The relative affluence of the sport and exercise market’s core participant base continues to protect public leisure centre and swimming pool visiting from the worst of the cost of living crisis, while facility operators have maintained support for families particularly.
Stay ahead of the curve and secure future growth for your business with Mintel’s UK Leisure Centres and Swimming Pools Market Report. The report provides a data-led understanding of the current leisure facilities market and opportunities within the industry for brands and businesses in the UK.
The relative affluence of the sport and exercise market’s core participant base continues to protect public leisure centre and swimming pool visiting from the worst of the cost of living crisis, while facility operators have maintained support for families particularly.
The main threat to the market’s future health is posed by the need to replace an ageing facility stock and the question of whether cash-strapped local authorities will be able to invest in that regeneration effort.
Where they can, there are exciting opportunities to reimagine the form and function of public leisure centres as the market pivots towards serving new demand – among policy makers as well as consumers – for wellness services that support mental and emotional as well as physical health.
Purchase the full report for a complete analysis of the UK Leisure Centres and Swimming Pools market, including market dynamics and consumer insights.
For the purposes of this report, Mintel’s analysts have used the following definitions:
Leisure centres and swimming pools are defined as those owned by local authorities, including facilities run on a ‘dual-use’ basis (eg facilities housed within schools, etc that are available for use by the public at certain times of the day or week). Market size is based on expenditure in publicly-owned leisure sites.
Private health and fitness clubs are excluded from the coverage of this Report, as are all other private leisure and swimming facilities that are not open to the general public, such as those reserved for employees, or association or trade union members.
This report was written by David Walmsley, Research Analyst at Mintel. David is a research analyst at Mintel focusing on the sport and leisure sectors, which he has covered for more than 15 years. Formerly a journalist with the BBC, Independent News & Media and the SportBusiness Group, he holds an honours degree in International Studies from the University of Birmingham.
Public leisure centres are reimagining their form and function to serve new interest in health and wellness that goes beyond physical fitness alone.
David Walmsley
Research Analyst
We have such a great working relationship with Mintel on lots of different levels. As an insight partner, they have helped us to develop our business planning in specific categories as well as supporting our creative process but they’ve also been super helpful with facilitating our events in their inspirational offices near St Paul’s.
They’re an innovative company, with a client-focused team that always delivers.
Working in a customer-obsessed organization means that data and insights have to be at our fingertips. Mintel’s reports help us support anecdotes with real quantifiable insights. The summary sections (which I really like) helps save time by giving a birds eye view of the content before spending time combing through the pages.
Our business review discussions are strengthened by the relevancy of the reports to help us better understand our customers. In addition, the customer service received from the team (especially in crunch periods) makes the process of understanding customer behavior even better.
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
When I’m investigating specific sectors I tend to use Mintel reports for their forecasting, which I’ve always found to be very accurate.
They also offer really broad and deep coverage in their reports. They are very, very detailed. For example, we were able to gain insight across a wide range of business areas from just one report, proving that Mintel is excellent value for money.
So overall, it’s the level of detail and the quality of forecasting that really stand out for me.
Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.
When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.
The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.
