Greenwich Leisure Ltd , operating under the brand "Better", is a non-profit charitable Social Enterprise organisation which runs over 250 sport and leisure facilities and libraries on behalf of local authorities in London and across the UK, as well as its own internal college and the "Healthwise" programme. Its headquarters is in Middlegate House, the 1810-built former storekeeper's mansion at Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, South East London.
History
GLL was established to run local services in the London Borough of Greenwich in 1993 as a non profit distributingco-operative. In the following years it started to run services for other local authorities. It also manages Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. On 9 January 2012 it was announced that GLL would be managing the Aquatics Centre and Multi-Use Arena of the London 2012 Olympic Games from 2013 for 10 years. In January 2011 Nexus Community and GLL merged; further mergers, acquisitions and contract awards followed so that by 2016, GLL was a national leisure provider with a presence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In June 2012 GLL rebranded all their centres under the "Better" brand.
Structure
GLL is a staff-led 'Leisure Trust', social enterprise structured as an Industrial and Provident Society for the benefit of the community. The members of the co-operative and therefore owners of the company are the workers of GLL. Alongside democratically elected members of staff, the trust's board includes representation of other stakeholders, including Greenwich Council. In 2017 as part of its social enterprise objectives, GLL reinvested £340 million to local communities. The GLL Sports Foundation has invested £9 million towards elite athlete training over the past 10 years. GLL works in partnership with 50 local councils, public agencies and sporting organisations. In 2016 GLL acquired 17 standalone gyms from Fitness First and FitSpace.
Operations
Sports and leisure
GLL have over 250 public sport and leisure locations across the UK which are split into regions including London. These include
Libraries are also a core part of GLL's service offering, with an aim to "widen access and increase the use of libraries in the community" and a focus to keep libraries open and raise footfall. There are 113 locations with a concentration in four core regions.
