BISHAM Abbey, used by the England football team for its training, will come under the auspices of a new management company after Sport England appointed Leisure Connection to run its four flagship national centres.
The new contract has been awarded to manage the national sports centres of Bisham Abbey near Marlow, Lilleshall in Shropshire, Crystal Palace in London and Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham.
The contract to cover catering, accommodation, maintenance, sports facility management and grounds maintenance, will start on November 1, based on a contract fee of an average £3.8 million a year for the term of the contract.
The timing was arranged to minimise disruption on athletic training in the run-up to the Olympics and allow athletes returning from Sydney to resume their training programmes under the new arrangements.
Leisure Connection, which is owned by Kunick plc which has its head office in Leeds, will run Bisham Abbey until March 31, 2009.
The new contract replaces seven previous contractors who were responsible for day-to-day management at the national sporting centres, including Sodexho, which presently runs Bisham Abbey.
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