Leisure Centre Management Services

South Hams District Council ("SHDC") and West Devon Borough Council ("WDBC") (together the "Authority") holds a leisure centre management contract with Fusion Lifestyle, which was due to end on 30 November 2041 (the "Current Contract"). Fusion Lifestyle went into administration on 1 April 2026 and, as a consequence, the Authority requires continuity of service to ensure that the following leisure facilities can continue to operate:

SHDC:

Ivybridge Leisure Centre

Totnes Leisure Centre

Quayside Leisure Centre (Kingsbridge)

Dartmouth Leisure Centre

WDBC:

Parklands Leisure Centre (Okehampton)

Meadowlands Leisure Centre (Tavistock)

The Authority intends to award a short-term management contract to maintain the operation of the above facilities. The Authority makes this award relying on Section 41 and Paragraph 13 to Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023, as there is extreme and unavoidable urgency, for the following reasons:

the services to be supplied under the public contract are strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and unavoidable urgency and the urgency is unavoidable, as it is attributable solely to the administration of Fusion Lifestyle, which could not have been foreseen by the Authority, and it was not confirmed until 1 April 2026; and

as a result of the urgency, the public contract cannot be awarded on the basis of a competitive tendering procedure and the Authority has not been able to find a suitable alternative route to ensuring continuity of services in these complex circumstances.

The Authority will shortly start a formal procurement competition in accordance with the PA 2023 order to ensure that it is able to select an operator to provide the leisure service for a mid/longer term duration on the expiry of the short term management contract.