Greenwich Leisure Limited
Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), operating under the brand "Better", is a non-profit charitable Social Enterprise organisation which runs over 250 sport and leisure facilities[2] and libraries on behalf of local authorities in London and across the UK, as well as its own internal college and the "Healthwise" programme. Its headquarters is in Middlegate House, the 1810-built former storekeeper's mansion at Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, South East London.
 | |
 Middlegate House, GLL headquarters | |
| Type | Industrial and Provident Society |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sport, leisure and culture |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Royal Arsenal London, SE18 United Kingdom |
Key people | Mark Sesnan – Managing Director, Peter Bundey – Deputy Managing Director |
| Revenue | £274 million (2017) [1] |
Number of employees | 13,500 |
| Website | www |
History
GLL was established to run local services in the London Borough of Greenwich in 1993 as a non profit distributing co-operative. In the following years it started to run services for other local authorities. It also manages Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. On 9 January 2012 it was announced that GLL would be managing the Aquatics Centre and the "copper box" Multi-Use Arena of the London 2012 Olympic Games from 2013 for 10 years.
In January 2011 Nexus Community and GLL merged; further mergers, acquisitions and contract awards followed so that by 2016, GLL was a national leisure provider with a presence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In June 2012 GLL rebranded all their centres under the "Better" brand.[3]
Structure
GLL is a staff-led 'Leisure Trust', social enterprise structured as an Industrial and Provident Society[4] for the benefit of the community. The members of the co-operative and therefore owners of the company are the workers of GLL. Alongside democratically elected members of staff, the trust's board includes representation of other stakeholders, including Greenwich Council.
In 2017 as part of its social enterprise objectives, GLL reinvested £340 million to local communities. The GLL Sports Foundation (GSF) has invested £9 million towards elite athlete training over the past 10 years.
GLL works in partnership with 50 local councils, public agencies and sporting organisations. In 2016 GLL acquired 17 standalone gyms from Fitness First and FitSpace.
Operations
Sports and leisure
GLL have over 250 public sport and leisure locations across the UK which are split into regions including London. These include
Olympic Legacy developments which GLL manage
Other
Areas Covered
| London local authorities/areas |
|---|
| Barking and Dagenham Sportshouse |
| Barnet |
| Bexley |
| Camden |
| Crystal Palace |
| Ealing |
| Greenwich |
| Hackney |
| Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Harrow |
| Hillingdon |
| Islington |
| Kensington and Chelsea |
| Lambeth |
| Merton |
| Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (See Olympic Legacy above) |
| Romford |
| Southwark (until June 20, 2016) [5] |
| Stratford· |
| Sutton |
| Teddington |
| Tower Hamlets |
| Waltham Forest |
| Wembley |
| Westminster (until June 30, 2016)[6] |
Local authorities outside London
| East Midlands | East of England | North East | North West | Northern Ireland | South | South East | South West | Wales | West Midlands | Yorkshire and the Humber |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincolnshire | Basildon | Newcastle | Allerdale | Belfast | Bournemouth | Brentwood | Bath and North East Somerset | Cardiff | Birmingham | Bradford |
| Cambridge | Carlisle | Chiltern | Epsom and Ewell | Cornwall | Cannock Chase | Sheffield | ||||
| Ipswich | Copeland | Portsmouth | Reigate and Banstead | North Somerset | Rugby | York | ||||
| Welwyn Garden City | Eden | Reading | Taunton Dean | Telford | ||||||
| Manchester | South Bucks | Walsall | ||||||||
| Preston | South Oxfordshire | |||||||||
| South Lakeland | Swindon | |||||||||
| Vale of White Horse | ||||||||||
| West Oxfordshire |
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Landscape view of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Libraries and other services
Libraries are also a core part of GLL's service offering, with an aim to "widen access and increase the use of libraries in the community" and a focus to keep libraries open and raise footfall. There are 113 locations with a concentration in four core regions.
- Greenwich
- Dudley
- Lincolnshire
- Wandsworth
- Bromley (from 1 November 2017)
Child Care
10 Children's Centres in Greenwich and to offer activities and space for children.
Extreme
Through the Better brand, Better Extreme offer activities including a Skate park, Trampolining and indoor rock climbing.
Healthcare
"Healthwise" referral programme in 21 local authority areas including Greenwich, Hackney and Waltham Forest.
Education
GLL College (partnership with Greenwich Community College)
Lidos
GLL operate and manage lidos and open water across the UK including:
- Abbey Meadows Outdoor Pool
- Charlton Lido And Lifestyle Club
- Finchley Lido Leisure Centre
- Jesus Green Swimming Pool
- London Fields Lido (Hackney)
- Oasis Sports Centre (Camden)
- Riverside Park And Pools
- West Reservoir Centre
- Woodstock Open Air Pool
Spa Experience
Providing spa, beauty and health treatments within leisure facilities including the historic Ironmonger Row Baths
Venues
Sports, leisure and cultural venues available to hire across England and Northern Ireland. Including the Historic York Hall.