1 NBS Update and National Benchmarks for 2011 How is the industry performing? Peter Taylor, Sport Industry Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University and Mike Hill, Leisure-net

The Need for NBS Urgency to deliver more for less Need to “prove” efficiency and effectiveness of delivery – to clients – internally within councils – internally with contractors Lack of alternative datasets available

Analysis by Sheffield Hallam’s Sport Industry Research Centre suggests that the top performing 25% of leisure centres earn enough income to cover 41% more of their costs compared to the bottom performing 25% of centres. This is equivalent to potential savings of about £400,000 per centre, according to National Benchmarking Service data.

Developments in last 14 months Introduction of separate Efficiency and Effectiveness Reports Improvements to reports to make more user friendly and fit for purpose Doubling of number of sites taking part Start of pilot for HE Development of follow up consultancy service Reduction of cost!

5 NBS structure 47 Performance indicators: ~ 12 access (use by target groups); ~ 12 financial (subsidy, income, expenditure) ~ 3 utilisation (throughput) ~ 20 attributes scored by customers for satisfaction and importance (accessibility, quality, cleanliness, staff, value for money) 4 comparison 'families': ~ types of centre ~ socioeconomics of the centres’ locations ~ size of centre ~ type of management

6 The standards 1 For 27 access, finance and utilisation PIs: Lowest 25% 50% 75% Highest scoring benchmark benchmark benchmark scoring facility score score score facility      | First quartile | Second quartile | Third quartile | Fourth quartile |

7 The standards 2 For 19 importance and satisfaction attributes: satisfaction scores gaps between importance and satisfaction scores grid analysis of service attributes % of customers dissatisfied

8 The 2011 benchmarks Total data set of 130 centres For family categories, sub-sample sizes vary between 10 and 69 centres For access and customer satisfaction indicators a total data set of over 22,000 customers

Sample bias towards: Mixed centres (47% of sample) Centres in high NS-SEC 6&7 areas (54%) Medium and large sized centres (82%) Trust managed centres (41%)

10 How does the industry excel and how does it struggle?

11 Industry strengths Females years ethnic minorities overall satisfaction staff, NB coaching and instruction activity availability

12 Industry weaknesses year olds Lowest socioeconomic classes 60+ years Disabled under 60 years Cleanliness of changing areas) Food and drink

13 Industry strengths or weaknesses? % of visits which were first visits –50% benchmark = 4-6% % of visits using a discount card –50% benchmark = 44-62% % of visits using a 'disadvantage' discount card –50% benchmark = 13-25% Cost recovery –50% benchmark = 60-95% Annual visits per square metre – 50% benchmark = visits Market penetration in one week –50% benchmark = 7-20%

14 Changing standards to aim for

15 Changing industry standards Improvement in 4 access, 4 financial & 3 utilisation PIs, including: BME, 60+ years, unemployed cost recovery, operating costs per square metre, energy costs per square metre, income per square metre visits per square metre, market penetration Plus improvement in many satisfaction mean scores, especially for mixed and wet centres

16 Changing industry standards Deterioration in 3 access and 2 financial PIs, including: years, bottom two socioeconomic groups maintenance and repair costs, secondary income per visit

Longer term changes in industry standards, Improvement in BME, 60+, 1 st visits, use of discount cards, cost recovery, direct income, market penetration, and most satisfaction scores deterioration in year olds, disabled under 60 years, operating cost PIs, secondary income and a minority of satisfaction scores

Conclusions The industry is reacting to the current difficult trading conditions by demonstrating consistent improvements in performance but this raises the bar in terms of industry benchmarks Come to the workshop this afternoon to learn more about the NBS process

19 Further queries?