4sight: Week 1 15/10/20

Following announcements that indoor gyms and leisure facilities could open on 25^th July on 2020, it wasn’t long before the first ‘local restrictions’ were put in place.

While indoor gyms and leisure facilities were allowed to re-open on 25^th July 2020, there has been a range of ‘local restrictions’ on movement in certain areas, starting with Leicester in July and most recently leading to the national ‘tiered’ framework announced on October 12^th.

Apart from the most recent Tier 3 restrictions, this has not led to forced closure of facilities in the sport and physical activity sector. However, at 4GLOBAL we believe it has negatively affected consumer confidence in the use of leisure facilities, reducing activity and participation at facilities in restricted areas.

Insight generated from DataHub indicates that, in the first 8 weeks following local restrictions being imposed, there is a worsening trend for participation in areas that have been restricted, with week 8 of this period showing a 7% reduction* in participation, compared to facilities in areas of no restrictions.

This is forecasted to worsen as facilities in Tier 3 areas are forced to close, both in terms of the total loss of throughput in the areas, as well as a reduction in consumer confidence across the country.

For further information or to enquire about 4GLOBAL’s insight services, including COVID19 Business Recovery Modelling, please contact enquiries@4global.com

*all percentage differences are associated with participation in the specific week, compared to participation during the same week in 2019.