LC's Changing Leadership

Farrant's Departure

4.1.99  Circa and Relaxion announce merger terms from http://bestinvest.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200009220800073597R.html 

The new company formed through the merger of Relaxion and Circa will be called Leisure Connection it was confirmed this week. ...

Paul Campbell will be chief executive, supported by a new board of five - Nigel Golding will take responsibility for client management; David Brame for commercial management; David Stalker for brand management; Peter Kirkham for new business management and Alan Organ for finance. The former chief executive of Circa, Peter Johnson, will be consultant to the board. Peter Kirkham resigned from Leisure Connection in April 2002. He now works as a Director for DC Leisure Management Ltd. PB)

25.1.00 from http://moneyextra.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200001251647354051E.html 

The Board of Kunick PLC announces changes in the managerial responsibilities ... Paul Campbell, Chief Executive of Leisure Connection, has resigned and will be leaving the company...  Russell Smith, Chief Executive of Kunick PLC, will take an active role in
the management and development of Leisure Connection... Nigel Golding has been appointed Managing Director of Leisure Connection. He was formerly the Managing Director of Circa Leisure...

13.6.00 from http://www.leisuremedia.co.uk/Lopps/news13-6-00.html 

Leisure Connection looks set for a management shake-up, after only six months of trading. Last week, the company announced that brands director, Dave Stalker, is resigning to “pursue other business interests”.

 22.9. 00  Appointment of New Chief Executive & Finance Director from http://moneyextra.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200009220800073597R.html 

The Board of Kunick PLC announces that it has seen a further fall off in the results of Leisure Connection since its trading update on 5th September 2000. The Board anticipates that this will further impact on earnings for the year which will fall short of recently revised market expectations...

Colin Daniels has been appointed Group Chief Executive replacing Russell Smith who will leave the Group with immediate effect. Colin has been Chief Executive of the amusement machine business since 1992...  Clive Clague, Chairman, said: 'The fall due to the under achievement in profits in the summer revenue and profit targets for Leisure Connection has occurred as we have been undertaking a significant expansion programme while integrating the Relaxion and Circa businesses. ...  Steps are already underway to strengthen the management team, particularly at Leisure Connection, and we have already appointed a Finance Director [John Jones] of Leisure Connection from within the Group. This will further allow Leisure Connection to manage the expansion opportunities that exist within this market..." 

October 2001 Glynn Mellor appointed Chief Executive of Leisure Connection from http://moneyextra.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20020523070000P4156.html 

30.3.03 Ex-Cannons Oliver takes the helm at Leisure Connection from http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/newsdetail.cfm?codeID=4471

Former Cannons managing director, Martin Oliver, has taken up his new position as chief executive of Leisure Connection. Oliver, who was with Cannons from 1999 to 2002, joined Leisure Connection on 22 April. His appointment follows the recent appointment of Craig Morgan as operations director.

Craig Morgan was formerly at Clear Channel Entertainment, Leisure Division  from http://www.clearchanneleurope.com/press/clearchannel_CraigMorgan_25022003.doc 

April 2004 From Not the Clissold Leisure Centre http://www.clissoldleisure.com/newsItems/departments/leisureConnection  

"We were told recently (by the Leisure Connection receptionist) that Martin Oliver is no longer head of Leisure Connection and the post is still vacant." Richard Still was listed as Leisure Connection Finance Director

19 May 2004   Leisure Opportunities www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/newsdetail.cfm?codeID=7919

Redbourn, outside Harpenden and handy to St Albans, as of 19.5.04 was listed on LC's website as its "Head Office". Part of LC has it origins in St Albans Council. PB

Leisure facility management company, Leisure Connection, is to close one of its head offices – leading to staff redundancies.

The company, which currently manages 120 leisure facilities on behalf of 50 local authorities, currently supports three head offices, in Leeds, Redbourn and Rochford in Essex.

The Redbourn office is coming to the end of its lease so the company said it has taken the opportunity ‘to review central costs, improve efficiency, increase the value for money and the service delivery to customers’.

A statement from the company said: “In view of the lease coming to an end and the subsequent review, resources at the Redbourn head office will be reallocated to the other offices and sites and the internal structure of the company is being reassessed.”

It added: “While new posts are being created, this will unfortunately also lead to some people leaving the company.”

25 August  2004  from Local Authority http://www.lgcnet.com/pages/news/article.asp?ArticleID=322833 

Graham Farrant, chief executive of Barking & Dagenham LBC for the past four-and-a-half years is leaving to take up a new challenge in the private sector. He has been appointed chief executive of Leisure Connection Limited, the UK's largest operator of public sector sports and leisure facilities...
During his time at the helm Mr Farrant has led the team in pushing ahead with regeneration and achieving beacon status for the transformation of secondary education in the borough. Barking & Dagenham has also achieved several major awards for its management team, social services and PFI initiatives.

Welcome Graham. You are the fourth, I think, LC chief executive since 2000. Is the problem attracting talent or holding on to it, or both of these? Are you going to go for providing decent services and repairing LC's reputation or making the investors happy for the next year or so? Disgruntled customers await with interest. PB

19 October 2005    Advertisement for an Operations Director placed in The Telegraph.  http://www.jobs.telegraph.co.uk/item.aspx?id=164427  So what's happened to Craig Morgan appointed Operations Director early in 2003?

11 January 2009  Farrant's Departure

On 5.1.09 PMP Consultancy announced that Graham Farrant, CE of LC since  November 2004 would be joining PMP as its new boss.  http://www.pmpconsult.com/news/news287.html

As of today, LC 's website has chosen not to mention Farrant's departure. 

Some will find the appointment of Farrant to lead PMP peculiar. Not only did LC's record for quality not improve under Graham but LC lost significant market share. The enquiries into the drowning at Maldon last year have yet to be made public and there was legal action against LC by the parents of the drowned girl.

Oh, and LC’s solicitors sent me a letter that included a paragraph relating to PMP.

“You refer to our client’s Quest accreditation, which you say is granted by an organisation with which our client has “commercial ties”. In particular, you say that PMP (the body which operates the Quest scheme) acts as a consultant to our client. Our client has no business relations with PMP, which does not act as a consultant to it. The implicit suggestion that our client has gained Quest accreditation as a result of its existing business connections with PMP is false and defamatory and (in the context of your website as a whole) is clearly designed to cause, and is likely to have the effect of causing, damage our client’s reputation generally and to result in the loss of contracts and/or business opportunities for it. Your false statements regarding Quest are also clearly defamatory of PMP, who we understand are proposing to take their own action in respect of your website.”

My reply to the solicitors, from whom I have not heard since, included:

“With regard to your remarks about PMP and Leisure Connection’s commercial ties, the quote on LCW you allude to says:  

For me the accreditation by Quest of Vale Farm twice during the years when so many deficiencies have been reported raises questions about the value of the scheme. I regret that Sport England has contracted Quest to a business (PMP) that acts as a consultant for Leisure Connection and presumably seeks business from other leisure centre operators. Would it not have been better to have Quest run by a body with no commercial ties to businesses seeking accreditation of centres?” 

I believe this view falls well within fair comment. Moreover, it is not just about Leisure Connection but about leisure companies in general. You have not shown that the material is false or defamatory. Indeed, the information that PMP has a commercial relationship with Leisure Connection was taken from PMP’s Client List on http://www.pmpconsult.com/clients/client_index.html . This starts with, “You can tell a consultancy by the company it keeps! Here is a selection of some of our recent clients.”  

Today this web page still lists under “Commercial Leisure Sector”:
Clear Channel Communications, David Lloyd Leisure, DC Leisure, Leisure Connections (sic), Next Generation Clubs, Trailfinders UK,Tussauds Group and Whitbread 

If and when PMP write to me saying they made a mistake listing Leisure Connection or can explain how Leisure Connection is listed as a “recent client” but there is no commercial tie, then I will reconsider what I have placed on LCW.”