27 April 2026

London Council Leisure Centre Operators

Back in the day, the council leisure centre was the butt of comedy shows.  These days most councils have off loaded their gyms and leisure centres to third party operators.

A couple of years ago, I looked at how each of the 32 London Boroughs dealt with bicycle maintenance, and today we're going to look how each of London's 32 councils operate their gyms and leisure centres.


Better / Greenwich Leisure Ltd

First up, the behemoth that is Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) operating under the brand Better.  With 105 sites across the capital, Better really is the Biggest.  15 boroughs use Better to operate most of their facilities, with Brent and Lambeth using Better for a single site each.

Better also operate their own facilities - so don't try adding up the numbers to reach 105 sites!


Brent
One site. Also three sites with Everyone Active.

Camden
Six sites, including the excellent Swiss Cottage 

Croydon
Eight sites


Greenwich

Hackney

Hammersmith and Fulham
Three sites - and watch out for early weekend closing times 


Islington
Eleven sites, including the impressive Archway and Highbury centres 

Kensington and Chelsea

Lambeth
Just one site, in Vauxhall, but it's pretty decent.  Eight NOT contracted out.

Lewisham






Everyone Active / SLM Ltd

EA like to say that they are the longest established leisure contractor in the UK, despite being rather eclipsed by GLL.  EA are the prime operator for seven London Boroughs.

Barking and Dagenham
Three sites


Ealing 
Fourteen sites - some now community operated



Sutton
Four sites

Westminster
Six main sites, including the excellent Queen Mother Sports Centre


NOT contracted out

There seems to have been a move in recent years by some councils to bring operations back in house - some run directly, some via a single council subsidiary.

The downside is that for many London residents their nearest leisure centres may be in different boroughs, so they would need membership with different companies.

Haringey
Four sites

Lambeth
Eight sites.  Also one still in Better.

Southwark
Eight sites 




Places Leisure

Whilst running leisure centres across the country, just two London Boroughs choose PL as their operator.


Wandsworth
Seven sites.  Also nine sites NOT contacted out. 


Lex Leisure

Operating 24 leisure centres and 6 golf courses across the UK, just one London Borough chooses LL as their operator.

Bexley
Three sites  


MyTimeActive

Mostly just Bromley and some Birmingham golf courses.

Bromley
Eleven sites - including three golf facilities 



Bottom Line


Sometimes splitting up activities into 32 boroughs drives innovation and allows for risk taking.  Sometimes it ends up with a jumble of services and artificial borders, negatively impacting residents.

With twelve different leisure centre operators in London - it looks like the latter is certainly the case.





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