Better Leisure reduces opening hours as energy bills triple

A leisure centre concatenation has said the rising outgo of surviving is forcing it to trim its opening hours with a "temporary wintertime programme".

Better Leisure, which runs 268 centres crossed the UK, said its vigor costs had much than tripled since 2019.

The charitable societal endeavor said it was not sustainable aft the "recent struggles" of the pandemic.

Parent institution GLL said the "extraordinary" programme would impact much than 200 of its centres.

The changes, which statesman successful December and tally until Easter, volition alteration for each centre and are "designed to minimise disruption and to debar changes for schools and swimming lessons", the institution said.

"In practice, immoderate centres volition unfastened an hr aboriginal oregon adjacent 1 hr earlier connected immoderate days," it added.

"This volition alteration america to crook disconnected lighting, works and instrumentality astatine the clip of maximum vigor use, erstwhile it is coldest and darkest. This is besides erstwhile we are slightest busy."

GLL said its vigor costs were present much than 3 times what they were pre-pandemic and had accrued to 25% of full costs.

"Heating a nationalist swimming excavation analyzable present costs implicit £300,000, up from nether £100,000," it said.

It made its "dire forecast" astatine the commencement of November and said without authorities assistance "large numbers of nationalist assemblage leisure facilities are improbable to marque it done to adjacent spring."

A authorities spokesperson said: "We cognize galore leisure centres and swimming pools are contending with large increases successful moving costs, which is wherefore we person introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

"It volition mean they wage wholesale vigor costs, good beneath fractional of expected prices this winter."

Better Leisure's web of athletics facilities agelong from St Ives successful Cornwall to Newcastle Upon Tyne, with the bulk centred astir Manchester, Oxfordshire and London.