Greenwich Leisure Limited Explained

Greenwich Leisure Limited
Type:Industrial and Provident Society
Foundation:1993
Location:Royal Arsenal
London,
United Kingdom
Key People:Peter Bundey – CEO, Phil Donnay – Deputy CEO, Mark Sesnan OBE – Founder
Industry:Sport, leisure and culture
Revenue:£306 million (2022)[1]
Num Employees:10,800

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 115 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.

It has operated the GLL Sport Foundation since 2008, providing support to young athletes and is one of the largest independent athlete schemes in the UK.[3]

In April 2022, GLL became the largest operator of London 2012 legacy venues, when it entered a new partnership with Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. These included London 2012 venues at Lee Valley Velo Park, Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre, and Lee Valley White Water Centre.[4]

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.[5]

Structure

GLL is a staff-led 'Leisure Trust', social enterprise structured as an Industrial and Provident Society[6] for the benefit of the community. The members of the co-operative and therefore owners of the company are the workers of GLL.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Our Four Pillars | Better.
  2. Web site: Key Facts : GLL : Better for Everyone.
  3. https://switchtheplay.com/news/switch-the-play-and-gll-national-news-release/
  4. Web site: SportsPro . 2022-07-27 . London 2012: What has become of the Olympic venues ten years on from the Games? . 2023-11-18 . SportsPro . en-GB.
  5. Web site: Albion London nets GLL rebrand brief.
  6. Web site: Andrew Bibby.