THE COMPANY that runs Bracknell Leisure Centre and Coral Reef has been handed a lifeline by the council.
Everyone Active, which also runs Downshire Golf Complex, will receive support from Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) as the coronavirus crisis continues.
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This comes after bosses at BFC noted the “unprecedented pressures” caused by the pandemic, in which “the leisure industry has been particularly hard hit following the government instructed closure of all leisure centres in March.”
Councillors discussed a support package for Everyone Active at a meeting on Tuesday, April 28, but the press and public were blocked from hearing what measures the council will offer to help the leisure operators.
This is because the report on the proposal contained information relating to financial affairs.
The News asked Bracknell Forest Council to comment on how it intends to support Everyone Active over the coming months.
Kevin Gibbs, a director at the council, said: “We are aware that some organisations which provide goods or services to the council may experience financial hardship as a consequence of the actions taken to help mitigate the national and global spread of coronavirus.
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“These are unprecedented times which have required us to take a flexible approach to working with our suppliers and partners, with a view to achieving a return to business as usual in the future.
“[This week’s] decisions addressed this context with new agreed commercial arrangements involving contract variations, therefore requiring a further executive decision.”
BFC was asked to elaborate on what the “new agreed commercial arrangements” and the “contract variations” were but would not comment.
The council still owns the leisure centres but outsourced the running of all three facilties to Everyone Active in March 2018.
A ten-year contract was agreed between the parties at the time.
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Since then, the operators have ploughed more than £2 million into refurbishing Bracknell Leisure Centre.
Everyone Active was contacted for comment.
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