Portsmouth’s Mountbatten and Pyramids leisure centres have been rated very good by Sport England’s trusted trade body, Right Directions.

Mountbatten and Pyramids are owned by Portsmouth City Council and operated by BH Live, a registered charity and social enterprise.

The assessment, known as Quest, benchmarks cleanliness, how the centre is managed and its team’s performance against other operators in the sport and leisure industry. Assessors reward centres for their dedication to making fitness a clean, fun, and safe pastime. The rigorous process includes a mystery shopper visit, interviews and online research to get an authentic customer experience.

Thanks to BH Live’s professionalism, presentation, and commitment to inspiring more residents across the city to get active, Mountbatten and Pyramids were each awarded with ‘Very Good’ status – one of the higher accolades in the scheme.

Mountbatten was particularly praised for its Health & Wellbeing programme. This encourages and enables individuals living with long-term health conditions or illness, to be more active through supported and specialised Health & Wellbeing group classes.

The assessor noted that at Mountbatten, BH Live ‘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’.

Furthermore, BH Live’s team at Pyramids in Southsea received praise for the ‘great variety of activities and sessions for members with additional needs’ on offer and for the centre’s work towards tackling inequalities through its ‘range of equipment, activities, and initiatives provided’.

BH Live’s team received positive feedback for the ‘strong support mechanisms in place via the health and wellbeing and sports development teams’. They were also applauded for their friendliness and professionalism towards colleagues and visitors. The assessor shared they were ‘very impressive’ with ‘many positive customer interactions observed’.

BH Live was also commended for its partnership work and outreach with organisations across the city to support and enable more people into physical activity. These include community groups such as Activ8, United Minds, and Urbond.

As a registered charity, getting more people active is one of its main aims. On behalf of BH Live, Rob Cunningham, Director of Leisure and Business Development shared:

“We have the privilege of operating some of the best leisure centres and sports facilities in the city in partnership with Portsmouth City Council. We are helping to improve thousands of lives every single day and I am incredibly proud of the teams at Mountbatten and Pyramids for their remarkable achievements.

“Thanks to our hard work, we’re making sure these community leisure centres continue to be fantastic places to work, play, learn and visit for better health and wellbeing.”

Sarah Lobo, Head of External Accreditations at Right Directions shared:

“It’s wonderful to see that both Pyramids in Southsea and the Mountbatten Leisure Centre earned a “Very Good” rating in their Sport England Quest Assessments. The Quest process has really helped highlight the value of the teams’ work and how they stack up against national standards. The facilities are clearly committed to encouraging more visitors across the city to stay active.”

Cllr Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said:

“It’s great to hear both the Mountbatten Centre and the Pyramids Gym have done so well in the recent Quest Assessments. We have a strong partnership with BH Live and as a council we work hard to support and encourage healthy lifestyles for our residents. We’re absolutely thrilled to see the Mountbatten Centre receiving the recognition for its Health and Wellbeing programme and the Pyramids Gym for its array of offerings for those with additional needs.

“Congratulations to BH Live, the recognition for the work you do is very well deserved.”

Visit bhliveactive.org.uk for more information.