In early 2019, Sphere Connect undertook a project for NULBC that involved a full commercial review of the local authority managed Jubilee 2 Leisure Facility in the town centre, as the facility was making a deficit and suffering from a steady decline in membership
The review and recommendations were approved by the senior leadership team and we were further engaged to undertake a range of projects including providing support for the service to develop and implement the opportunities we had identified. These involved aspects of facility improvement, updated programmes of use, a much improved approach to customer engagement and on-site marketing, plus the launch of an exciting two new features – the ‘Daniel Jones @ J2’ dance classes, with a view to developing a regional centre of excellence as well as provision for an indoor cycling training facility.
Following our work with NULBC, the Jubilee 2 facility has a vastly improved ‘offer’ including ‘Daniel Jones @ J2’ which is receiving national level coverage. The facility is now operating with greater commercial focus and is well positioned to become the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the sports and leisure portfolio for the local authority as well as a key player in the wider sub regional leisure provision for Staffordshire.
“In 2018 Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council engaged Sphere Connect to undertake a full commercial review of the Jubilee 2 sports facility including the sports and leisure ‘offer’ we provide across the Borough. A high quality and comprehensive review was delivered, identifying a number of exciting and innovative opportunities for the service to take forward. We were so pleased with Sphere Connect’s work that we engaged their team to support us in making the required changes happen. The improvements have been outstanding not least resulting in generating additional income but also the development of a sector-leading ‘dance fitness’ offer attracting national acclaim and an extensive level of PR coverage”.