Expert insights from the OpsPal Team -
Educational articles to help improve how you operate.
It’s 6am on a Monday morning. Your duty manager arrives to open the leisure centre, armed with a clipboard, a pen, and the nagging feeling that they’ve forgotten something important. Sound familiar? UK leisure centres are increasingly turning to dedicated operations software to eliminate these daily stresses. If you’re running
It’s 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Your pool plant has failed. You’ve got swimming lessons starting in 90 minutes and a full aqua aerobics programme this afternoon. The duty manager is on the phone to your maintenance contractor, who might be able to get someone out by lunchtime if you’re
We tell prospective clients that staff can learn our system in six minutes. It’s true. Six minutes of guided training and your team can navigate OpsPal, access procedures, log problems, and complete tasks. But here’s what we don’t say in that pitch: six minutes of system training is not the
Why Your Leisure Centre Operations Manual Is Outdated (And How Digital Procedures Fix It) Last Tuesday, I watched a duty manager pull three different versions of the same pool evacuation procedure from various locations around the building. One was dated 2019. Another had handwritten amendments in the margin. The third—the
UK Leisure Operations Software Cost: £6,500 vs £44,000 Operations Staff | ROI Guide 2025 For UK leisure centres evaluating operations software costs, the comparison is stark: digital systems cost £6,500–£8,000 annually versus £44,000+ for operations staff—and deliver 24/7 coverage humans simply can’t match. Imagine having a personal assistant who never
Operational Excellence Leisure Centres: Your Next Competitive Advantage We’ve spent the last 15 years obsessing over the customer experience, and rightly so. We’ve built mobile apps for bookings. We’ve created seamless payment processing. We’ve designed beautiful facilities with Instagram-worthy changing rooms and coffee bars that rival high street chains. The
Every leisure manager has experienced that sinking feeling. A pool test wasn’t completed. A new instructor doesn’t know the emergency procedures. Someone’s asking where last month’s incident report is, and you’re frantically searching through three different folders and a filing cabinet. You’ve invested in brilliant booking software. Your members can
Together we will build a culture audit. Your best facility manager just handed in their notice. Again. Your customer service scores are inconsistent across shifts. Staff morale seems to dip every winter, and you’re not sure why. Sound familiar? Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most leisure operations are flying blind when
Quest Accreditation for UK Leisure Centres: From Assessment Anxiety to Continuous Compliance Understanding Quest Accreditation UK Leisure Quest is Sport England’s leading quality scheme for UK leisure facilities, designed to measure operational excellence and continuous improvement. As the UK’s most recognised leisure centre accreditation, Quest sets the benchmark for quality
The Challenge We Face – And the Frustration That Drove Change The leisure industry is at a crossroads, and frankly, I’m angry about it. Not angry at the dedicated professionals working tirelessly to serve their communities – angry at a system that hoards knowledge behind paywalls and conference fees when
While leisure centres are fantastic hubs for community health and activity, they are hotbeds for a myriad of operational challenges that can quickly turn into significant issues if not managed effectively. Adopting a “Digital Game Plan” provides the tools to proactively address these issues using digital operations software, leading to
OpsPal Levelling Up: Our AWS Journey We’re thrilled to announce a significant milestone in OpsPal’s (digital operations software) growth journey! After our recent meeting with Amazon Web Services (AWS), we’ve received an invitation to the AWS Partners network. This recognition is a testament to our innovative approach, consistent progress, and
