News

We love to keep busy! Here's just some of the news we're producing for Big Fish clients. Take a browse or simply search by company from the 'Categories' section

30th September 2015

In Oldham Community Leisure

Royton Leisure Centre complete

Oldham’s new state-of-the-art £8million, Royton Leisure Centre, opened to the public on 28 September. Oldham Council, Oldham Community Leisure (OCL), Willmott Dixon and partners came together to celebrate the completion of the facility, which will provide superior leisure activities for the area. The Byron Street-based centre, funded by Oldham Council, will be run by Oldham Community Leisure. Members and casual users will have a variety of facilities to choose from including a six-lane, 25-metre Olympic legacy swimming...

25th September 2015

In Leisure-net, Lifetime Training

Work experience more important than academic qualifications say operators

Work experience is more important than academic qualifications, according to operators taking part in the latest Fitness Industry Confidence Survey. The research, carried out by industry insight specialist Leisure-net Solutions in collaboration with Leisure Industry Week (LIW) and award-winning education provider Lifetime Training, showed work experience was the most important attribute a school leaver could have when applying for a job for 47% of respondents, compared to just 15% saying academic qualifications. Nigel Wallace, Client Services Director...

24th September 2015

In Lifetime Training, Matrix Fitness

Lifetime Training hosts strategic seminar series

Lifetime Training hosted a series of invitation-only seminars on Tuesday 22nd September at The Matrix International Show, which operated alongside LIW 2015. Organised in partnership with Matrix Fitness, the four seminars were headlined under ‘The Theory of Everything’ banner with the keynote session given by CIMSPA’s CEO, Tara Dillon. The round table session focussed on ‘The Sport Strategy – The role of the leisure sector’. With a consultative approach, CIMSPA reviewed the key themes of new sport...

20th September 2015

In Impulse Leisure

Impluse Leisure’s Gym Hub shortlisted for National Fitness Awards

The Gym Hub in Wickford has beaten off competition from hundreds of gyms across the UK to be shortlisted for a prestigious fitness industry award. The national awards are organised by leading fitness industry magazine Workout, with support from headline sponsor ServiceSport, and up to seven finalists have been selected for each category. The Gym Hub will now be visited by a member of the National Fitness Awards’ team who will view the facilities, interview the club...

15th September 2015

In Sport England, sporta

£2million funding boost for local communities to help get women, older people and inactive groups into sport

Areas benefitting from the scheme include: Tadcaster, Newcastle, south Dorset, Exeter, Northampton, County Durham, Lincolnshire, Stockton on Tees, Test Valley, Sheffield, Tandridge, Ashford, Newham, South Downs, Dover and Northumberland. Older people, women, and inactive groups in England are set to benefit from thousands of pounds in funding to help them become more involved in sport. Sport England has teamed up with sporta, whose members manage 40 per cent of community sports, leisure and culture facilities in the...

10th September 2015

In Bigwave media

Bigwave Media expands the team further

Bigwave Media is continuing its eight-year period of growth with the appointment of David Johns as Business Development Manager. Formerly working as a Partnership Development Manager with sport and exercise charity Active Nation, Johns, 54, has enjoyed a long career in sports and exercise management, across public, private and not-for-profit organisations, including DC Leisure (now Places for People Leisure), SLM Everyone Active and Oldham Community Leisure. The new role with Bigwave Media, which has more than 100...

5th September 2015

In Retention Guru, The Gym Group

The Gym Group launches price-based retention model

Retention Guru, Dr. Paul Bedford and Rob Gregory, former global director of member experience at Fitness First, have created a statistical model for The Gym Group to understand the impact of price changes on behaviour and to predict future outcomes for the business. The data model, which included analysis of more than 800,000 member records from 50 of the brand’s gyms across the UK, will enable the company to make strategic decisions about pricing and promotions...

30th August 2015

In Leisure-net

Leisure-net launches new industry networking event for 2016

Leading leisure insight specialist, Leisure-net Solutions is launching a new industry networking event. Innovate 2016 will be a one-day event for organisations looking for new and innovative activities to enhance both participation and income streams. Building on Leisure-net’s successful two-day active-net conference, Innovate 2016 will take place in Burleigh Court, Loughborough University during March next year. The day will enable operators to formally meet with up to nine suppliers, maximising their time and building relationships that could...

28th August 2015

In Lifetime Training

Lifetime Training takes fitness ‘naked’ at Fitness Directors’ Summit

Lifetime Training encouraged top industry operators to get ‘naked’ at its sixth annual Fitness Directors’ Summit. The theme focussed on ‘stripping’ back to the corporate ‘bare’ essentials, to review what is at the heart of each business and why it is being delivered in this way: What should traditional health clubs be driving to add value and how can they dial up 1% of the key elements of their business for maximum benefit? Attendees of this unique...

25th August 2015

In Leisure-net, Quest, Sport England

Leisure centres see financial upswing but throughput falls

There has been a remarkable improvement in the financial efficiency of leisure centres across the UK, according to an annual report released by Sport England’s National Benchmarking Service (NBS) – but there is still much work to be done to increase usage and widen participation among the most at-need groups. Delivered by Leisure-net Solutions in partnership with the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University, NBS enables local authorities to compare the performance of...