Leisure Operator Partner - Rushmoor

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

The Council is seeking a partner Operator who shares their vision for the new Leisure and Cultural Hub and will operate flexibly with the Key Users to optimise participative opportunities and benefits for the local community. The Council is seeking a long-term partnership which will contribute to local Health and Well-being priorities, whilst delivering, a Management Fee payment and a surplus share to the Council.

FARNBOROUGH LEISURE & CULUTRAL HUB

The new Farnborough facility will be part of a 'Leisure and Cultural Hub' located in the regenerated Civic Quarter, which seeks to provide a new community heart in the town centre. The design of the hub will be full PassivHaus accredited.

The Council's aspiration is for the Civic Quarter to become a vibrant, mixed-use space providing new opportunities for town centre living and active ground floor uses, with a focus on maintaining the area as a hub of civic, community and leisure amenities.

The ambitious regeneration masterplan includes proposals for the development of the new Cultural Hub- including leisure centre, library, cultural facilities and Council Offices - with an adjacent skate park and playground. In addition, there will be up to 960 new energy-efficient homes, a new hotel, space for shopping and commercial development, more than 1.93 hectares of green open space, and two mobility hubs.

The new Passivhaus certified Leisure and Cultural Hub- which is scheduled to open in Spring 2027 - will proactively address identified community needs aligned to health, physical activity, social wellbeing and culture. Whilst the new Operator will have overall responsibility for the management of the leisure centre, 'key user agreements' are proposed with the Library Service (Hampshire County Council), Cultural Service (Hampshire Cultural Trust) and Council (Rushmoor Borough Council) for designated areas of the building to confirm priority of access and use at agreed times to meet their needs. Key Users and their customers will have shared access to communal areas of the building including the café and toilets.

ALDERSHOT POOLS & LIDO

The Aldershot Lido opened in 1930 and sits on 10-acre site. The lido has a rich history with the single modern pentathlon event contested at the site as part of the 1948 London Olympics.

The lido opens each year between May and September, with attendances heavily dependent on the weather. In 2022, a hot summer led to a record 72,000 people using the facility, whereas a poor summer this year meant attendances fell to 35,000.

The pools building opened in 1975. The facility is popular with residents, particularly so since the closure of the Farnborough Leisure Centre. Whilst swim membership numbers remain similar to pre-Covid levels, (c.165), fitness memberships have increased from c.1,000 to over 1,200. Swimming lesson numbers are also up from c.680 pre-Covid, to over 900, primarily as a result of bringing the offer entirely in-house.

QUEST FACILITY MANAGEMENT ACCREDITATION

The Operator will be required to achieve and maintain the Sport England recommended Quest Facility Management accreditation scheme (or any equivalent successor scheme) for the Facilities and Quest for the Active Communities Programme (Health and Wellbeing Development Programme). This should be obtained by:

• The end of year 2 of the Main Phase of the Contract for the Health and Wellbeing Development Programme;
• The end of the year 2 of the Main Phase of the contract for the new Farnborough LCH and Aldershot Pools and Lido for the Facility Management.

The Operator will be required to achieve and maintain a minimum standard of Excellent for the Sport England recommended Quest ™ /Quest ™ Plus™ Plus Facility Management accreditation scheme (or any equivalent successor scheme) and Quest ™/ Quest™ Plus Active Communities scheme for the outreach Health and Wellbeing Programme.

OPEN BOOK MODEL & CONTRACT FORM

The partnership and operational management contract will operate on an open book basis. The contract has been developed using the Sport England model as set out in its latest Leisure Services Delivery Guidance (LSDG); format but has been updated to reflect relevant changes since the pandemic relating to CIL, risk and utility benchmarking,

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, SERVICING, MAINTENACE RISK

In relation to servicing and maintenance of the sites, the Council is seeking a hybrid approach in respect of the sites. The Operator will take on delivery and risk for all aspects of facilities management, servicing, reactive maintenance and lifecycle maintenance (excluding building structure & foundations) for the new Leisure & Cultural Hub facility, covering the entirety of the facility rather than only the areas of the facility which fall within the operational scope of the contract.

In respect of the Aldershot facilities the Operator will be required to take on responsibility and risk for facilities management, servicing and reactive repairs but will not be required to take on lifecycle maintenance responsibility or risk.

UTILITIES

The Operator will take risk on all costs of operation other than in respect of utilities where the Council may accept risk in respect of tariff fluctuations although the Council's starting position will be that consumption risk will still fall with the Operator.

The Council wishes to explore the concept of risk share around utility costs through the dialogue and negotiation phases of the process, particularly given the Council's ambitious Passivhaus aspirations and may amend the agreement to ensure best value for both parties.

Where possible and where it is in the interests of the achieving best value the Council will allow access to any advantageous utilities rates that it has leveraged from the market. In respect of Farnborough LCH, a utility benchmarking exercise will be undertaken 12 months following the opening of the new facility to assess any change in tariff rates.

Detailed information is provided wit…