Following its recent expansion across Portsmouth, to manage seven of the city’s leading sport, leisure and event venues, BH Live has appointed a Regional Head of Operations to support its ambition to create a more active and eventful city.
Venues include Mountbatten Leisure Centre, Portsmouth Gymnastics Centre, Portsmouth Tennis Centre, Charter Community Sports Centre, Wimbledon Park Sports Centre, Pyramids Centre and Eastney Swimming Pool.
Claire Oatridge, has a well-established background in business development and contract management across the region. She will lead the delivery of BH Live’s leisure strategy across the Solent, engaging with stakeholders, partners and the local community to get more people engaged in physical activity and events. She will also liaise with National Governing Bodies to shape and develop the sports activity programme across the city.
Claire will be responsible for delivering a £3.4 million capital investment and asset improvement plan; beginning with enhancements at Mountbatten Leisure Centre to refresh its public areas, catering and event spaces.
Improving the health and wellbeing of the city’s residents through physical activity is also a key ambition. Claire, who has extensive experience working in the healthcare sector, will build on BH Live’s relationships with GPs, healthcare providers, the Clinical Commissioning Group, business, health and educational steering groups to incorporate physical activity into the city’s community health improvement and wellbeing programmes.
“This appointment is fundamental to making a big impact and Claire joins us at a very exciting time,” says Peter Gunn, BH Live’s Chief Executive. “These public venues were built to be bursting at the seams and thriving community hubs. By introducing great value citywide memberships we have already started to see more people coming through the doors for the first time to experience what we offer. Pay as you go, and concessions for those on low income, are now available with family memberships due to launch to broaden the appeal even more. Our programming team is also looking at how we can boost the event programme and encourage a wider range of venue experiences across the city. Claire will be responsible for fulfilling all of these ambitions – and much more – and we look forward to welcoming her.”
Read more about activities at bhliveactive.org.uk.
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Notes to Editors:
Photo-caption: Claire Oatridge, Regional Head of Operations for seven of Portsmouth’s sport, leisure and event venues. Claire is pictured in the gym at Mountbatten Leisure Centre, Portsmouth.
For more information about BH Live please contact:
Elizabeth Symmons, PR & Corporate Communications Executive
E: press.office@bhlive.org.uk
T: (01202) 055562
About BH Live
BH Live is the south coast’s leading operator of leisure and event venues; a social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives.
It operates 15 venues across the south of England which have more than three million visits a year. With over £36.5 million turnover, the organisation is changing lives – placing it at the heart of the UK’s growing social economy.
In 2015/16 BH Live hosted more than 500 events, sold over half a million cultural, sporting and entertainment tickets. They welcomed 2.6 million visits into its leisure centres and 118,000 conference and exhibition delegates into its venues. This contributed an estimated £66.3 million to the local economy through business and cultural tourism.
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In the Solent region, BH Live operates, in partnership with Portsmouth City Council:
- Mountbatten Leisure Centre – Portsmouth’s flagship leisure and event venue with a national-class 50m swimming pool, 150 station gym, sports hall, 2 squash courts, athletics track, function suite, and onsite café
- Portsmouth Gymnastics Centre – consists of a state-of-the-art gymnastics hall, physiotherapy room and meeting room
- Portsmouth Tennis Centre – consists of 4 indoor tennis courts and 6 floodlit outdoor tennis courts
- Charter Community Sports Centre – 20m swimming pool, 20 station gym, sports hall and an outdoor multi-use games area
- Wimbledon Park Sports Centre – 20 station gym, 5 badminton courts, basketball court and sports hall
- Pyramids – One of Portsmouth’s leading entertainment and leisure complexes with views of Southsea beach and The Solent. It has fun pools, flumes, waves and a three-level soft play adventure world. There is also a multipurpose gym, more than 60 weekly fitness classes and a spa. Regular live music performances, conferences, exhibitions and private events are hosted in the venue.
- Eastney Swimming Pool – 20m swimming pool and a spectator area