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the economy of swimming

Contents

Page

Executive Summary 3

1. Introduction 42. The number of people swimming 83. The main motivations for swimming 124. The cost of swimming 145. The contribution of swimming apparel 166. Swimming pool construction 187. Swimming pool equipment 228. Swimming pool management and operations 239. The Swimmer 2610. Food and beverage consumption whilst at Swimming Pools 2811. Swimming organisations 2912. Swimming competitions 3113. Swimming tourism events 3114. Reward schemes 3215. Sponsorship and Sports Marketing income 3216. The phenomena of learn-to-swim schemes 3317. Swimming organisations- employment and other impacts 3418. Swimming and employment 3419. The impact of swimming on the cost of health 36

Executive summary

Swimming and its wider family, the aquatics, plays a fundamental role in our society today. Part ofthis role is to provide employment, training for employment and generate income for peopleinvolved with the sport. In short, swimming creates the framework for economic benefits; thesebenefits include improvements in productivity and earning capacity.

Approximately 10 million people in Great Britain swim once a year. Of these people, 4.9 millionadults swim once a month and 2.8 million of these swim once a week (Source: Active People, SportEngland). Over 225,800 people are registered club members. Approximately 30% of pool users areunder 16 years of age and are not recorded, and therefore, are additional to the swimmersidentified in Active People. All of these swimmers have a choice of over 5,500 pools to swim in,nearly 2,000 of which are public pools. Put simply, the numbers are eye watering.

Last year, income from swimming admittances in the public sector came to an estimated £540.5mwith more than 150m visits being made to pools. In 2011, food and beverage consumed duringswimming occasions was likely to have been worth £80.8m. The UK’s net supply of swimwear wasworth £69.6m in 2010, the last reported year with 35m items being sold. Quite separately, the grossprofits of equipment suppliers were worth in excess of £17.8m in 2011. Swimming organisations’income was more than £49.99m; clubs contributed £42.28m to the mix; swimming competitions, aminimum of £2.38m; income from training and educating coaches and teachers, between £8m and£9m; special swimming events with tourism attached, £4.08m and swimming award schemes,between £4m and £5m.

Every new swimmer represents an estimated £83.35 to swimming’s economy. Learn-to-swimschemes are worth an estimated £190m in public and £63m in private pools while water basedexercise schemes are fast closing the gap on learn-to-swim income. The likely value of theseschemes is of the order of £164.6m.

Other than the Olympic Aquatic Centre, swimming’s contribution in terms of employment in buildingnew pools is considerable and employment was available to over 600 people at a cost of anestimated £88.9m. There are likely to have been more than 48,000 people employed in pools withgross salaries of approximately £926m. Nearly 400 more people were employed in UK swimwearcompanies with salaries in the region of £14.5m.

The part swimming plays in reducing health costs is also well known with an estimated cost perquality of life adjusted year of £12,000 for every member of the public regularly swimming in apublic swimming pool. Swimming’s work in health and education continues and it still has itschallenges. One of these is how to engage more successfully with occasional swimmers and theconversion of these people into regular swimmers, thereby building both greater participatory andfinancial outcomes. An increase in the number of swimmers both improves operator income and, inturn, reduces the high cost of running pools.

1. Introduction

Swimming is Britain’s most popular participation sport and this popularity will have been furtherenhanced by the London Olympics. At the 2008 Olympics, its universal popularity resulted in a globaltelevision audience of 145.4m people per minute, more than twice that of any other sport at theGames and there were 364,000 swimming visits to the IOC web site, 32,000 more than any othersport1.

Swimming can provide a number of benefits. Among those benefits that are of fundamentalimportance, the ability to save oneself or prevent another person from drowning is paramount.Swimming has a big part to play in driving health and well being in society. It is generally recognisedthat the exercise swimming brings is good for you. At a local level, most swimming pools provide ameeting point for people and therefore play a part in driving cohesive communities. There are manypeople that like to compete in swimming and this forms a fundamental component of the activity.Many of these benefits can be considered to be intangible and, whilst relatively easy to describe, aredifficult to measure. This document sets out to consider the economy of swimming and aims tocapture as many elements as possible that can be quantified. We consider the total swimmingeconomy longitudinally. What are the boundaries of this document? In short, we include everythingwhich is required for a swim from the point of arrival at the swimming destination to the point ofdeparture. Where estimates rather than actual figures are the only option available, we haveindicated. The report attempts to include the gross product for all of Britain.

The share of sport in the EC in gross value added is equal to EUR 161.42b or 0.27% of the overallamount2. It has been estimated that in addition to the direct effects of sport, it also has a multiplierwhich induces further effects and that, within the EC, the total amounts to EUR 272.48b or 2.76% of

the gross added value in the European Union. Gross added value refers to the difference betweentotal income, i.e. wages and profits, and the cost of inputs in the production process, i.e. rawmaterials and processes or GDP –taxes on products + subsidies on products.

In their study of the Economic Value of Sport in England, Sheffield Hallam University valuedconsumer expenditure on sport in England at £17.38b in 2008 compared to £3.53b in 1985. In thesame period, gross valued added had increased from £3.35b to £16.66b and sport relatedemployment had gone from 304,000 to 441,0003. The London School of Economics estimated thatcycling alone contributed £2.9b to the UK economy4.

Swimming has a number of advantages and some disadvantages compared to other sports andpastimes. People of any age can take part and it is accessible to all but those with the most limitingdisabilities and illnesses. It offers both or either prophylactic and ameliorative opportunities forthose with these illnesses. It is a wide spectrum sport, i.e. the entrance and exit points forparticipation can be at any level. These points can be at a fun or leisure level or, at its most extreme,at Olympic level.

The sports with the nearest levels of participation can be found in the table beneath:

The big numbers- once a month participation in England

Sport Number of participantsSwimming 4,913,300Cycling 3,730,400Football 3,183,500Athletics 2,881,200

(Source: Active People, Sport England)

Unlike these other sports, swimming normally requires an entrance fee. Whilst this isdisadvantageous in encouraging participants, it stimulates spending and drives regular economicoutcomes to a much greater extent. Swimming creates widespread employment but comes at aconsiderable cost to the economy through local government ratepayer subsidies. Whilst the health,social and employment benefits are considerable, indoor pools require constant heat and operatorsare faced with the challenge of reducing the impacts of a pool on the green agenda.

According to Active People, the number of participants in swimming in recent years has declined butActive People only measures responses to questions to 60% to 70% of swimming’s participation baseand then, only in England. Between 30% and 40% of swimmers are under the age of 16 years and arenot included. There is every sign that participation in this age group has continued at a high level.What is the reason for the decline in adult swimming? The key factors have been a failure to meet

customer expectations. The advent of commercial private pools highlighted that customerexpectations had changed. The customer experience in swimming is very much governed by thestate of buildings and the cleanliness of the facilities.

Whilst Sport England’s Satisfaction with the quality of the sporting experience annual survey hasshown only a very marginal move towards negative attitudes, swimming’s governing bodies andpool operators have been confronted with the silent hand of customer alternatives being soughtacross computer keyboards. In a sport of the size of swimming, a slight percentage change inparticipation is rapidly magnified. The governing bodies have moved to tackle these issues and overthe last few months, there has been a distinct flattening off in the decreases in participationidentified in Active People. Coupled with feedback based on actual visits to pools, which haverecently begun to show an increase in throughput for the first time in 2 years, there are signs thatgoverning body and pool operator interventions are starting to work.

There are many bodies that are needed to change behaviour patterns and they all need to worktogether in a coordinated and strategic way:

Modelling success

The proposed model for success which is being implemented includes the following:

More 50 metres pools designed to meet community needs. In 1995, France had 77 poolswhich were 50 metres long compared to 11 in Great Britain. Ukraine had 978 indoor andoutdoor pools of this length. Since that time, the number has increased by nearly three fold

The establishment of a customer research department at the ASA in order to understandcustomers better

A team of aquatic officers has been introduced to deal with pools on a more personal basis A campaign in conjunction with Kellogg’s which highlights the need for increased regular

school swimming The embracing of mass participation outdoor events such as the British Gas Great Swim

Series A campaign, Get Safe4Summer, which encourages families to go swimming in preparation

for their summer holidays Better pool programming Programmes which mirror the offering of dry side gyms with personal trainers and the like

2. The number of people swimming

Responses to surveys

Swimming is one of the most important sports appealing to women. According to Active Peoplewhich is based on questions put to the public, 64% of adults over 16 years of age swimming once aweek are female. For men, the swimming experience is less regular. While 36% of men swam once aweek, 38% swam once a month:

1,000,400

1,806,800

Once a week x 30 minutesMen, 36%, Women,64%

Men

Women

1,861,000

3,052,300

Once a month x 30 minutesMen, 38%, Women, 62%

Men

Women


Research work originally in the General Household Survey and now in Active People underlines thatthere is a regular unmet annual demand of between 10 and 12% of the adult population who statedthat they would like to swim but do not get the opportunity to do so. The participation rate acrossage groups is fairly consistent at between 6.60% and 8.43%, the only exception being adults of 65and over where the percentage of people participating in that age group drops to 3.57%:

7.18%

7.65%

6.78%

8.04%

8.43%

6.60%

3.57%

Swimming participationby age group

Age 16-19

Age 20-24

Age 25-29

Age 30-34

Age 35-44

Age 45-64

Age 65+

Active People SurveySwimming participation - once a week, 30 minutes moderate intensity- April 2011-2012

APS 1 (2005/6) APS2(Oct

2007/8) Change Change APS4 (2009/10) ChangeParticipation

rateAPS5 2010-

2011 ChangeParticipation

rate

APS6 (Quarter 2)Apr 2011- Apr

2012 ChangeParticipation

rateNumber % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number Number % Number Number %

Overall 3,273,900 8.04% 3,244,300 7.83% -29,600 -0.21% 3,156,300 7.50% 88,000- 7.71% 2,809,300 -435,000 6.62% 2,807,200 -437,100 6.56%Age 16-25 678,100 9.94% 509,800 1,168,300 7.29%Age 26+ 2,566,200 7.42% 2,297,400 -267,800 6.42%Male 1,127,400 5.71% 1,108,300 5.50% -19,100 -0.21% 1,180,200 5.75% 71,900 5.96% 1,019,500 -88,900 4.91% 1,000,400 -108,000 4.77%Female 2,147,600 10.25% 2,136,000 10.05% -11,600 -0.20% 1,976,100 9.17% -159,900 9.37% 1,789,800 -346,100 8.24% 1,806,800 -329,100 8.26%Age 16-19 272,600 10.30% 256,500 9.55% -16,100 -0.75% 235,900 8.85% -20,600 9.60% 222,400 -35,600 8.28% 186,400 -71,600 7.18%Age 20-24 355,900 10.90% 351,100 10.19% -4,800 -0.71% 323,000 9.15% 28,100- 9.86% 274,600 -78,600 7.52% 279,400 -73,800 7.65%Age 25-29 313,600 9.90% 328,100 9.81% 14,500 -0.09% 302,900 8.68% -25,200 8.77% 252,600 -58,700 6.95% 249,200 -62,100 6.78%Age 30-34 360,500 10.20% 320,600 9.72% -39,900 -0.48% 296,200 9.14% -24,400 9.62% 280,500 -42,000 8.38% 272,700 -49,800 8.04%Age 35-44 799,900 10.29% 759,900 9.79% -40,000 -0.50% 726,700 9.61% -33,200 10.11% 646,800 -116,500 8.56% 618,800 -145,500 8.43%Age 45-64 891,600 7.27% 918,700 7.28% 27,100 0.01% 946,000 7.30% 27,300 7.29% 843,400 -80,500 6.29% 886,600 -37,300 6.60%Age 65+ 310,700 3.86% 309,400 3.81% -1,300 -0.05% 325,700 3.89% 16,300 3.94% 288,100 -23,100 3.31% 314,200 3,000 3.57%Age 16-34 1,296,700 10.30% 1,251,200 9.76% 45,500- -0.54% 1,162,100 8.93% -89,100 9.47% 1,029,800 -221,400 7.83% 983,000 -268,200 7.39%Age 35-54 1,301,700 9.19% 1,282,000 8.89% 19,700- -0.30% 1,253,500 8.61% 28,500- 8.91% 1,112,600 -169,400 7.62% 1,113,300 -168,700 7.61%Age 55+ 675,400 4.87% 711,100 5.02% 35,700 0.15% 740,700 5.10% 29,600 4.95% 666,900 -44,200 4.53% 710,900 -200 4.77%


In addition to the 2.8 million adults swimming once a week in England, there is an estimated 738,052swimming in Scotland once a week. There is no immediate equivalent of Active People in Scotland.This estimate has been arrived at from the Scottish Household Survey, 2010 in which 18,700 peoplewere interviewed. The percentage of people in the sample size that stated they had swum in the lastweek was then applied to each age group across Scotland:

Swimming in Scotland- % participation in last 4 weeksAdults Male Female 16 -24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-59 years 60-74 years 75+ years AllSwimming-% 16 19 22 25 26 15 10 2 17Population- number 625,592 680,533 706,354 1,104,630 811,300 413,074 4,341,483Number swimming 137,630 170,133 183,652 165,695 81,130 8,261 738,052

(Scottish Household Survey, 2010, Scottish Government)

While 2,807,200 adults swim once a week, this number swells to 4,913,300 swimming once a month:

Active People SurveySwimming participation - once a month, 30 minutes moderate intensity- October to October

APS2 (2007/8)Participation

rateAPS5 (2010-

2011)Participation

rate Change(+/-)APS6 Q2 (Apr2011- 2012)

Participationrate Change(+/-)

Number % Number % Number %Overall 5,710,100 13.44% 4,921,400 11.59% 788,700- 4,913,300 11.48% -656,800Age 16-25 886,100 12.68% -222,600Age 26+ 4,027,200 11.25% -434,200Male 2,028,400 10.06% 1,894,100 9.12% 134,300- 1,861,000 8.88% -167,400Female 3,541,700 16.66% 3,027,300 13.94% 514,400- 3,052,300 13.96% -489,400Age 16-19 432,800 16.00% 385,700 14.37% 47,100- 340,200 13.06% -92,600Age 20-24 563,300 16.24% 472,700 12.95% 90,600- 457,500 12.49% -105,800Age 25-29 520,800 16.39% 445,000 12.25% 75,800- 445,800 12.10% -75,000Age 30-34 561,600 16.91% 498,700 14.90% 62,900- 504,300 14.84% -57,300Age 35-44 1,386,000 17.74% 1,170,000 15.47% 216,000- 1,127,300 15.33% -258,700Age 45-64 1,616,000 12.73% 1,484,100 11.07% 131,900- 1,533,900 11.39% -82,100Age 65+ 489,400 5.98% 465,200 5.34% 24,200- 504,300 5.72% 14,900Age 16-34 2,096,000 16.36% 1,801,600 13.69% 294,400- 1,751,200 13.16% -344,800Age 35-54 2,286,700 15.86% 2,004,000 13.72% 282,700- 1,985,300 13.57% -301,400Age 55+ 1,187,300 8.38% 1,115,800 7.58% 71,500- 1,176,800 7.90% -10,500


In 2011, a further 855,700 (15%) swam outdoors once a month and indoors, 13,100 (less than 1%)played water polo and 174,400 (3%) took part in aqua aerobic activities (Active People).

Active People also informs us that all forms of organised swimming have continued to flourish inEngland:

Active People Survey APS 1 (2005/6) APS 2 (2007/8) APS 3 (2008/9) APS 4 (2009/10) APS5 (Quarter 1) APS5 (Quarter 2) APS5 (Quarter 4) APS6 (Quarter 2)

Period Oct 2005-6 October 2007-8 Oct 2008-9 October 2009-10 Jan 2009-Jan 2010 Apr 2010- Apr 2011 Oct 2010- Oct 2011 Apr 2011- Apr 2012% of swimming participants % % % % % % %Club membership 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.3 3.1 2.9 3.2Tuition 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.5 4.5 4.2 3.7Competition 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.8All organised 6.9 7.1 6.9 6.9


Detailed figures are not available for participation among those under 16 years of age but, among acohort of 2,706 young people in the Taking Part Survey, 85.6% stated they could swim, which to acertain extent, reinforced the findings in the ASA Throughput Survey which is explained furtherbeneath:

Young People: 5-15 years2010/11

% (+/-)No of

respondentsMale 86.0 2.1 1,380Female 85.2 2.1 1,326All 85.6 1.5 2,706

(Taking Part Survey, DCMS, 2011)

Very broadly, those taking part in swimming in England break down into 5 groups. Regularswimmers, i.e. those people swimming once a week, amounts to 2,809,300 adults. The second groupis that of occasional swimmers, those swimming once a month, which consists of a further 2,112,100adults. The third group is that of dedicated swimmers, i.e. club members and competitiveswimmers. There are 194,917 registered members participating in 1,135 clubs. Of these, 29,6895 areunder 16 years. 165,228 of the registered swimmers are adults and form part of the 2,809,300regular swimmers in the table beneath. This has not been represented in the table because the

breakdown between men and women has not been recorded. Finally, a much wider 4th group makesup the total picture in which 8.9m people in England swim at least once a year. This group, whichconsists of 3.94m people, (making 8.9m altogether) swim once a year and could best be described as‘holiday swimmers’:

Breakdown of swimmers in England by behaviourMen Women All

Holiday Once a year 3,949,913

Occasional Once a month 874,600 1,237,500 2,112,100

Regular

Once a week(including adultclub swimmers) 1,019,500 1,789,800 2,809,300

DedicatedClub swimmersunder 16 29,689

(Source: Active People, Sport England, 2010-11)

Based on the ratio of pool visits in the next section, 27% of pool attendances are directly related tojunior swimming (excluding clubs and schools). If clubs and schools are included the number ofjunior swimmers is likely to be in the region of 30% to 35%. These are not included in Active Peoplesurveys.

Visits to pools

For the last two years, the ASA has been monitoring the number of reported visits to swimmingpools in England by the public. The level of throughput has been recorded in 9 broad product groupsand the total number of swims noted. The project records the number of visits by swimmers anddoes not record the number of individual participants but it does give a month to month picture ofthe key measures that are important to organisations operating swimming pools- that of ‘turnstileclicks’. In 2011, 20.21m pool visits were recorded and reported over the 12 month period. When thisis scaled to the 1,648 pools in the public sector, this results in some 123m visits to swimming pools inEngland last year:

Public sector

Adults Junior Senior Concessionary Members Adult l-t-s Junior l-t-s Free Swim School/Clubs Total swimsTotal no of reported visits in year 8,420,378 3,710,096 1,003,272 489,055 459,856 40,497 1,734,857 317,544 490,314 20,212,090Total no of reporting pools in year 2,774 2,725 1,823 977 477 558 830 747 281 3,245Mean no of monthly visits perreporting pool 3,035 1,362 550 501 964 73 2,090 425 1,745 6,229Annual mean visits per reporting pool 36,426 16,338 6,604 6,007 11,569 871 25,082 5,101 20,939 74,744Estimated total of visits in all pools inEngland¹ 60,029,342 26,925,086 10,883,547 9,899,234 19,065,225 1,435,249 41,335,581 8,406,627 34,506,938 123,178,518¹Based on 1,648 public pools

(Source: ASA Throughput Project, HNI International)

When the same approach is applied to the 228 reported public pools in Scotland6 and 134 publicpools in Wales7, it would mean that estimates of the number of visits to pools across the UK wouldbe in the region of 150.2m people-visits:

Scotland Wales England Total

Annual mean visits per reporting pool 74,744 74,744 74,744Estimated total of visits in all pools 17,041,632 10,015,696 123,178,518 150,235,846

Private sector

The number of swims that take place in the private sector is not recorded. Most health clubs do notnote when a member is participating in ‘dry’ sports and when he or she chooses to use the pool.Projections are not currently possible except that the annual number of visits is likely to be less thanthe public sector estimates.

Number of registered athletes

There are 225,880 registered swimmers between the three home country federations:

194,917

20,577 10,386

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

England Scotland Wales

Number of registeredaquatic athletes

3. The main motivations for swimming

The key motivations for swimming drive much of the economic activity around the sport. In manyrespects, the expression sport limits the diaspora that swimming covers. Swimming is more than justa sport. It is seen as a pastime or recreation by many. Safety is a motivation for others.

Swimming is also a passport sport to other aquatic disciplines, sports and occupations. Among thedisciplines, it is possible to take part in diving, synchronised swimming, Masters swimming, waterpolo, disability swimming, sub aqua, life saving, SwimFit, aquacise, aqua jogging, aqua circuits, aquabox, aqua zumba and paddle sports in swimming pools. Beyond this, swimming skills need to belearnt in the pool in order to take part in pentathlon, triathlon, water skiing, scuba diving, sailing,surfing, long board surfing, boating, board sailing, canoeing, rowing, kayaking and white waterrafting.

For many professions, the skills of swimming are an essential requirement. The army, navy, air force,ambulance and accident service, life guarding, merchant navy, coast guarding, police force andunderwater and maritime research come to mind. Without organised swimming, none of this wouldbe possible and other parts of the economy would suffer.

The factors beneath explain the relationship between the bodies involved:

4. The cost of swimming

The mean price of an adult admittance to a regular swimming pool was £3.45 in 2011 while that of ajunior, £2.58. The price of swimming in pools in leisure centres has been consistently higher thanthat of regular pools over the last 10 years.

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

Charges for 'pay and play' swimsin public pools (£)

Regular pool- adult

Regular pool- junior

Regular pool- senior citizen

Leisure pool- adult

Leisure pool- junior

Leisure pool- senior citizen

(Source: CIPFA)

Although adult and junior pool prices have, with the exception of the period between 2007 and2009, been rising, they have risen at a lower rate than that of the cost of living index and the costof living for all recreation and sporting services since 2008:

80.0

85.0

90.0

95.0

100.0

105.0

110.0

115.0

120.0

125.0

130.0

Indexation of Pool Prices-Adult & Junior Swimming

Regular pool- adult

Regular pool- junior

RPI - All recreation & sportingservices

RPI- All services

(Source: CIPFA, Analysis, HNI)

The cost of swimming lessons

The motivation of being safe is the biggest driver for swimming participation. Learn-to-swim is seenas a swimming pool’s biggest income generator. Mean prices over the last two years are as follows:

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

InnerLondon

OuterLondon

GreaterLondon

Metropolitan

Districts

Unitaries Non-MetDistrictsEngland

England

2009-10 Adult lessons 5.90 5.80 5.80 4.70 5.40 5.20 5.202009-10 Junior Lessons 4.40 5.00 4.80 4.00 4.50 4.30 4.402010-11 Adult lessons 6.09 6.03 3.75 3.92 5.76 4.84 5.072010-11 Junior Lessons 4.72 4.97 2.74 3.59 4.96 4.26 4.42

Swimming Instruction Charges (£ per half hour)

2009-10 Adult lessons

2009-10 Junior Lessons

2010-11 Adult lessons

2010-11 Junior Lessons

(Source: CIPFA, Analysis, HNI)

Public sector swimming value

According to Mintel, £1,387m (95%) is spent on taking part in sport in leisure centres and swimmingpools with a further £73m (5%) spent on retail, food and beverage8. HNI estimates that theswimming component of the UK public sector market place is approximately £540m based on thefollowing figures:

Value of all swims in public indoor pools in UK based on 2010 and 2011 data (£)Adults Junior Senior Concessionary Members Adult l-t-s Junior l-t-s Free Swim School/Clubs Total swims

Estimated total of visits in all pools inEngland¹ 60,029,342 26,925,086 10,883,547 9,899,234 19,065,225 1,435,249 41,335,581 8,406,627 34,506,938 123,178,518Price price of swim (£) 3.45 2.58 2.26 1.00 1.50 3.45 2.56 0 VariesValue per segment (£) 207,101,231 69,466,721 24,596,817 9,899,234 28,597,837 4,951,607 105,819,087 -Club session mean cost per hour(£) 66.20Estimated average of 3 competitiveclub sessions per week x 2 hours each 6Value from club sessions per annumbased on 48 week year 19,065.60Other club sessions, e.g. scuba diving,social etc. x 2 hours x 48 weeks 6,355.20Estimated total value of all swims InEngland per year (£) 450,457,955.34Estimated total of visits in all pools inScotland² 17,594,540Price per swim(£) 2.58Estimated total value of all swims InScotland per year (£) 45,393,913Estimated total of visits in all pools inWales³ 17,323,073Price per swim(£) 2.58Estimated total value of all swims inWales per year (£) 44,693,528Total 540,545,397¹Based on 1,648 public pools²Based on 180 pools reporting on 13,769,681 visits or 76,498 per pool in 2010. This average is then used for all 230 Scottish pools x £2.58 junior entrance price= £45,393,913. Source: Leisure and Cultural Statistics, Scotland, 2009-10, CIPFA³ Based on 17 pools reporting visits of 2,030,981= 119,468 per pool. When this average is applied across 145 pools= 44,693,529, Source, CIPFA Leisure & Culture Statistics, England and Wales, 2010-11

The projections are based on a mean junior price rather than a senior entry price. This partlybalances the fact that, for a variety of reasons, many bathers enter at a discounted rate.Increasingly, discounted swimming offers are seen by many operators as a way of attracting bathersinto their pools. The overall projection is further supported by the information supplied in theaccounts of SLM Ltd, one of Britain’s fastest growing private operating companies. In their accountsfor 2010-11, SLM reported that its swimming turnover was £15.5m or 26% of the company’sturnover. The company operates 53 pools in its portfolio. The mean annual turnover per pool was,

therefore, £292,453. If this mean were to be extended across 1,648 pools across England (seebreakdown of pools beneath), this would result in an income of £481,962,264.

Private sector swimming value

There are 1530 health clubs with swimming pools9. Swimming pools are an attraction to potentialnew health and private club members but pools do not offer an additional revenue opportunitybecause activities such as aquacise are offered as part of the club membership price. There is oneexception to this and that is learn-to-swim for junior members.

According to customer comments and reports on the Internet, lessons typically cost £6-8 per sessionand are offered every half an hour to groups of 8 young people. Whilst the large clubs are deliveringup to 2,000 pupil-lessons per week, given the demand for water space by members, the average clubis delivering nearly 100 lessons per week. HNI’s estimate is, therefore, as follows:

Commercial pools- learn-to-swimEstimated no of

poolsNo of pupils

per week Averagecost (£)

Income perweek (£)¹

Annual income(£)

Large operators 700 300 7.50 1,575,000 75,600,000Smaller operators 300 100 6.00 180,000 8,640,000Smaller operators- no lessons 530 -Estimated total annual income(£) 84,240,000¹Based on 48 weeks per year

5. The contribution of swimming apparel

Britain imported £125.8m in swimming apparel in the year 2010-11 and exported £56.4m in valueleaving a negative net balance of £69.4m. The main reason for this balance is the increased numberof companies that import swimming leisure wear to sell on line and the high street stores which sellboth in-store and on line. More recently, British mail order companies that have diverged intoswimming apparel have encouraged this increase in imports:

UK Swimwear Market 2010

TotalTotal exports Total imports Net balance UK Net

supplyValue £000's 56,405 125,798 69,393 69,635Volume (no. of items) 6,776,476 41,907,624 35,131,148 35,203,974

The swimwear market represents considerable economic activity. In the last reported year, 35.2mswimwear items were sold:

UK Swimwear Market 2010-11Intra EUexports

Intra EUimports

Net balance Extra EUexports

Extra EUimports

Netbalance

Totalexports

Totalimports

Net balance UK Netsupply

Men's and boys' swimwear excluding knitted or crocheted textilesValue £000's 3,175 4,062 887 561 13,627 13,066 3,736 17,689 13,953 14,195Volume (no. of items) 465,016 448,388 16,628- 66,019 5,437,359 5,371,340 531,035 5,885,747 5,354,712 5,427,538£ per no of items 6.83 9.06 N/A 8.50 2.51 N/A 7.04 3.01 N/A 2.62Women's and girls' swimwear excluding knitted or crocheted textilesValue £000's 3,069 5,479 2,410 1,035 8,047 7,012 4,104 13,526 9,422 *Volume (no. of items) 399,167 958,664 559,497 36,310 2,202,423 2,166,113 435,477 3,161,087 2,725,610 *£ per no of items 7.69 5.72 N/A 28.5 3.65 N/A 9.42 4.28 N/A * Men's and boys' swimwear of knitted or crocheted textilesValue £000's 10,945 2,168 8,777- 998 8,381 7,383 11,943 10,549 1,394- 1,394-Volume (no. of items) 1,807,859 348,897 1,458,962- 171,199 4,189,707 4,018,508 1,979,058 4,538,604 2,559,546 2,559,546£ per no. of items 6.05 6.21 N/A 5.83 2.00 N/A 6.03 2.32 N/A *Women's and girls' swimwear of knitted or crocheted textilesValue £000's 35,833 14,369 21,464- 4,893 83,191 78,298 40,726 97,560 56,834 56,834Volume (no. of items) 3,619,778 1,435,951 2,183,827- 646,605 30,047,322 29,400,717 4,266,383 31,483,273 27,216,890 27,216,890£ per no of items 9.90 10.01 N/A 7.57 2.77 N/A 9.55 3.10 N/A 2.09

(Source: National Statistics, ©Crown Copyright, Division 14, Manufacture of Wearing Apparel)

The competitive swimwear and apparel market place consists of a few main players- Speedo andZoggs, Great Britain; The Finals, TYR, and Keifer, owned in the USA; Maru, Turbo, and Italiancompanies, Diana and Arena. Adidas sells some swimwear but it is not a major area of its business.Jaked, the Italian underwear company which is part of Inticom Sp.A, sells swimwear mostly in otherparts of Europe. Diana Sport is a family based business with a capitalisation of €851,400. MaruSwimwear, originally based in Britain, is now distributed by DC Sports Ltd, Ireland. There are alsosome specialist swimwear companies which specialise in outdoor swimwear such as BlueSeventy ofNew Zealand. Apeks Marine Company is British based and distributes Aqua Sphere, a wet suit forswimmers.

The main companies, therefore, selling in the UK are Speedo International and Zoggs International,which are both registered in this country. Arena is now an Italian company but it has a strongpresence in this country. Whilst it is difficult to determine how much of its swimwear is sold inBritain, we have included Arena, Diana and Jaked’s key figures in the table beneath as a performancecomparison with the three British companies. Please note the table above refers to swimwear onlyand the table beneath to all apparel:

Principal competitive swim apparel companies in England (2010-11)

Turnover(£m)

OperatingProfit/loss (£m)

Profit/loss for thefinancial year (£m)

Speedo International 87.3 17.8 18.8Zoggs International 14.5 1.4 0.9Apeks Marine Equipment (Aqua Sphere) 10.8 1.11 0.88Total (British Companies) 112.6 20.3 20.6Arena Italia SPA 56.0 3.5 0.8Diana Sport SPA (Italy)¹ 4.2 -0.2Jaked SRL (Italy)² 116.2 17.69 9.07(Source: Companies House,Dun and Bradstreet and InfoCamere)(¹ Accounts to Dec. 2010; ² Last accounts to January 2010)

Swimming can also be the reason for sales of other related apparel. Bath robes and beach robes areoften purchased by individuals for swimming occasions. These two items form part of a wider group

of products. The table beneath shows the sales volume and value of goods sold. While the totalvalue of these sales was £166.3m in 2010, HNI estimates that bath robes and beach robes are likelyto comprise a maximum of £1m of this sum:

Intra EUExports Intra EU Imports Net Balance

Extra EUExports

Extra EUImports Net Balance

TotalExports Total Imports Net Balance UK Net Supply

Value £000's 3,148 3,197 49 544 14,086 13,542 3,692 17,283 13,591 15,950Volume (Number ofitems/Kilogram)

202,473 283,543 81,070 30,557 1,322,316 1,291,759 233,030 1,605,859 1,372,829 2,243,355

£ per Number ofitems/Kilogram

15.55 11.28 N/A 17.8 10.65 N/A 15.84 10.76 N/A 7.11

Value £000's 3,254 3,544 290 851 17,847 16,996 4,105 21,391 17,286 17,836Volume (Number ofitems/Kilogram)

128,374 148,931 20,557 39,261 1,431,282 1,392,021 167,635 1,580,213 1,412,578 1,471,861


25.35 23.8 N/A 21.68 12.47 N/A 24.49 13.54 N/A 12.12

Value £000's 1,094 1,228 134 2,018 5,791 3,773 3,112 7,019 3,907 3,907Volume (Number ofitems/Kilogram)

73,287 71,685 1,602- 20,509 439,092 418,583 93,796 510,777 416,981 416,981


14.93 17.13 N/A 98.4 13.19 N/A 33.18 13.74 N/A 9.37

Track-suits of knitted or crocheted textilesValue £000's 4,498 7,014 2,516 476 10,340 9,864 4,974 17,354 12,380 *Volume (Number ofitems)

624,706 667,137 42,431 305,078 3,069,247 2,764,169 929,784 3,736,384 2,806,600 *

£ per Number ofitems

7.2 10.51 N/A 1.56 3.37 N/A 5.35 4.64 N/A *

Value £000's 20,136 17,836 2,300- 1,769 42,659 40,890 21,905 60,495 38,590 65,775Volume (Number ofitems/Kilogram)

1,164,681 651,975 512,706- 52,325 4,898,170 4,845,845 1,217,006 5,550,145 4,333,139 5,880,794


17.29 27.36 N/A 33.81 8.71 N/A 18 10.9 N/A 11.18

Value £000's 18,736 21,623 2,887 10,422 62,821 52,399 29,158 84,444 55,286 62,848Volume (Number ofitems/Kilogram)

610,951 768,717 157,766 230,580 4,965,277 4,734,697 841,531 5,733,994 4,892,463 5,728,882


30.67 28.13 N/A 45.2 12.65 N/A 34.65 14.73 N/A 10.97

Total Value £000's 50,866 54,442 3,576 16,080 153,544 137,464 66,946 207,986 141,040 166,316Total volume(number ofitems/kilogram) 2,804,472 2,591,988 212,484- 678,310 16,125,384 15,447,074 3,482,782 18,717,372 15,234,590 15,741,873

Other men's or boys' apparel nec including: - waistcoats - tracksuits and jogging suits - kilts excluding - ski-suits - knitted or crocheted

Other women's or girls' apparel nec including: - waistcoats - tracksuits and jogging suits excluding: - ski-suits - knitted or crocheted

Women's or girls' singlets and other vests, briefs, panties, negligees, bathrobes, dressing gowns, housecoats and similar articles of cotton excluding: - knitted orcrocheted

Women's or girls' negligees, bathrobes, beachrobes, dressing gowns, vests, briefs, panties and boxer shorts of man-made fibres excluding: - knitted or crocheted

Women's and girls' singlets, vests, briefs, panties, negligees, bathrobes, dressing gowns and similar articles of textiles excluding: - cotton - man-made fibres - knittedor crocheted

(National Statistics, ©Crown Copyright, 2010, Division 14, Manufacture of Wearing Apparel)

6. Swimming pool construction

For almost 150 years, swimming pools have been almost exclusively publicly owned, built andfunded. Since the 1980’s, there has been a swing away from this model of public ownership towardsthe private sector. New private sector pools have sprung up all over the country in hotels, countryand health clubs. Health club owners have been building pools because they recognise that theirmembers are more likely to join and be retained if they have a pool at their club. The private sectorhas brought a new economic model to pool construction, one in which commercial funds areinjected into the sport which seek a return on investment.

While there are now more commercial than public pools in the country, new ways of funding thepublic sector have been sought, some being public-private funded initiatives, others through

traditional methods, i.e. publicly funded means. There are, therefore, three overriding strands inpool construction:

1. Commercial funding which may bring in foreign as well as UK private funded investment and,through its building and operating programme, stimulates economic activity which includesemployment, commercial return through its distribution channel, supply chain and taxreturns

2. Private funding for small pools, either at home or in small institutions or micro organisations.These stimulate activity through the design, funding and building of the pools but do notstimulate economic activity through their operations

3. Publicly funded pools which require Government support but which stimulate economicactivity through employment, their supply chain and distribution channel and via VAT andtax returns

A breakdown of pools in the UK is as follows:

Number of swimming pools-England

RegionLocal

authority Commercial Education Others TotalPools % Pools % Pools % Pools %

East 184 11% 203 12% 232 15% 18 8% 637East Midlands 159 10% 121 7% 100 7% 18 8% 398London 210 13% 211 12% 117 8% 37 16% 575North East 106 6% 62 4% 50 3% 5 2% 223North West 227 14% 239 14% 102 7% 14 6% 582South East 274 17% 345 20% 456 30% 53 23% 1128South West 171 10% 247 15% 209 14% 45 20% 672West Midlands 151 9% 147 9% 153 10% 12 5% 463Yorkshire & the Humber 166 10% 118 7% 87 6% 28 12% 399Total-England 1648 1693 1506 230 5077

(Source: Active People, Sport England & Leisure Database Company)

Breakdown of pools in Wales50m 35m 33.3m 25m Other All

Public 2 1 3 95 33 134Private 10 53 63School 3 13 16Others 2 3 5Total 2 1 3 110 102 218

(Source: Active People Wales/Swim Wales)

Breakdown of pools in ScotlandPublic main pools All types of pools

All 25m 50m All 25m 50mCentral 15 11 1 22 11 1East 42 39 1 97 39 1Grampian 31 27 55 27Highland 37 14 64 14Tayside Fife 29 22 67 22West 74 62 2 189 62 2Total 228 175 4 494 175 4

(Source: Scottish Swimming)

One feature of the recent pool construction in the public sector has been that of greaterstandardisation. Pools now tend to be configured to 8 or 6 lane 25 metres pools or to 50 metrescommunity pools. This approach has been driven by the governing bodies of swimming and has been

underpinned by two needs, greater participation through healthy activity and pool configurationsthat reduce future operating costs. In turn, this has led to a decrease in the building of leisure or freeform pools in the public sector.

1723 25

3 3 4

6472

90

5 5 6

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008-9 2009-10 2010-11

Progression in capital building(no of pools in England)

50m

25m x 10 lane

25m x 8 lane

International divingpools

If the current national pool stock were to be replaced today, it would cost in the region of anestimated £14.01b. This figure is arrived at by utilising the breakdown of pools above and anapproximate cost of pool construction provided by Sport England10. As the details of the exact sizesof many pools in the private sector are not known, the projection is based on the length of poolsrather than the square metres of surface area.

The figures beneath do not include the London Aquatic Centre. The reported cost of £269m on theCentre, constructed by Balfour Beatty, would be considered to be an extraordinary annual item aswould the 7 temporary Olympic pools for other disciplines and training being supplied by MyrthaPools.

Pool- Cost of Replacement at 2011-12 prices

Length of poolNo. ofpools

Approximate costper pool (£) Total cost (£)

London Aquatics Centre 1 269,000,000 269,000,00050m indoor 25 15,000,000 375,000,00050m outdoor 23 5,000,000 115,000,00025m x 6 lanes 1543 4,690,600 7,237,595,80025m x 8 lanes 74 4,769,600 352,950,40020-24m¹ 842 2,619,848 2,205,912,01610-19m² 2208 1,429,008 3,155,249,664Under 10m³ 225 476,336 107,175,600Not known⁴ 136 1,429,008 194,345,088Total 5077 14,012,228,568(Source of pool nos: Active People, Sport England and Leisure Data Base Company)(Assumptions:

¹ 20-24metres pools averaged at 22m x 4 lanes @ 2m+ 2 x 1m side lanes= 220m² x £11,908.40 per m²²10-19 metres pools averaged at 15m x 4 lanes @ 2m= 100m² x £11,908.40 per m²³Under metres pools averaged at 8m x 2 lanes @ 2m+ 1m side lane= 40m² x £11,908.40 per m²⁴ Pools not known are projected at 120m ² x £11,908.40 per m²)

Despite the current financial recession, pool building has continued and this construction has takenplace mostly in England. In 2011, one 50 metres pool in Scotland was refurbished and no new poolswere built in Wales:

Pools Built in 2011

Pool TownNo oflanes Length (m)

Reported totalcost of complex

(£m)

Estimated cost ofswimming pool

(£m)Public- Regular pools:Arc Leisure Centre Matlock 8 25 12.0 4.69Basildon Sporting Village Basildon 8 50 38.0 14.20Becontree Heath Leisure Centre Becontree 10 25 23.0 5.46Bert Williams Leisure Centre Wolverhampton 8 25 18.6 4.72Gayton Swimming Pool Derby 4 17.5 1.0 1.00Jubilee 2 Newcastle-under-Lyme 8 25 8.5 4.72Knowsley Leisure & Culture Park Knowsley 8 25 16.1 5.46Moor Park Health and Leisure Centre Blackpool 6 25 Not stated 4.69Oswestry Leisure Centre Oswestry 6 25 9.0 4.69The Pods Scunthorpe 8 25 21.0 4.72Wigan Life Centre Wigan 8 25 187.0 5.46Total 59.81

Private- Regular pools:Churcher College Petersfield 6 25 Not stated 2.93Corinthia Hotel St. James, London 0 9 Not stated 0.80David Lloyd Health Club Farnham 4 25 Not stated 2.93Durand Academy Lambeth 3 20 Not stated 1.50DW Sports Fitness Blackpool 3 20 Not stated 1.50DW Sports Fitness Ipswich 3 20 Not stated 1.50DW Sports Fitness Sunderland 3 20 Not stated 1.50Fairway & Northway Primary School Barnet 4 25 Not stated 2.93Fitness First Highbury 3 20 2.2 1.50Grange Hotel & Health Club Whitechapel 3 25 Not stated 2.50Hasla Health Club Castle Donnington 2 12.5 Not stated 1.00Lancaster University Lancaster 8 25 20.0 4.72Raithwaite Hall Hotel & Spa Whitby 2 12.5 1.00Southfield School Bradford 6 25 Not stated 2.40St Peter's School York 6 25 2.4 2.40The Giles Academy Boston 6 25 Not stated 2.40The Mere Macclesfield 2 20 Not stated 1.50Third Space Health Club Marylebone 3 18 Not stated 1.50Total 36.51Private- Leisure pools:Radisson Edwardian Hotel Guildford N/a 0 Not stated 1.00St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London N/a 0 Not stated 1.00Total 2.00

Major refurbishments:Billingham Forum Leisure Complex Billingham 6 25 15.0 2.0Birtley Swimming Pool Birtley 6 25 37.0¹ 2.0Kingswood Leisure Centre Kingswood 6 25 3.0 3.0King David High School Wavertree, Liverpool 3 17.75 Not stated 0.5Flamingo Pool Axminster 5 25 Not stated 0.5Dollan Baths East Kilbride 6 50 7.0Total 15.0¹Part of a development of 3 pools

Small private pools form a third strand of pool construction. These pools are normally constructedin homes, gardens or for small organisations. The Swimming Pool and Allied Trades Associationestimated that in 2010-11 the overall turnover for its members came to approximately £19,313,651(Source: Companies House, Members Accounts). HNI estimates that, including non- members, the

total income from pool construction from small private pools in the last financial year wasapproximately £25m.

7. Swimming pool equipment

It is important to distinguish between organisations that provide equipment as part of a swimmingpool installation and those that provide pool equipment for pools that need to be replenished. Thetable beneath provides a summary of their financial activities. The table embraces some new andpromising start-up organisations as well as those that are well established. The smaller organisationsare only required to provide summary accounts and we have therefore only been able to identifyturnover for the year:

Pool Equipment Suppliers, 2011

Name of company Turnover (£)Gross

profit/deficit (£) Tax (£)Profit after

tax (£)222 Sports (Swimtag) -68,350 n/aCertikin 26,512,205 6,926,404 441,252 1,066,961Country Leisure GRP 278,665J.P Lennard 9,714,866 4,667,568 299,964 836,291KinKub (Splashpath) 23,588 -4,694Konfidence -18,954Maudesport 8,492,289 3,127,895 153,662 386,476MOR Solutions -6,508Swimfin 32,497World of Service 500,000World of Service International 2,416,956

17,857,987(Source: Companies House, Company Annual Reports)

8. Swimming pool management and operations

Swimming pool operators vary in size and organisational type. The span can be from that of a singlepool operator who is managing the pool on a short term licence to that of a multi-national serviceoperations company that includes a whole number of swimming facilities within its portfolio. Theoperator can be, for example, a private company, a public company, a private company working inpublic facilities, a trust or a community enterprise. Some organisations operate pools in the privateand public sectors concurrently. There are 3,914 sports centres in England. Of these, 2,234 (55%)sports centres have no pool and 1,799 (45%) have a pool11. Some pools are, of course, standalonefacilities. The largest companies operating public facilities, which between them run nearly 20% ofthe pool stock in England, are:

Operator companies managing swimming poolsOrganisation No of poolsGLL 52DC Leisure 63Parkwood 55Leisure Connection 42Serco 35SLM 58GLL/Nexus-joint operation 13GLL partnership pools 12Total 330

(Source: Organisation reports to HNI (Parkwood est.)

We estimate that the largest operators in the private sector are:

Companies owning private sector swimming poolsOrganisation Estimated TotalVirgin Active 100David Lloyd Health Clubs 78LA Fitness 78Bannatynes Health Club 49DW Fitness 47Spirit Heath Clubs 38Marriott Leisure Clubs 37Livingwell at Hilton 34Fitness First 15Total 476

(Source: Active People, Sport England)For many years, it was felt that Britain lagged behind that of other countries in the building of 50metres pools. Whilst we had a number of outdoor 50 metres pools, because of the lack of longcourse competition pools, it was always felt that the country under performed competitively withother nations. The concept of a 50 metres community pool which means that it is possible tocombine a competitive training and competition programme with that of use for the community hasbrought about a sea change. Some private operators have undertaken the whole design, build,finance and operate process for new 50 metres pools.

Number of indoor 50m/55y pools:Year Number1960 21970 81980 91990 132000 16

2010 35

The table beneath shows that 50 metres pools are now run by a range of organisations:

Current List of 50 metres indoor pools in Britain (main pools only)England No of lanes Year Built OperatorAldershot Aldershot Garrison Pool 8 2000 Ministry of DefenceBasildon Basildon Sports Village 8 2011 SLMBath Bath University Sports Training Village 8 1997 Bath UniversityBristol Hengrove Swimming Pool 10 2012 Parkwood

CorbyCorby East Midlands InternationalSwimming Pool 8 2009 Corby District

Coventry Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre 8 1966 Coventry Sports TrustCrawley K2 Crawley 8 2005 GLL/Freedom LeisureCrystal Palace National Sports Centre 8 1964 GLL/Freedom LeisureEaling Gurnell Leisure Centre 8 1981 GLL/Active EalingGuildford Surrey Sports Park, University of Surrey 8 2009 Surrey UniversityHigh Wycombe Wycombe Sports centre 6 1975 ParkwoodHillingdon Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Centre 8 2010 FusionLeeds John Charles Centre for Sport 10 2007 Leeds CityLiverpool Liverpool Aquatics Centre 8 2008 Liverpool CityLoughborough Loughborough University Pool 8 2000 Loughborough UniversityManchester Manchester Aquatics Centre 8 2000 Serco

Manchester Aquatics Centre (warm up pool) 4 2000Norwich University of East Anglia Sportspark 8 2001 UEAPlymouth Plymouth Life Centre 10 2012 SLMPortsmouth Mountbatten Centre 8 2009 ParkwoodSheffield Ponds Forge International Sports Centre 10 1990 Sheffield International VenuesStockport Grand Central Pools 8 1993 LifestyleStreet Millfield School 8 1985 MillfieldStratford (London) National Olympic Aquatic Centre 10 2012 GLL

8 2012Sunderland Sunderland Aquatic Centre 10 2008 Sunderland CouncilScotlandEast Kilbride The Dollan Aquatic Centre 6 1968 South Lanarkshire LeisureEdinburgh Royal Commonwealth Pool 8 1970 Edinburgh LeisureGlasgow Tollcross Park Leisure Centre 10 1997 Glasgow LeisureStirling University of Stirling 6 2002 University of StirlingWalesCardiff Cardiff International Pool 10 2008 ParkwoodSwansea Swansea University Training Village & Pool 8 2003 Wales National PoolNorthern IrelandBangor Valentine Playing Fields 10 2012 To be determined

HNI estimates that the 6 major operating companies in the public sector generated income onswimming in the order of £41.43m. This estimate is based on the aggregate of their turnover in thelast reported financial year with a straight line apportionment of 10.7% of income attributable toswimming based on figure in the SLM 2010 accounts:

Key Financial Diagnostics- Major OperatorsDC Leisure Parkwood SLM Serco Leisure Leisure Connection GLL¹

Year ended March 31st 2009 2010 % Change 2009 2010 % Change 2009 2010 % Change 2009 2010 % Change 2009 2010 % Change 2008 2009 % ChangeTurnover (000's) 98,171 103,858 5.8% 61,174 64,220 5.0% 54,977 60,297 9.7% 28,205 27,802 -1.4% 56,802 54,830 -3.5% 71,263 76,216 7.0%Operating profit (£000s) 3,755 7,471 99.0% 3,546 3,917 10.5% 576 1,099 90.8% 693 844 21.8% -4,013 1,058 126.4% 1,366 1,832 34.1%Pre-tax profit 1,560 4,589 194.2% 3,534 3,931 11.2% 503 1,012 101.2% 623 850 36.4% -3,961 951 124.0% 1,313 1,720 31.0%Staff 1,856 1,871 0.8% 1,914 2,062 7.7% 2,119 2,171 2.5% 315 237 -24.8% 1,649 1,544 -6.4% 3,013 3,113 3.3%Staff costs (£000's) 54,566 56,566 3.7% 30,623 32,240 5.3% 32,316 36,702 13.6% 2,959 2,667 -9.9% 27,602 26,081 -5.5% 40,398 40,621 0.6%Operating margin % 3.8 7.2 +3.4 5.8 6.1 +0.3 1.0 1.8 +0.8 2.5 3.1 +0.6 0 1.9 0.0 1.5 1.5 0.0%Pre-tax margin % 1.6 4.4 +2.8 5.8 6.1 +0.3 0.9 1.7 +0.8 2.2 3.0 +0.8 0 1.7 0.0 N/a N/a 0.0%

(Source: Plimsoll UK Leisure Centres Report 2011)

The key financial diagnostics for the private sector operators can be found beneath. This covers allactivities, including swimming:

Key Financial Diagnostics- Private Pool OperatorsPrivate Operators

David Lloyd Leisure Bannatyne Holdings Virgin Active LA Leisure Fitness FirstYear ended March 31st 2010 2011 % Change 2010 2011 % Change 2010 2011 % Change 2010 2011 % Change 2010 2011Turnover (£000's) 40,503 41,934 3.5% 89,065 89,165 0.1% 72,958 72,958 0.0% 71,938 64,744 -10.0% 40,503 41,934Operating profit (£000s) 25,327 36,548 44.3% 25,107 35,834 42.7% 19,460 21,008 8.0% 9,058 15,348 69.4% 25,327 36,548Pre-tax profit(£000's) 33,258 34,830 4.7% 11,101 23,139 108.4% 8,641 3,394 -60.7% -4,167 5,880 241.1% 33,258 34,830Staff 2,617 2,379 -9.1% 2,601 2,367 -9.0% 1,905 1,732 -9.1% 960 785 -18.2% 48 45Sales per employee (£000's) 78 86 10.3% 34 38 11.8% 38 42 10.5% 75 82 9.3% 844 928

(Source: Plimsoll UK Leisure Centres Report 2011)

9. The Swimmer

The addition of new swimmers represents considerable economic value. The table beneathconsiders the value of a new or returning bather or swimmer across swimming’s sub segments. Itassumes that a bather will purchase one of each item of equipment at an average price (as manypeople would do in this situation) and also assumes that only one admission price for one swim ismade. The reality is that the longer that person retains the swimming habit, the more the economicvalue of that swimmer.

The value of the swimmer (£)

Seriouscompetitive

swimmer

Regular (active/fitness)

swimmerAqua fitnessparticipant

Occasional(leisure)swimmer

Swimming costume (racing) 250.00Goggles 25.00 8.00Swim cap 10.00 5.00 5.00 10.00Kickboard 12.00 10.00Pull buoy 8.00 8.00Towel 18.00 18.00 18.00 15.00Sports drinks bottle 4.00 4.00T-shirt 20.00Hooded track top 40.00 40.00Zoomer fins 28.00Training/'every day' costume 20.00 20.00 30.00 25.00Finger paddle 8.00 8.00Hand paddle 17.00 17.00Back pack/holdall 18.00 18.00Lap counting watch/MP3 player 70.00Pool shoes/training shoes/ flipflops 50.00 11.00 3.00Aqua discs 25.00Aqua fitness belt 20.00Aqua dumbells 15.00Light weight swim/beach bag 13.00Beach shoe 15.00Pool admission- 'pay & play'price/ contribution to pooltraining hire 1.00 1.84 5.09 3.45Secondary spend onconsumables 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9Total 529.90 239.74 121.99 82.35Additional optional spend:Nose clips 3.00 3.00Ear plugs 5.00 5.00Assumptions:Average price of competition swimwear- between £170-330Secondary consumables is use of vending onlyMost prices have been subjected to £ rounding(Sources: Equipment, Swim Shop web site; Pool admission prices, ASA Sampling Project, 2010-11and secondary spend, major pool operating company)

An increase of 100 extra serious competitive swimmers is likely to generate over £52,000 ineconomic activity, approximately six times that of leisure swimmers. There are, however, likely to bemany more occasional than serious swimmers and retaining their involvement is much moreimportant to the overall economy.

How does this translate in practice? The ASA has a database of 418,733 people who have an interestin swimming. These are people, along with their equivalents in Scotland and Wales that are mostlikely to be economically active. Based on how they are involved with the ASA, we have divided theminto their behavioural groups and assessed each group’s economic value:

ASA Database Members

ObjectiveNo of

swimmersValue per

unit (£)Estimated contribution to

economic activity (£)Aqua fitnessparticipant Not recorded Unknown 121.99 Unknown

Leisure swimmer

Recreational- swimming forfun, health & personalchallenge

Active/ fitnessswimmer

Recreational- swimming forfun, health & personalchallenge 109,585 82.35 9,024,325

Seriouscompetitiveswimmer

Members & competitiveswimmers 180,285 529.90 95,533,022

Fans

Support events, buymerchandise & subscribe tomagazinesSwimming Times subscription 26.00Travel to watch events x 1 50.00Tickets to swimming event x 1 10.00Buy merchandise 10.00Total 59,542 96.00 5,716,032

DeliverersTeachers, coaches, clubs &schools 69,321

See'Workforce' See 'Workforce'

Total 418,733 110,273,378

A strong latent demand for swimming was first identified in the early 2000’s in the GeneralHousehold Survey. This latent demand continues and Sport England, through their work in ActivePeople, has been able to identify the ‘needs’ of a large number of people in England (there are nofigures for Wales and Scotland). These are set out in the table beneath:

Identifying the economic impact of swimming's latent demand

Number

Equipmentvalue of

swimmer£)

Admission andsecondary spend

value (£)

Potential totalvalue of

swimmer (£)

Potential value ofonce a monthswimming (£)

People playing no sport but interestedin swimming 2,531,500 82.35 47.85 130.20 329,601,300Participants in another sportinterested in swimming 1,132,400 82.35 47.85 130.20 147,438,480Occasionals' who want to play more 450,600 82.35 47.85 130.20 58,668,120

Number

Equipmentvalue of

swimmer£)

Admission andsecondary spend

value (£)

Potential totalvalue of

swimmer (£)

Potential value ofonce a week

swimming (£)People playing no sport but interestedin swimming 2,531,500 82.35 226.20 308.55 781,094,325Participants in another sportinterested in swimming 1,132,400 82.35 226.20 308.55 349,402,020Occasionals' who want to play more 450,600 82.35 226.20 308.55 139,032,630(Source of latent demand: Analysis for ASA by Sport England, Apr 2010-11)

The opportunity cost to swimming per se in not satisfying this demand is set out in the end column.The table takes the number of people identified in Active People and utilises the leisure swimmervalue of £82.35 identified above. It then adds the admission price and value of secondary spend onthe basis of both one swim a month and one swim a week. The important factor is that thisopportunity cost is not yet lost to swimming. It remains and could form part of swimming’s futureeconomic value

Effect of the change of numbers of swimmers

Recent feedback provided by pool operators to ASA/HNI has shown some increases in the number ofvisits to pools compared to the same 3 months in 2011. The difference between this data and that ofActive People is that it does not measure unique visitors. It does, however, include people less than16 years of age. Active People also measures what people say rather than the ASA ThroughputProject which, to a certain extent, measures what they do.

The table beneath takes the number of new visits across the cohort of pools and scales it to the1,648 public pools in England. If these increases extended across all pools then the increased valuefrom these swimmers to operators across the country will have been £168.6m in January alone.Relatively small swings in the number of swimmers can generate considerable changes to incomeacross England, and indeed, Britain as a whole:

Changes to levels of swimming pool visitsTotal attendances 2011 2012

Jan Feb Mar Jan Feb MarTotal attendances 1,175,080 1,351,530 1,281,971 1,425,325 1,421,044 1,504,711No of pools 222 220 224 229 228 227Mean attendance 5,293 6,143 5,723 6,224 6,233 6,629Annual change -10% -14% -9% 18% 1% 16%Change in no. of pool visits 250,245 69,514 222,740Estimate across 1648 public pools 10,257,361 10,271,406 10,924,069Estimated no. of new swimmersbased on 8 swims per month 1,282,170 1,283,926 1,365,509Increased value of swimmers¹ 136,551,114 136,738,089 145,426,672¹Based on value of leisure swimmers above, i.e. 82.35 plus 7 additional swims in that month x £3.45 at pay and play rate= £106.50

(Source: ASA Throughput Survey)

10. Food and beverage consumption whilst at Swimming Pools

Consumers often feel either thirsty or hungry after swimming. Most companies operating pools seekto capitalise on the consumer’s presence through a secondary spend consisting of apparel forswimming (which is covered in the section, ‘The contribution of swimming apparel’) or through foodand drink consumables. We estimate that £80.88m was spent in swimming pools on food and drinkin 2011.

One large multi-pool operator has researched spending in this way in its leisure centres andestimates that each consumer will spend an average of £1.74 per visit if a café is present or £0.90 if avending machine is on site. In the table beneath, we have taken the total annual swims estimated in

‘The number of people swimming’ and discounted school swims and half the junior swimmers on thebasis that young people under the age of 16 years will not always be accompanied by their parentsand, as a result, may be less inclined to spend money either in the café or on vending:

Secondary spendTotal estimated annual swims 150,235,846Schools 34,506,938½- junior swims 20,667,791

55,174,729Total less schools & ½ junior 95,061,11730% of pools with cafes @ £1.74 per head (£) 49,621,90370% of pools with vending @ £0.90 per head(£) 31,261,799Estimated total secondary spend (£) 80,883,702

11. Swimming organisations

Swimming organisations contribute £50.03m in economic activity. Much of their income comesthrough trading but some comes through membership. The type of membership can vary from anindividual who has a relationship with the aquatics to a trade association where all the members arecommercial. In some respects, the additional social contribution by organisations is inestimable butit is possible to arrive at an estimate of their annual contribution towards economic activity.

Swimming Organisations in 2010-11

Organisation Organisational status Income in 2011 (£) Profit/Loss (£)Governmentfunding (£)

Amateur Swimming Association Unincorporated Association 23,051,000 399,000 11,608,000

ASA Merchandising Private limited company 132,081 89,929 0ASA Swimming Enterprises Private limited company 36,368 -715 0British Swimming/ASF GB Company limited by guarantee 12,880,493 92,996 5,672,290British Swimming PoolFederation Private limited company 137,231 -1838 0Channel Swimming Association Company limited by guarantee 83,449 25,159 0Community Swimming Company limited by guarantee 151,092 -99,997 0High Performance Private limited company 9,999,634 4,110 0International Federation of STA's Private limited company 6,778 6,738 0Institute of Pool Engineers Private limited company 97,210 4,227 0Institute of Swimming Private limited company 5,118,495 4,305 0IQL UK Private limited company 2,408,128 856,362 0RLSS Enterprises Private limited company 1,856,298 332,752 0RLSS UK Services Private limited company 2 0 0Royal Life Saving Society¹ Registered charity 4,140,224 74,235 0Scottish Swimming Private limited company 2,771,573 74,682 1,225,000Swim Wales Company limited by guarantee 1,478,734 162,631 686,942Swim Ulster Company limited by guarantee 209,124 432,000Swimathon Foundation Company limited by guarantee 2,260,660 -30,272 0Swimming Pool & Allied TradesAssociation Company limited by guarantee 218,159 8,472 0Swimming Teachers Association Company limited by guarantee 1,989,304 36,517 0STA Excel Private limited company 48,449 3,956 0Swimming Times Private limited company 468,240 3,447 0Swimming Trust Registered charity 77,060 17,552 0Total 69,619,786 2,064,248 19,624,232Income other than Governmentfunding 49,995,554¹Profit/loss refers to net movement in funds

(Source: Companies House and Charity Commission Website)

In the above table, income identified as being received from Government is either throughExchequer or lottery funding. We have tried to be as accurate as possible. Information sources forthis have either been directly from the ASA Finance Department or through the annual reports ofWales, Scotland and Ulster Associations.

Swimming clubs

In the case of organised swimming, regional swimming associations and the hundreds of clubsthroughout Britain generate considerable income through subscriptions, events, local sponsorshipand other organised activity. It is not uncommon to find swimming clubs that have an annualturnover in excess of £100,000 per annum. As an example, Swiss Cottage Camden which has acontract to deliver learn-to-swim programmes in its area has an income of more than £700,000. Theincome of all of these clubs (as well as their financial reserves) is unknown but many local businessesprovide services to them and they provide part of the local distribution channel for delivering someswimming services.

Swimming clubs charge their own members and this income is then utilised for transactions in 2 keyareas- affiliation fees paid to national governing bodies which is then re-distributed for otherprojects and as hire costs to pool operators. A third area is that of secondary spend made tooperators and commercial companies during periods spent at pools by club members. Themembership subscriptions are set out in the table below:

The contribution of clubs- 2011

ItemNumber of

clubs £England:Membership subscriptions paid to ASA (£) 1,913,000Pool hire to operators @ £23,810 p.a. per pool¹ 1,135 27,024,350Secondary spend- 100 swimmers per week x 48 weeksx £0.90 x 1135 clubs 4,903,200Sub-total 33,840,550Wales:Membership subscriptions paid to Swim Wales (£) 227,770Membership aquatic passport to Swim Wales (£) 16,280Total membership 100 244,050Pool hire to operators @ £23,810 p.a. per pool¹ 2,381,000Secondary spend- 100 swimmers per week x 48 weeksx £0.90 x 100 clubs 432,000Sub-total 3,301,100Scotland:Membership subscriptions to Scottish Swimming (£) 416,145Pool hire to operators @ £23,810 p.a. per pool¹ 168 4,000,080Secondary spend- 100 swimmers per week x 48 weeksx £0.90 x 168 clubs 725,760Sub-total 5,141,985Total (£) 42,283,635¹Based on mean income figures provided by a major group pool operator

12. Swimming competitions

Every weekend, many thousands of pounds is spent by competitors who take part in swimmingcompetitions, their coaches and family members and those other members of the community whovolunteer their time to officiate. In addition to pool hire charges for galas and other aquatic eventswhich has already been identified above as part of the average income received by operators fromclubs; petrol, rail and travel, vending and café, hotelling, when relevant, and subsistence all formpart of the income received by companies from swimmers. The scope and extent of the competitionis so wide ranging that it is impossible to provide an accurate assessment of the picture. Most of theevents are for one day and do not require hotel and overnight subsistence but there are severalmajor participatory events that underline the sheer scale of consumer spending around them. Theseare as follows:

Major events 2011- Summary

British Masters3k Open Water

ASA MastersChamps.

British MastersChamps.

BritishSwimmingChamps.

ASANationalChamps.

ASA NationalYouth Champs.

ASA NationalAge GroupChamps.

Est. income from entries (£) 1,872.00 45,074.50 14,134.00 7,011.50 21,006.75 18,500.00Est.income from hotel(£) 3,000.00 50,000.00 20,000.00 152,800.00 75,800.00 252,333.33 222,222.22Est. income from meals (£) 2,700.00 90,000.00 48,000.00 183,360.00 90,960.00 454,200.00 400,000.00Est. income from spectator tickets (£) 0 0 2,803.40 24,524.40 12,165.90 60,749.25 53,500.00Est.total income from snacks (£) 156.60 5,220.00 2,784.00 10,634.88 5,275.68 26,343.60 23,200.00Est. total income from event (£) 7,778.60 190,294.50 73,587.40 385,453.28 191,213.08 814,632.93 717,422.22Est. total (£) 2,380,382.02(Spend in local shops and transport not included; VAT input and outputs and tax not calculated)

These figures are based on the actual number of participants at each of these events in 2011. Thecontribution towards swimming’s gross product is between £2.1m and 2.5m and includes incomefrom tickets, snacks, hotels, meals and hotels. The governing bodies staging national events oftenlose money themselves on those events; effectively they are part of the services they provide. Theevent income received by the ASA for events and competitions in 2011 was £243,000 whilstexpenditure was £573,000. SwimWales combines its competition and training income andexpenditure in its annual report, income in 2011 being £226,798 and expenditure, £458,687.

13. Swimming tourism events

Increasingly we are seeing swimming being used as a basis for tourism. At one stage, this might havebeen limited to ‘taking the kids on holiday’ and teaching them to swim or to taking a week’s breakcentering on learning to swim, often on a one-to-one basis. In addition, companies such as CentreParcs and Bourne Leisure see the swimming experience as a key part of their holiday business.Attributing a proportion of this business to swimming would inevitably be inaccurate.

There are, however, even newer forms of swimming tourism centred on open water racing. Theseevents are attracting thousands of people, some of whom travel considerable distances to take part.A long established mass participation event is that of National Swimathon which has been runningsince the 1980’s. In 2011, 26,078 people took part in the National Swimathon. These participantswere split into over 1,367 pool sessions in 640 different pools swimming an estimated number of3.2m lengths of a standard 25m pool.

Mass participation and ‘tourism’ based events stimulated spending of between £3.75m and £4.5m in2011:

Summary- Mass Participation Events, 2011British Gas Great

North SwimBritish Gas Great

East SwimBritish Gas Great

London SwimBritish Gas Great

Manchester SwimNational

Swimathon TotalEst. income from entries (£) 320,000.00 96,000.00 190,000.00 64,000.00 670,000.00Est.income from hotel(£) 200,000.00 50,000.00 100,000.00 50,000.00 400,000.00Est. income from meals (£) 300,000.00 45,000.00 75,000.00 30,000.00 450,000.00Est. income from lake transport (£) 50,000.00 50,000.00Est. income from wet suits (£) 100,000.00 50,000.00 50,000.00 50,000.00 250,000.00Est. total income from event item(£) 970,000.00 241,000.00 415,000.00 194,000.00 2,260,660.00 4,080,660.00Total (£) 4,080,660.00(Spend in local shops and transport not included; VAT input and outputs and tax not calculated)

14. Reward schemes

While aquatic award schemes are a source of pleasure for participants, they are also a regular sourceof income for organisations. We estimate that total income from award schemes last year wasbetween £4m and £5m. The total for the STA is an outline estimate only:

Award SchemesOrganisation Income (£)ASA 2,598,112STA estimate¹ 739,517Local authority & operatorestimates 500,000¹Estimated arrived at by subtracting £219,195in STA award scheme cost in 2011 STA CompanyAccounts from £958,712 in unrestricted income

15. Sponsorship and sports Marketing income

Despite its interest to so many people, swimming is not a major player in terms of income fromsponsorship. Including income at local level, sports marketing income was estimated at £8m in 2011:

Major Sponsorship and Sports Marketing Income£

British Swimming- domestic events 622,677International events 244,455National Coaching Foundation 207,354Swimming South Africa 15,000Commercial income- British Swimming & ASA 4,519,020ASA sponsorship and marketing income 522,000Total 6,130,506

(Source, British Swimming/ASA)

16. The phenomena of learn-to-swim schemes

Learn-to-swim

The quality delivery of learn-to-swim programmes remains fundamental to the financial success ofmany organisations involved with swimming. With the decrease in the number of lessons deliveredthrough the school system, responsibility for young people learning to swim has moved from thestate to the individual and this change in emphasis has resulted in an explosion in learn-to-swimsessions taking place in public pools. Based on the mean lesson price supplied in local authorityreports to CIPFA and the mean number of learn-to-swim sessions reported by local authorities in theASA Throughput Report, it is estimated that £182.68m income is generated in lessons for youngpeople and £7.32m for adults:

Learn-to-swim and improvers swimming- Public SectorJuniors:Mean no of lessons delivered per pool per month¹ 2,090Mean no of lessons delivered per pool per week¹ 522.50Average price of lesson (£) 4.42Pool operator income from lessons per week (£) 2,309.45Income per pool per annum (£), i.e. x 48 weeks 110,853.60Estimated total income for all public pools, i.e. x 1648 (£) 182,686,732.80Adults:Mean no of lessons delivered per pool per month¹ 73Mean no of lessons delivered per pool per week¹ 18.25Average price of lesson (£) 5.07Pool operator income from lessons per week (£) 92.53Income per pool per annum (£), i.e. x 48 weeks 4,441.32Estimated total income for all public pools, i.e. x 1648 (£) 7,319,295.36¹Source: 830 individual pool reports on junior learn-to-swim and 558 on adultlearn-to-swim over the year, 2011, ASA Throughput Survey

The estimated income for learn-to-swim in the private sector is more difficult to ascertain. Theestimates are based on reports by health clubs and the price of lessons quoted on the internet forswimming lessons. The estimates are also based on 50% of private pools delivering lessons:

Learn-to-swim and improvers swimming- Private SectorJuniors:Mean no of lessons delivered per week per pool¹ 250Average price per lesson (£) 7.00Pool operator income from lessons per week (£) 1,750Income per pool per annum (£), i.e. x 48 weeks 84,000Estimated total income for all private pools, i.e. x 1501 (£) 126,084,000Estimated total based on 50% of private pools delivering lessons 63,042,000

Coaching

Coaching reports at the ASA estimate that there are 80 competitive clubs with an average of 100swimmers paying a mean coaching fee of £850 per annum(£70.83 per month). The competitiveelement of swimming with professional coaching is therefore estimated to represent incomegeneration of approximately £6.8m per annum to coaches, pool operators, local authorities andrights holders.

Water based exercise classes

In recent years, water based exercise has become popular, particularly among economically inactiveand retired adults during day time sessions. Work carried out during 2011 in the ASA SamplingSurvey provided information on the average cost of different types of exercise and the averagenumber of monthly participants. As a result, it is possible to project estimated income from waterbased exercise in public pools in 2011 at £164.57m:

Aquatic exercise classesAverage no of

participants permonth:

Average costper session (£)

Income per month(£)

Aquacise/aquarobics 227 5.09 1,155.43Aquajog 101 4.22 426.22Aquazumba 45 5.09 229.05Deep water aquarobics 53 5.09 269.77Total 426 2,080.47Annual income (x 48 weeks) per pool 99,862.56Annual income x 1648 pools (£) 164,573,498.88Source: ASA Sampling Reports, 2011

The private sector offers water based exercise as part of a membership fee and, therefore, no extraincome is derived from this type of programme.

17. Swimming organisations- education and Training impacts

The estimated gross profit from teacher and coach training and certification is of the order of£3.08m, total income being in the region of £8.2m. The Institute of Swimming is the training deliveryarm of the ASA while the Institute of Qualified Lifeguards carries out the same function for the RoyalLife Saving Society:

Awarding and training bodies (2010-11)

Type of body Income (£) Expenditure (£)Estimated Gross

Profit (£)Swimming:Amateur Swimming Association Awarding 982,425 596,700 385,725Institute of Swimming Training 2,996,600 2,521,769 474,831Life saving:Royal Life Saving Society Awarding 364,814 124,140 240,674IQL UK Training 2,408,128 459,396 1,948,732Swimming and life saving:Swimming Teachers Association¹ 1,444,963 1,415,036 29,927Total 8,196,930 5,117,041 3,079,889(Source: Companies House & Charity Commission, Charity Accounts)¹Accounts presented as total figure

18. Swimming and employment

The swimming industry is a major employer and employment opportunities are available year roundin both the public and private sectors. There are 3 main employment segments- the construction ofswimming pools, the operating of pools and the manufacture and wholesale distribution ofswimming garments and swimwear.

Employment in constructing pools

Across a range of different pool building and refurbishment projects, just over 600 people are likelyto have been employed in 2011 with gross wages and salaries totalling £89m. The tax and socialcosts related to this sum are estimated at £16.56m and £14.12m respectively. Average operativesalaries were estimated at £32,000 per annum and average salaries for those relating tomanagement and consultative functions, at £80,000 per annum. A summary of the estimates isprovided beneath. The table is a summary of pools completed in 2011 and does not include work inprogress on pools to be opened in other future years, including the London Olympic Aquatic Centre,which was opened in 2012:

Summary tableEmployment in pool construction in England in 2011

Length of poolsNo ofpools

Est. no ofworkers

Total annualsalaries (£) Total tax (£)

Total nationalinsurance- (£)

Operative staff:Public pool total 11 210 26,080,000 3,894,885 2,385,831Private pool total 18 190 30,080,000 4,492,260 2,751,756Refurbishment total 6 110 6,400,000 955,800 7,355,800Management:Public pool total 11 38 10,240,000 2,801,152 631,667Private pool total 18 30 11,360,000 3,107,528 700,756Refurbishment total 6 30 4,800,000 1,313,040 296,094Total 608 88,960,000 16,564,665 14,121,904

(Source of standards: Willmott Dixon Construction)(Assumptions-all pool build projects of 25m or below last 12 months; 50m pool based on 18 months)

Employment in operating pools

People costs can be as much as 50% of the overall operating costs of swimming pools. More than48,000 people are estimated as working in pools with a full time equivalent job as per the totalnumber of employees column beneath. Total gross salaries were estimated as being of the order of£926.6m or £755.49m net of tax and social costs:

Swimming Pool LengthNumber of

poolsTotal numberof employees Total salaries (£)

Total taxincome (£)

Total nationalinsurance (£)

England:Public:50m indoor 30 750 14,395,745 1,514,965 949,47950m outdoor 22 506 9,365,827 922,319 579,792Leisure pools 273 6,825 121,401,844 12,676,646 7,999,10725m 652 13,692 261,917,919 30,188,643 18,934,70620-24m 129 2,451 45,371,803 5,101,253 3,207,81210-19m 440 5,720 107,605,520 12,248,896 7,692,538Under 10m 68 544 10,827,667 1,283,704 802,862Unknown size¹ 34 741 13,717,057 1,542,239 969,804Sub total 1,648 31,229 584,603,382 65,478,666 41,136,100Commercial Pools:25m 246 1,968 39,498,449 4,709,522 2,943,793Holiday parks 49 1,225 21,790,075 2,275,295 1,435,737Sub total 295 3,193 61,288,523 6,984,818 4,379,531Education pools:25m 449 3,592 72,092,697 8,595,836 5,373,021University- 25m 40 840 16,068,584 1,852,064 1,161,638Sub total 489 4,432 88,161,281 10,447,900 6,534,660England Total 2,432 38,854 734,053,186 82,911,383 52,050,290Scotland:Public:50m indoor 4 120 2,303,319 242,394 151,91725m 175 3,675 70,300,055 8,102,780 5,082,16820-24m 53 1,007 18,641,128 2,095,864 1,317,938Sub total 232 4802 91,244,502 10,441,038 6,552,023Commercial Pools:25m 266 2,128 42,709,705 5,092,410 3,183,126Sub total 266 2,128 42,709,705 5,092,410 3,183,126Scotland Total 498 6930 133,954,207 15,533,449 9,735,149Public:50m indoor 2 60 1,151,660 121,197 75,958Leisure pools 4 100 1,778,782 185,738 117,20325m 95 1,995 38,162,887 4,398,652 2,758,89120-24m 33 627 11,606,740 1,304,972 820,603Unknown size¹ 5 95 1,758,597 197,723 124,334Sub total 139 2,877 54,458,665 6,208,282 3,896,989Commercial Pools:25m 10 80 1,605,628 191,444 119,666Sub total 10 80 1,605,628 191,444 119,666Education pools:25m 16 128 2,569,005 306,310 191,466Sub total 16 128 2,569,005 306,310 191,466Wales Total 165 3085 58,633,298 6,706,037 4,208,122Total 3,095 48,869 926,640,692 105,150,869 65,993,561

Employment in swimming apparel manufacturing organisations

A further 392 people were reported in company reports as being employed in the UK swimwearmanufacturing sector. Actual wages were £13.55m with tax and social security costs reported at£1.49m. Two companies reported on the total of tax and social security leading us to report this as acombined sum:

Employees working in swimwear manufacturing in England

Wages (£) NI costs (£) Tax (£)Total no. ofemployees

Total (English Companies) 14,550,611 1,220,083 275,248 392

20. The impact of swimming on the cost of health

Swimming has been a major contributor to the health agenda and the relationship betweenswimming and better health has been recognised in joint initiatives between the ASA and theGovernment for well over 100 years. In Wales and Scotland, major initiatives involving freeswimming under the auspices of the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments has underlined that all parts ofBritain want to be involved in the benefits that swimming can bring.

In July 2010, the ASA commissioned a study, ‘An estimate of the economic value and cost-effectiveness of swimming in the community’ (Dr Richard Fordham, Deputy Associate Dean, Facultyof Health, University of East Anglia), on the economic value of swimming to support its swimmingand health strategy ‘Swimming- taking the plunge for a healthier lifestyle’.

The study considered the Quality of Life Adjusted Years (QALY) associated with swimming andconcluded that moderate regular swimming of around a half an hour per week over a year canreduce coronary heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes. The study stated that: ‘If swimmers doup to two hours’ swimming a month, about 70 Quality Adjusted Life Years per 100,000 people arelikely to be gained. (A QALY is an expression of a year of near perfect health and can occur in oneindividual or be accumulated by several individuals who gain small amounts each).

Using the typical annual running and maintenance costs of public pools and the QALY gain shownabove, the cost per QALY can be expected to be in the region of £12,000. This is good value formoney compared to, for example, some prescription drugs or other public health interventions forwhich the Government is willing to pay.

When this situation is considered either from the value of the quality of life perspective (assumingeach QALY is worth up to £30,000) or the savings made due to reduced healthcare costs, a financialreturn on investment (ROI) of around 1.5:1 or slightly more appears to be a typical rate of return byproviding facilities for regular swimmers.

The study found the following:

The model showed that the cost per QALY derived by members of the public from regularswimming in public pools is around £12,000. This compares very favourably with otherhealthcare interventions at the current time and is well within the normal range for manyother public health programmes

While the savings and ROI from reduced and avoided chronic diseases such as coronary heartdisease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes only have been considered, about £2m in healthcarecosts across 500 patients are saved annually in a population of 100,000. This would equateto an overall UK saving of around £1bn or £3.6m per PCT and a ROI on public swimmingpools of around £1.5 for every £1 spent (range 0.8 - 2.8:1)

In terms of health service savings, swimming is likely to reduce the number of cases ofcoronary heart disease, stroke or Type-2 diabetes by about 535 in 100,000 people, leading to

a saving of around £1.8m. This would equate to a saving of £1.098bn annually to the UKhealth system

If a ‘value of statistical life’ is used to estimate the financial benefits of swimming, then at£1,000,000 per life saved (a conservative estimate often used in UK transport planning) thesavings in premature deaths (<75 years) due to these three conditions alone would be around£5bn (assuming 13% of them had been swimming regularly in the past year)”

Swimming can also influence work absenteeism in that regular swimming can help to decrease coststo the economy as a whole. Increasingly health economists are linking loss of work hours due to illhealth to lack of physical activity. The table beneath is an illustration of this. It takes the nationalpercentage of people employed and projects the number of once a week swimmers who areworking. The Annual Absenteeism Survey Data, 2010 identified that the annual daily cost ofabsenteeism is £78 per employee. If each of the people who swim regularly stopped swimming andbecame ill, the cost for their missing just one day would represent £154.6m. The argument could bethat, as a minimum swimming is aiding the British economy by this amount:

Potential cost of work absenteeism if regularswimmers become non-frequent swimmersPercentage of people employed 70.60%Number of people swimming regularly 2,807,200Number of people swimming regularly andwho are employed 1,981,883Days absenteeism increased if swimmerswere not swimmers 1Cost of absenteeism per day if swimmerswere not swimmers 78.00£Total cost of absenteeism (£) 154,586,890£

There is also a long term effect. Given that the value of money today is greater than in the future,the net present value of reduced absenteeism over this period is £1.6b assuming a discount rate of4% or £1.5b based on a discount of 5%. The table beneath shows an increase of 1% year on year onthe number of frequent once a week swimmers in employment. The calculation assumes that the£78 cost per employee from absenteeism is subjected to a 4% increase each year based on that rateof inflation. Over a period of time, the benefits from swimming can be substantial:

% of swimmers employedFrequent swimmers

employed (i.e. 70.6%) Cost (£)Year 1 1,981,883 154,586,890Year 2 2,001,702 162,378,069Year 3 2,021,719 170,561,924Yrear 4 2,041,936 179,158,244Year 5 2,062,356 188,187,820Year 6 2,082,979 197,672,486Year 7 2,103,809 207,635,179Year 8 2,124,847 218,099,992Year 9 2,146,096 229,092,232Year 10 2,167,556 240,638,481Total over 10 years 1,948,011,317NPV @4% 1,617,320,895NPV@5% 1,548,521,651

Front and back cover photos: IFM/iStockphoto

1 IOC Games Reports, Aqualypics, FINA2 The Contribution of Sport to Economic Growth and Employment- Policy Recommendations, SpEASportsEconAustria Institute of Sport Economics, Meetign of XG Stat, Brussels, 24th April 2012, p.53 The Economic Value of Sport in England, 1985-2008, Sport Industry Research Centre, Sheffield HallamUniversity, 2010, p.54 The British Cycling Economy, Gross Cycling Product Report, Grous Alexander, London School of Economics,2011, Introduction5 ASA Integra, February 20116 Scottish ASA Facility Strategy, 2009-147 SwimWales information8 Mintel Leisure Centres and Swimming Pools Report, July 2011, p.439 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report, Leisure Database Company, 201210 Sport England, Swimming Facilities Cost Guidance, Facilities Cost, Second Quarter 2011 and Sport EnglandFacilities Planning Calculator11 Mintel Leisure Centres and Swimming Pools Report, July 2011, p.41

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