Bisham Abbey and Lilleshall, the national sports centres operated by Serco Leisure on behalf of Sport England have retained leisure industry benchmarking scheme Quest’s highest accreditation, Stretch – Outstanding, making it four assessment cycles in succession that both facilities have achieved this ranking.

Quest is the leading Continuous Improvement Tool for the leisure industry. To receive an Outstanding rating, first a facility needs to have been judged ‘Excellent’. Once that rating has been achieved, centres can apply for the Quest - Stretch Assessment, which would enable them to aim for Outstanding.

Around 1% of all leisure facilities in the UK achieve Stretch - Outstanding, but even fewer have managed to achieve this most stringent accreditation for four cycles in succession.
Steve Nelson, Serco Leisure’s Operations Director for national centres and offshore business said: “I’m extremely proud of the teams at Bisham and Lilleshall. Being awarded Quest - Stretch - Outstanding yet again is a remarkable achievement, when you consider just how tough an assessment this is. Very few operators even attempt the Stretch element, as it’s notoriously difficult. But at Bisham and Lilleshall, we’ve never shied away from this challenge, confident in our ability to face the Quest test each assessment cycle.

“I am particularly proud of the comments and ranking we achieved around the partnership working element of the process. An organisation like Serco Leisure prides itself on its ability to work with and support clients towards their strategic, performance and financial goals. At these centres, we’ve truly demonstrated just how effective we are as an operating partner.”

Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director of Place for Sport England, said: “I’m delighted that Bisham Abbey and Lilleshall have once again achieved a Quest Stretch – Outstanding accreditation.

“The award is testament to the hard work of Serco at the National Sport Centres and the support they offer the wide range of people utilising our National Centres - be it elite athletes preparing for an Olympic Games, to members from the local community playing Walking Football or simply being active.”

“Our strategy, Uniting the Movement looks to get all people involved in sport and physical activity, and centres like these are integral in giving people the opportunities to get active.”

Serco Leisure was awarded the 15-year management contract to run Bisham and Lilleshall in 2011 and is responsible for providing a range of support services, including catering, hospitality and events, landscaping, reception and security services, marketing and communications.