Local authority leisure services operate in an environment of constrained resources and rising expectations. Understanding whether facilities deliver value for money, where improvement efforts should focus, and how performance compares to similar operations becomes essential for making informed decisions about investment, programming, and management.
Sports Facility Benchmarking provides the evidence-based framework for answering these critical questions, transforming operational data into strategic intelligence that drives performance improvement and builds compelling cases for investment.
What Is Sports Facility Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is the systematic comparison of facility performance against relevant peers, industry standards, or historical trends. It enables local authorities to understand their position relative to comparable facilities, identify areas of strong performance to maintain, and pinpoint improvement opportunities requiring attention.
Effective benchmarking answers questions that matter: Are we delivering value for money compared to similar authorities? Which aspects of our service are performing well, and which need improvement? How do we demonstrate impact to stakeholders and justify investment requests? Where should limited resources be prioritised for maximum effect?
Why Benchmarking Matters
The value of robust benchmarking data extends beyond operational management. Sector-wide evidence has proven critical in securing national investment. When the Swimming Pool Support Fund distributed £60m in 2023, comprehensive performance data across the sector strengthened the case for intervention, demonstrating both the scale of challenge facing public pools and the potential for investment to deliver community benefit.
At local level, benchmarking provides evidence that supports business cases for capital investment, justifies operational changes or efficiency programmes, demonstrates accountability to elected members and communities, and identifies best practice that can be replicated across facilities.
Without benchmarking, performance discussions become subjective. With it, they are grounded in data that enables objective assessment and informed decision-making.
FMG Consulting's Internal Benchmarking Database
FMG Consulting maintains an internal benchmarking database drawing on over 20 years of operational expertise across the sport and leisure sector. This proprietary resource enables comparison of leisure services performance across financial, environmental and utilisation metrics tailored to local circumstances.
The database provides several advantages over generic benchmarking tools. It draws on FMG's direct experience managing and advising facilities, offering nuanced understanding of performance drivers rather than simply presenting comparative data. The data encompasses diverse facility types, management models, and local contexts, enabling identification of truly comparable peers rather than crude category matching. Analysis considers qualitative factors alongside quantitative metrics, recognising that raw numbers require interpretation informed by local circumstances, facility age and condition, and strategic priorities.
FMG's approach identifies specific improvement opportunities rather than simply highlighting performance gaps. Benchmarking analysis connects observed performance to practical interventions, answering not just "how are we performing?" but also “why?” and "what should we do about it?"
Selecting Appropriate Comparators
Effective benchmarking depends on comparing like with like. Common pitfalls include selecting inappropriate comparators that undermine the validity of conclusions.
Facilities should be compared based on size and specification ensuring similar capacity and facility mix, catchment characteristics including demographics and deprivation levels, management arrangements recognising different models have different cost structures, facility age and condition as older facilities face higher maintenance costs, and local market context including competition from private sector provision.
A small community pool in a rural area should not be benchmarked against a flagship leisure centre in an urban area. The contexts are too different for meaningful comparison. Instead, benchmarking should identify peers with similar characteristics that face comparable challenges and opportunities.
Beyond Financial Metrics
Financial performance is important but insufficient on its own. A facility operating at low subsidy or surplus but delivering minimal community benefit and serving only those already active does not represent success against strategic objectives focused on increasing participation and reducing inequalities.
Comprehensive benchmarking balances financial sustainability with social impact, examining participation rates amongst target groups including inactive populations and those facing barriers, contribution to health outcomes and wellbeing, accessibility and inclusion measures, environmental performance including energy efficiency and carbon reduction, and customer experience and satisfaction.
This balanced approach aligns with Sport England's emphasis on outcomes rather than simply outputs. The objective is facilities that are financially sustainable and deliver measurable community benefit, not one at the expense of the other.
Common Benchmarking Pitfalls
Several pitfalls undermine benchmarking exercises. Focusing solely on financial metrics whilst ignoring quality or access measures presents incomplete pictures. Selecting inappropriate comparators as discussed above produces misleading conclusions. Failing to account for local context such as deprivation levels, existing provision, and strategic priorities means raw data is misinterpreted. Conducting one-off benchmarking without regular updates loses the trend analysis that reveals whether performance is improving or declining. Collecting data but failing to act on insights wastes resources and demoralises staff who provided information.
Effective benchmarking avoids these pitfalls through rigorous methodology, regular updates, clear communication of findings, and translation of insights into action plans with accountability for delivery.
Connecting Benchmarking to Strategic Outcomes
Benchmarking should connect to Sport England's Economic Value of Sport Local Model, which demonstrates how facility performance contributes to the £122.9bn social value generated by sport and physical activity in 2023/24.
This means examining how facilities support increased participation particularly amongst inactive groups, contribute to health outcomes and reduced NHS demand, generate economic value through employment and supply chains, and deliver social benefits including community cohesion and individual wellbeing.
Performance data becomes more powerful when translated into social value outcomes. A 5% increase in participation amongst inactive adults can be quantified in terms of health benefits, productivity gains, and social value creation using established methodologies.
Using Benchmarking to Drive Improvement
The ultimate purpose of benchmarking is driving improvement. Data collection is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Effective use of benchmarking involves identifying 2-3 priority areas where improvement would deliver most impact, understanding the factors driving current performance through detailed analysis, learning from higher performers about what works, developing action plans with clear interventions and accountability, and monitoring progress through regular performance tracking.
Benchmarking should be transparent, shared with staff and stakeholders to build shared understanding of challenges and opportunities. Performance discussions become more constructive when grounded in objective data rather than subjective perceptions.
Industry Tools and Resources
Whilst FMG Consulting's internal database provides tailored benchmarking analysis, industry tools offer additional resources. For example, Sport England's Moving Communities platform provides facility performance data with benchmarking functionality.
These tools complement rather than replace tailored analysis. Generic platforms provide useful comparative data but lack the interpretive framework and sector expertise that translates data into actionable insights.
Building the Evidence Base for Investment
Sports Facility Benchmarking strengthens investment cases by demonstrating how current performance compares to peers, identifying specific aspects requiring capital investment, quantifying the performance improvement investment could deliver, and providing baseline data against which post-investment outcomes can be measured.
Investment decisions supported by benchmarking evidence are more likely to secure approval from elected members and funding bodies. They show that proposals are based on objective needs assessment rather than assumption, that performance gaps have been rigorously diagnosed, and that anticipated improvements are realistic based on comparable facility experience.
Sport England's evidence demonstrates that every £1 spent on community sport and physical activity generates £4.38 in social and economic value. Benchmarking provides the mechanism for ensuring this return is maximised through targeted investment that addresses identified performance gaps and delivers measurable community benefits.
Want to understand how your facilities perform and identify improvement opportunities? FMG Consulting's benchmarking service draws on our extensive internal database to deliver actionable insights that drive performance improvements.
Contact FMG Consulting: https://www.fmgconsulting.co.uk/?page=contact
Image Source: Envato
No Comments Yet
Let us know what you think