The people of Guildford are blessed with the number of excellent facilities that are available to them, boasting countless different cultural venues and numerous places to go to keep fit. Now it seems as though there will be a large investment made to improve some of them, thanks to a contract for the running of the Guildford Lido, the Spectrum and Ash Manor Sports Centre being won by Freedom Leisure. The company has suggested that it will look to invest as much as £10 million improving the different areas, which could include the Lido staying open all year long.
Coming Under New Management
It has been confirmed by Guildford Borough Council that they have been carrying out a procurement process in recent months in order to find a new company to take over a leisure service contract. The existing contract runs until the end of October, meaning that the company that wins it will take over from that point onwards. The contract is for the management of the Guildford Spectrum, as well as the Lido and Ash Manor Sports Centre, as well as the delivery of services in all three locations. A ‘robust’ procurement exercise was carried out to find the new company for it.
It now appears that the tender has been won by Wealden Leisure, trading under the business name of Freedom Leisure. The council hopes that it will be able to award the contract to them after the process is completed. A big part of the reason why the contract was won by Freedom Leisure was the fact that the company is willing to invest as much as £10 million, bringing the various areas around Guildford up to date, with numerous plans in place for different parts of the town that will be seen as good news by those who tend to use them on a regular basis during the year.
Big Changes Afoot
The plans of Freedom Leisure will almost certainly be welcomed by the people of Guildford, who will be able to take advantage of numerous different new aspects to the area. The changes that are being discussed include a new state-of-the-art soft play facility at the Spectrum, which will replace the under-sized soft play area that is in place at the moment. The Spectrum’s gym will also undergo a refurbishment, being redesigned in order to make it more like the kind of place that modern gym-goers will want to use. A new mini golf area, ‘Puttify’, will be built too.
The mini golf area that is currently in place will be removed in order to make way for a new floodlit Padel court area, featuring three different courts on the site of the mini golf and the catering building. For Spectrum Leisure Centre users, an interactive water splash pad and a play area will be introduced to the pool, making it much more exciting. At the Lido, meanwhile, a Pilates and yoga studio will be put in place instead of the gym that stands at the location at the moment. Sauna and ice dip pools will be brought in, as well as floodlights to ensure year-round opening hours.
A Year-Round Lido Could Return
There was a time when the Lido was open all year round. It was back in 2020 that that was stopped, largely on account of the fact that the council didn’t consider it to be a ‘financially viable’ proposition. That position was defended as recently as the October of last year by Councillor Catherine Houston, the council’s Lead for Climate Change and Leisure. Freedom Leisure will be taking a different view of that, though, believing that there is room for the Lido to be open between 7am and 9pm throughout the winter months, provided the external lighting can be installed.
That will be seen as great news by the proponents of cold water swimming, who will want to take advantage of the Lido even when most of us would much rather have a cup of hot chocolate and sit in front of the television with the curtains drawn. At this stage, we don’t know for certain whether the rest of the Lido will be open during the same hours as the pool, but it does look likely that that will be the case. The Lido has proven to be extremely popular with Guildford residents, considered by many to be one of the area’s hidden secrets thanks to its ‘tucked away’ nature.
A Competitive Tender
One of the best bits of news for Guildford is how competitive the tender for the contract actually was. The Lido attracts thousands of visitors each year, whilst the Spectrum is nationally recognised as a sporting destination. Ash Manor Centre is also a popular place for people to head to, which is why so many companies were keen to apply for the contract even though there is an annual management fee of around £2.5 million due over the ten-year period. That will give the council in-year savings of approximately £3.1 million by the tenth year of the contract, which is seen as great news.
Although there are still numerous things that Freedom Leisure will do before being able to take on the contract, it is felt that they will be little more than a formality. The fact that the financial risks will be shared by the company and the council means that the overall risk to Guildford will be reduced. If the Labour government’s plans are adhered to, Guildford Council will be absorbed into a ‘mega council’ by 2027. The thought is that the contract would move over to the local authority should any local government reorganisation be carried out, so the long-term future of the three Guildford landmarks is safe.