Coronavirus: Fenland leisure centre operator to be offered further council bailout

Freedom Leisure has already received £590,348 in support from the council due to lost income relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

And next week the charitable trust is expected to be given a further £284,748 in aid, on top of being able to defer management fees totalling more than £225,000.

Freedom Leisure has been operating the Manor Leisure Centre in Whittlesey, George Campbell Leisure Centre in March, Hudson Leisure Centre in Wisbech and Chatteris Leisure since December 2018 after signing a 15 year contract with Fenland District Council.

The council said the deal would save it £5.6 million over the length of the deal compared to its previous operator, and that pre-pandemic the partnership was working “better than” could have been hoped for.

However, that has all changed due to the current crisis which led to the leisure centres having to close on March 23.

And, although they have since re-opened, revenue is reported as being between 30 and 40 per cent lower than 2019 levels.

A council report being considered by the Cabinet on Wednesday states: “Indications from government are that social distancing will remain in place until March 2021. This being the case there will be no income recovery back to 2019 levels until after that date and, as anticipated, a further support package is required for Freedom Leisure.”

It adds: “Without the council’s continued financial support, the contract between Freedom Leisure and Fenland District Council is unlikely to remain viable and the council would need to explore alternative options to deliver leisure services, all of which have their own financial challenges.”

The latest financial boost would support Freedom Leisure until March next year, although further aid may be needed after that date if social distancing remains in place.

The council said it has been “proactively lobbying the Government” through a number of sources to “highlight the financial difficulty that the leisure sector is facing and the financial impact on councils to support their local facilities”.