ukactive has raised concerns with Government about the threat to the nation’s health and wellbeing as gyms, pools and leisure facilities report facing an energy bill hike of up to 150%. The energy crisis has hit the fitness and leisure sector at a time when facilities are still recovering from major losses incurred during forced closures and reduced footfall caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using evidence gathered from operators across the public and private sectors, ukactive estimates that combined gas and electricity costs for 2022 will increase by 100% compared to 2019 (the last full operating year, pre-pandemic).

The findings show that larger operators, such as facilities with swimming pools, will face an increase of up to 150%. ukactive estimates that the total financial cost of rising energy bills for the whole sector this financial year will reach between £1 billion and £1.25 billion – up from around £500m in 2019.

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Source: ukactive