Company history
Aquaterra is one of the longest established leisure trusts in the UK.
Back in 1970, Michael Sobell, an Islington businessman and philanthropist, set up a charity to build and manage the Sobell Leisure Centre. The charity’s governing objects were to:
- provide and assist in the provision of facilities, either free or at reasonable charge, for recreation and other leisure time occupation throughout Islington (later changed to the United Kingdom)
- provide special opportunities for persons who by reason of youth, age, infirmity or disability, poverty, or social or economic circumstances may have special needs.
In 1978 the charity handed over ownership and management of the Sobell Leisure Centre to Islington Council and the charity effectively lay dormant until 1997. Then, in a very innovative move, Islington Council decided to transfer the management of all its leisure centres to a charity. They were the first local authority in the country to do so, setting a trend that continues to this day.
Michael Sobell’s charity was revived and renamed Aquaterra Leisure. The council’s leisure team, who had been operating as a Direct Service Organisation since 1992, were all transferred as employees to the charity. The move was seen as highly successful with steady increases in investment and usage along with equally steady reductions in the council’s subsidy for its leisure services.
The early 2000s saw a period of expansion outside Islington following the charity broadening its objectives to cover the whole of the UK. In 2001 Aquaterra started working in partnership with Gedling Borough Council in the provision of its membership services. In 2003 a partnership with Bath & North East Somerset Council began, managing its four leisure centres, two golf courses and Bath Pavilion.
Aquaterra continues to grow further still, particularly in the provision of membership services, sports development and health project management.
