Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Centre has been acknowledged as one of the best in the business by Sport England’s trusted trade body, Right Directions. A recent Quest assessment has rated the centre with a ‘Very Good’ status for its professionalism, presentation, and commitment to inspiring more residents across the city to get active.
Quest rates factors such as cleanliness, operations and people skills in the sport and leisure industry, with assessors rewarding centres for their dedication to making fitness a clean, fun, and safe pastime. The rigorous process includes centre visits, including a mystery visit, to get a more accurate picture of a customer experience.
Mountbatten Centre, owned by Portsmouth City Council and operated by BH Live, received excellent feedback on its Health & Wellbeing programme. This is an initiative developed to encourage vulnerable individuals with long-term health conditions or illness, to become more active through measures such as discounted gym membership, supported sessions, and specialised Health & Wellbeing group classes.
The assessor noted that the centre ‘provided an excellent environment to break down the barriers for those with lower confidence to be integrated into the gym environment’ and that the centre’s exercise referral scheme ‘covers an incredible amount of conditions, including stroke, cardiac rehabilitation, COPD maintenance, Parkinson’s, mental health and cancer’.
The centre was commended for its partnership work and outreach to local organisations across the city. This includes community groups such as Activ8, United Minds, and Urbond. The centre also frequently delivers tailored sessions for SEN schools and teaches swimming lessons as part of the national curriculum to more than 20 local schools every week.
The facility is estimated to have generated more than £5m in social value for the city.
Additionally, the general maintenance and cleanliness were described to be of ‘a very high standard’, with praise also extended to Mountbatten Centre’s ‘extensive range of group exercise classes’, and the team members ‘promoting a friendly and welcoming atmosphere’.
Mountbatten Centre welcomes more than 30,000 visitors every week and is Portsmouth’s flagship leisure and event venue. It is operated by registered charity and social enterprise BH Live in partnership with owners Portsmouth City Council.
On behalf of BH Live, Matt Low, Cluster Manager for BH Live Active’s Portsmouth leisure centres shared:
“I am incredibly proud of the team for achieving an exceptional assessment. We are so pleased to be recognised for how we work with our partners to look after Mountbatten. Furthermore, to be recognised for our professionalism and our commitment to encourage more people from across the city to stay active through our supported sessions, fitness equipment and activities, partnership projects and outreach, is just brilliant.
“We work extremely hard to run the centre as effectively and efficiently as possible. And by participating in Quest’s assessments, we are continuously improving and bettering the experience of both our customers and employees, making Mountbatten a really great place to work and visit.”
Sarah Lobo, Head of External Accreditations at Right Directions shared:
“It’s fantastic to award Mountbatten Centre with ‘Very Good’ Quest certification. It is an incredible centre offering all kinds of activities and equipment to help visitors of all ages and backgrounds achieve their fitness goals. Their health and wellbeing programmes are particularly impressive, supporting hundreds of people with long-term conditions to become more active through group classes and supported sessions. The team are incredibly friendly, enthusiastic, and presentable and it’s clear they are truly passionate about their roles. Congratulations!”
Natalie Brahma-Pearl, Chief Executive of Portsmouth City Council, who own the Mountbatten Centre said:
“As a council we work hard to support and encourage healthy lifestyles in all our communities, and consistently promote positive physical health and activity. We have a strong partnership with BH Live and are thrilled Mountbatten Centre has achieved this certification. We would like to wish them a huge well done.”
Visit bhliveactive.org.uk/mountbatten for further information.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
For more information about BH Live please contact:
Daisy Saunders, PR & Communications Executive
E: press.office@bhlive.org.uk
About BH Live
BH Live is a leading operator of leisure and event venues; a registered charity and social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives.
For more visit bhlive.org.uk.
Get social with us:
LinkedIn, X – @BHLIVE_UK
Facebook @SocialEnterpriseBHLive
BH Live is a leisure and cultural trust, established in 2010 as a ‘non profit distributing organisation’ (NPDO) for public benefit to promote participation in leisure and cultural events. BH Live is a Company Limited by Guarantee and Registered Charity. Charity No: 1138311. Company No: 07092112. VAT Reg No: 108 2248 37. BH Live (Enterprises) Ltd, is a Private Company Limited by Shares and a wholly owned subsidiary of BH Live. Company No: 07175626. VAT Reg No: 108 2248 37. Registered Office: Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH. Registered in England and Wales.
BH Live operates the following venues in partnership with Portsmouth City Council:
- Mountbatten Leisure Centre – Portsmouth’s flagship leisure and event venue with swimming pools, a 150 station gym,
squash, spin and dance studios, a cycle velodrome, athletics track, function suites with bars, a café and soft play facility.
Mountbatten is also home to an eight-court sports hall. The sports
hall remains temporarily closed for overhead repairs.
It is also home to a Clip ‘N Climb leisure attraction which opened in 2018.
For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.
Get social with us:
X and Facebook – @mountbattenlc
- Pyramids Centre – one of Portsmouth’s leading leisure venues overlooking Southsea beach and the Solent. It has state-of-the-art Technogym fitness equipment in a spacious gym with functional fitness, strength and cardio zones. There is a dedicated area for health assessments and people who are new to exercise, plus fitness tracking technology to help support people in reaching their activity goals.
Four activity studios provide a variety of daily exercise classes including Group Cycling, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), Yoga, Pilates and the Les Mills programme.
The centre is also home to Exploria, a themed play and bounce attraction which opened in 2021. A range of exciting experiences stimulate play and challenge children agreed from 6 months upwards. A bounce zone includes a diving tower with air bag, interactive games, themed slides agility parkour, battle beams and foam pits. The play zone includes ball pits, spider’s web and cargo climbing features, a rope bridge skywalk, bash bags, tunnels, rollers, beams and dodge ball shoot out. And the baby and toddler zone has all things Exploria, but downsized for little ones. There is also a range of interactive games, a dedicated sensory room, four themed party rooms and a café serving snacks, light bites and drinks.
For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk and exploria.org.uk
Get social with us:
X – @PyramidsCentre
Facebook – @Pyramids.Centre
- Portsmouth Gymnastics Centre – gymnastics hall with physiotherapy and meeting room.
For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.
Get social with us:
Facebook – @PortsmouthGymnasticsCentre
- Portsmouth Tennis Centre – Situated in the north of Portsmouth consisting of four indoor courts and six floodlit outdoor courts. A comprehensive coaching programme caters for all ages and abilities. Sessions are available for tots, juniors, adults and also includes variations of the sport such as cardio tennis and touch tennis.
For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.
Get social with us:
X – @PortsTennis
Facebook – @PortsmouthTC
- Wimbledon Park Sports Centre – sports hall with badminton and basketball courts
For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.
Get social with us:
Facebook – @WimbledonParkSportsCentre
- Charter Community Sports Centre – 20m swimming pool, 20 station gym, sports hall and an outdoor multi-use games area.
For more visit bhliveactive.org.uk.
Get social with us:
Facebook – @CharterCommunitySC