  was in urgent need of replacement. Combining these two sites will create a single, flagship facility in one of the most densely populated areas of the borough. It will also safeguard vital leisure facilities and be a more efficient and cost-effective building.

“Research carried out by Calderdale Council found that improvements in sports and leisure facilities in Halifax would support more people of all ages and abilities to be active. Replacing the two outdated centres  in the town with a modern, fit-for-purpose facility that meets the needs of a wider range of age and interest groups will allow the council to support levelling up and address local health inequalities, while ensuring a sustainable future for the delivery of affordable and inclusive facilities and services,” says James Foley, Commercial Director at Alliance Leisure.  

Supported by GT3 Architects and built by contractors McLaughlin and Harvey, the new centre will offer a six-lane, 25m swimming pool and separate large teaching pool. Other facilities include a gym, exercise studios, a dedicated group cycling studio, an eight-court sports hall, sauna and steam room, and a café. A new adventure climbing facility and interactive play facilities will extend the offer to appeal to a wider age group.

A number of carbon-reducing features have been incorporated into the design help reduce the impact on the environment and contribute to the council’s carbon-neutral targets. These include a sedum roof and a number of low carbon technologies.

The centre is expected to complete in 2024. To find out more about the leisure centre project and follow its progress you can visit the Calderdale Next Chapter website where there’s also information about other exciting developments in Calderdale.  The Think you know Halifax? campaign celebrates the many projects which will transform Halifax, increase footfall, protect the cherished local heritage that people know and love, and help Calderdale to be a zero-carbon place by 2038 to tackle the climate emergency.

The new leisure centre is a major investment for the Council and demonstrates our commitment to our Active Calderdale mission – supporting residents to lead more active lifestyles and reducing inequalities. This fantastic new facility will also complement wider regeneration works around Halifax town centre, making this an exciting and inspiring time for the town.

I’m delighted that we’re now at a point where we can start to progress with this development. We’re working hard to get this project moving quickly, so local people can enjoy the many benefits that this centre will bring, as soon as possible.

Cllr Jane Scullion
Cllr Jane Scullion
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Strategy
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Planning request submitted for development of Racecourse

Leisure development specialists Alliance Leisure, in partnership with Derby City Council have submitted a full planning application to Derby City Council for the development of the Football Hub at Derby Racecourse, enhancing current provision.

This exciting, proposed provision of a Football Hub will see the development of the current Derby Racecourse. There will be considerable improvements to the existing site by increasing car parking spaces by over 200 and improving entry and exit to the site to significantly help traffic movement around the local neighbourhood. The development will create a vibrant community hub with an open and accessible café space and flexible community spaces. The football development will see 3 new full-sized floodlit 3G pitches alongside the existing 3G which will enhance the home of the Derby Junior Football League and the Derbyshire Girls and Ladies League hosting over 250 matches each weekend.

The project is part of a national Hubs programme led by the Premier League, The FA and the Government’s Football Foundation with the aim to offer an alternative and sustainable solution to the long-term future for grassroots football. It is anticipated that the new development of the Football Hub will support the increased demand in football in Derby as identified in the Playing Pitch Strategy.

Engagement with the community has highlighted the need for a community hub in this area of Derwent with a broader range of facilities for the local community. This development will improve the play and recreation facilities for young people and their families along with creating more habitat for wildlife.

The planning application will be considered by Derby City Council’s planning committee and will be accompanied by a range of technical documents covering matters such as community engagement, noise, traffic generation, car parking and ecology.

Subject to planning consent being granted, work on the Football Hub is set to commence in early 2023.

Commenting on their plans for the Football Hub, Will Gardner Alliance Leisure Business Development Manager, said: “We are looking forward to delivering this project by bringing together specialist partners who can create a relevant community asset for the local area. Alliance Leisure pride ourselves on delivering quality facilities and the Football Hub will be no exception.”

The aim of this scheme is to upgrade and improve facilities for grassroots football in Derby. We look forward to this next, important stage.

Cllr Jerry Pearce
Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Leisure and Public Spaces,

Lee Rider, Senior Delivery Manager, Football Foundation said: “The Foundation are supportive of the Councils plans for the Racecourse site and believe that the impact locally will be significant for both sport and wider users of the park when complete.”

To visit the Football Hub website for updates and information regarding the project click below.

FOOTBALL HUB WEBSITE

ABOUT US

We are the UK’s leading leisure development partner, supporting local authorities that want to improve or expand the leisure, heritage and cultural facilities and services provided to their local communities.

CONTACT

Alliance Leisure
2430/2440 The Quadrant
Aztec West
Bristol
BS32 4AQ

Tel: 01454 877558
Email: info@allianceleisure.co.uk

Visit our contact page to send us a message

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