because they’ve been told to,” he says, though he admits that “no one has yet got their head around pricing for kids.” By virtue of operating more swim-
ming pools in the UK than anyone else, Sesnan finds that getting the balance between safety and fun is difficult. “Kids want to enjoy swimming, but the insur- ers and health and safety people tell us not to let them run, shout or dive,” he says. “But if they’re not having fun, they’ll go back to playing computer games.”
A CHANGE OF IMAGE GLL has recently undergone a major re- branding The public face of the business now operates under the Better brand. “Our advertising and publicity material had become a big logo-fest,” says Ses- nan. “There was a need for something distinct and recognisable – we wanted to brighten it up. My challenge to our marketing people was that we run 110 centres and yet no one has heard of us,
Issue 4 2012 © cybertrek 2012
GLL has won the bid to operate the Multi Use Arena, or Copper Box
but they know of David Lloyd. Better is different, striking and positive. We want it to be recognisable.” With rebranding costing tens of thou-
sands per venue, Sesnan has invested in changing the interiors of just two as a try-out – Hackney’s Clissold Centre and the Waterfront in Woolwich (which, coincidentally, he used to manage). The process will be gradual says Sesnan – “we’ve got 10,000 staff polo shirts, for example. We won’t be throwing those out overnight!” Anxious to ensure, at a time when
transparency and compliance has never been more important, that GLL is doing all it can to meet expectations, Ses- nan has brought in some autonomous assistance. “Salaries, for example, are overseen by an independent sub-com- mittee of non-executive directors”, he
says. “Our compliance level is much higher as we seek to converge with tra- ditional charities.” Of the issues facing GLL going for-
ward, Sesnan immediately refers to the management of expansion while retain- ing GLL’s core values. “The challenge all the way through for us,” he says, “has been to remind people all the way up and down the chain that we have values they have to live up to. There’s a mass of people out there, particularly in the health and safety field, who are empow- ered to batter businesses and make our job as difficult as possible, so the true challenge is about our people’s skill-sets. We have run graduate trainee schemes for 15 years, without which we would never have been able to expand. “As for the sector, we still have much
to do, such as sorting out the qualifica- tions structure. We’re on the cusp of change and I’m one of many people working on that – and I’ve got the bruises to prove it!”•
Read Sports Management online
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