LeisureDB’s deep dive into the swimming sector finds high demand

Swimming pools need to be repositioned so they're prized as assets rather than considered a drain on budgets, says LeisureDB founder, David Minton.

Introducing LeisureDB’s State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2024, Minton says: “We must challenge ourselves to review how we position pools. Local authorities are focused on appropriate provision for their communities and swimming and water-based sports are clear contributors to health and wellbeing.

“Going forward, we must find ways to (re)position what we offer so pools cease to be viewed as a drain on the budget, instead are prized for the value they bring to communities.”

GLL – the UK’s largest swimming pool provider – is already positioning its pools around health and water safety. “Leisure feels like a choice. health feels essential,” says head of sports and aquatics, Andrew Clark, who says the sector is buoyant with the GLL swim school seeing a 4 per cent year-on-year, like-for-like growth with 220,000 students attending nationally each week.

Despite this, swimming pools are closing slightly faster than they're opening, with 2 per cent less in 2024 than 2023, across both the public and private sector through a combination of closures, the rationalisation of estates following investment and the subsequent retiring of older facilities.

Leisure DB found the main pain points for operators are energy and maintenance costs, ageing stock and finding swimming teachers and lifeguards, however, there's plenty of innovation and creative thinking happening , including AI-assisted lifeguard technologies that are helping prevent drownings, support lifeguards and give insights into resource allocation and operational improvements.

The RLSS’s National Pool Lifeguarding Qualification is now approved for UCAS points which will appeal to students, who are seen as a viable solution to the shortages: 66 per cent of lifeguards surveyed are in full or part-time education.

The new Swim Alliance is working to create a single, clear voice for the sector, aiming to communicate the social, health and economic benefits of swimming and make the case to government to keep existing pools open and replace ageing stock.

The demand for swimming is still strong. Nuffield Health – the private sector’s largest pool operator – reports a 10 per cent year-on-year growth in web traffic to its swim pages and says adults who take swimming lessons retain their gym members for five months more than those who do not, while Total Fitness launched a Swim Academy last year.

Design innovation

Contributors to State of the UK Swimming Industry Report 2024 discuss design innovation and energy saving measures which could have a positive impact on the sector. Solar panels, salt water chlorination systems and smart technology that optimise resources are all gaining traction and leading to increased levels of sustainability.

At St Sidwell’s Point in Exeter, architects S&P used tepid spaces for the first time: creating a corridor between a warm pool and a cold gym to avoid loss of heat from one to the other. The cold facilities, such as the gym, were located on the north side and warm facilities, such as the pool, on the south side.

OS Generation Group is an on-site energy generation specialist that uses technology such as solar panels, heat pumps and CHP units, to generate energy next to the building that's cheaper than buying from the grid. Having entered into a seven-year partnership with the company, Barrow Park Leisure Centre is saving more than £30,000 a year on energy and heating costs and 36 tonnes a year in carbon emissions.

Freedom Leisure is working with Airius to reduce the energy required to heat its pools. The technology circulates the air to maintain a consistent temperature, pushing the hot air that naturally rises to the ceiling back down to surface level. The average pool operator can save 35 per cent on heating costs with this technology and see a ROI in two years.

The new numbers

The number of pools has tracked downwards slightly over the last five years. The total number has decreased by 1.8 per cent in the last year from 4,351 in 2023 to 4,272, a difference of 79 pools across the country. This number is down from 4,559 pre-pandemic (2019) – a difference of 287, with some being a victim of the COVID closures.

The number of public leisure centres with pools decreased from 1,646 last year to 1,613 in 2024, a fall of 2 per cent or 33 facilities. In the public sector, nine pools opened and 25 closed, some of these in health clubs and gyms which changed hands where the new concept was dry-side only.

The average public sector rate for a swim in the UK is now £5.59, up from £5.22 in 2023. At £6.31, London is 13 per cent above the UK average. The cheapest place in the UK for a swim is Ireland, at £4.31 a session. All numbers are full rate headline numbers for an adult, and don't reflect any discounting, special offers or packages.

GLL has the most pools with 140, followed by Everyone Active with 136 and Freedom Leisure at 73.

Out of the top 10 swimming pool operators, Parkwood Leisure offers the cheapest swims at an average price of £5.40 and High Life Highland is at the top end with an average of £7.63.

Private clubs with pools also saw a 2 per cent decline from 1,309 to 1,283 (a difference of 26 pools). Across this part of the market the movement saw 25 pools closed and six opened.

The average membership fee for a private sector health club with a pool in the year to 31 March 2024 was £78.97, an increase of 6.2 per cent from the previous year.

The independent sector has seen a 1 per cent drop in the number of clubs with pools from 402 in 2023 to 398 in 2024 –  difference of four pools.

The report is free to read online at www.leisuredb.com/publications.

LeisureDB’s UK Fitness Indsutry Report 2024 was released in June.