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.