Better

What Better does

Better is the consumer-facing trading name of GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited), a UK charitable social enterprise founded in 1993 and headquartered at Middlegate House, The Royal Arsenal, London. Registered under the Co-operative & Community Benefit & Societies Act 2014 (registration no. 27793R; Charity no: XR43398), it operates as the largest leisure facility operator in the United Kingdom, with 272 leisure centre locations, 200+ gyms, 140+ indoor swimming pools, 10 outdoor lidos, 90+ football pitches, ice rinks, athletics tracks, and 76 library branches across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is additionally the largest provider of swimming lessons and the largest tennis lessons provider in the UK. As a social enterprise, GLL reinvests operating surpluses back into services and communities rather than distributing profit.

The service portfolio spans fitness (gyms, group exercise classes including yoga, Pilates, HIIT, and dance), aquatics (lane swimming, swimming lessons, open water swimming, lidos, and diving via the Tom Daley Diving Academy), racquet sports (tennis, badminton, squash), team sports (football, basketball, athletics, ice skating), venue hire for weddings, concerts, and corporate events, and library services including catalogues, workspaces, and community programmes. Digital infrastructure comprises the Better UK mobile application (iOS and Android), an online booking and account management portal (my-account, bookings.better.org.uk), and the Live Better digital wellbeing platform providing online workouts and healthy habit plans. The underlying technology stack is operational rather than proprietary — a service-delivery platform supporting bookings, membership management, and content delivery rather than a technology product in its own right. Strategic partnerships include NBA, LTA, England Athletics, Badminton England, British Ice Skating, Diabetes UK, PlayFootball, and local councils in London, Dudley, and Lincolnshire.

Better generates revenue through a multi-stream model dominated by recurring monthly and annual membership subscriptions across standard, student, corporate, concessionary, and swim-only tiers, supplemented by pay-as-you-go day passes, venue hire transactions (weddings, corporate away days, filming), and fees from structured lessons and courses. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the website, mobile app, and walk-in visits at physical locations, with enterprise sales for corporate workplace wellbeing and local authority contracts for libraries. Customer segments include general consumers and families (primary), sports clubs and athletes, students and youth (aged 11+), corporate employers, NHS and healthcare referrals, community and social groups, and outdoor and open-water swimmers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed at a per-tier level, though up to 30% discounts versus non-member rates are advertised for pay-as-you-go members.

Name

Better

Legal name

GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited)

Website

https://better.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Better is the trading name of GLL, a UK charitable social enterprise operating 272 leisure centres, 200+ gyms, 140+ pools, and 76 libraries — the largest leisure facility operator and largest swimming and tennis lessons provider in the United Kingdom, serving consumers, families, students, and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Recurring monthly and annual membership fees providing access to gyms, pools, fitness classes, and library services across Better locations. Multiple tiers available including standard, student, corporate, and concessionary memberships.
2. Pay As You Go / Day Passes: One-time fees for individual activity sessions, day passes, and ad-hoc bookings for non-members wanting to access specific facilities or services.
3. Venue Hire: Revenue from hiring out sports, leisure, and cultural event venues for weddings, concerts, sports events, corporate away days, meetings, and filming/photography.
4. Lessons and Courses: Fees for structured swimming lessons, tennis lessons, gymnastics, and other sports coaching programmes at discounted rates for members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Better, operated by GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited), is a UK charitable social enterprise that runs 272 leisure centres and 76 libraries providing gym, swimming, fitness class, racquet sport, team sport, ice skating, and venue hire services, plus free library membership and community programmes, accessed via tiered memberships, pay-as-you-go passes, and venue rental. All operating surpluses are reinvested into community facilities and services.

Product overview

Better is a multi-service charitable social enterprise operated by GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited), offering a unified platform of leisure, library, and wellness services. The core offering consists of leisure centre memberships providing access to over 200 gyms, 140+ swimming pools, and fitness classes across 272 UK locations, complemented by 76 library branches providing books, digital resources, and community services. Key product pillars include swimming (pools, lidos, open water, diving), fitness (gyms, group exercise classes), racquet sports (tennis, badminton, squash), team sports (football, basketball, athletics), ice skating, and venue hire for events. The portfolio also includes digital tools (Live Better wellbeing platform, Better UK App for bookings), junior and student-specific memberships, corporate wellness programmes, and birthday party services. Libraries operate as a distinct service arm offering catalogues, workspaces, community support, and learning resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Live Better: Health and wellbeing programme offering online workouts, healthy habit plans, and everyday wellbeing support as part of Better membership.
• Better Venues
• Tom Daley Diving Academy

Products and services

• Leisure Centre Memberships Tiered subscription memberships (monthly, student, swim, corporate, pay-as-you-go, concessionary) providing access to gyms, pools, fitness classes, sports facilities, and digital wellbeing tools across the Better network of UK leisure centres.
• Library Memberships Free library membership providing access to books, online resources, events, activities, workspaces, and community support services across 76 library locations in London and the Midlands.
• Venue Hire

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PlayFootballcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with PlayFootball for football pitch bookings at select Better locations. PlayFootball handles specific football services including leagues, coaching and kickabouts, enhancing the overall football experience for customers.
• England AthleticscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with England Athletics for athletics sports courses, training programmes, and the Run England recreational running project. Better works closely with England Athletics and qualified coaches for athletics lessons.
• Diabetes UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Swim22 challenge - a 12-week challenge where participants swim 22 miles (the length of the English Channel) to raise funds for Diabetes UK while staying active.
• NBA (National Basketball Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with NBA and GLL delivering the NBA Court Time programme in London. £3 coached basketball sessions at selected Better leisure centres, delivered by trained coaches as part of the London Coaches Programme. Sessions are designed to be fun, safe and inclusive for all abilities.
• Badminton EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Badminton England for Social Badminton sessions designed to let participants practice, socialise and play against other local community residents in a welcoming and inclusive environment.
• Lawn Tennis Association (LTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with LTA for tennis lessons and courses. All tennis centres and park court sites are fully registered with the LTA. Partnership includes collaboration with LTA Tennis Foundation and local tennis leagues to make tennis accessible for everyone.
• British Ice SkatingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with British Ice Skating (BIS) for the nationally recognised Learn to Skate programme at Better ice rinks. Lessons taught by friendly and highly-qualified ice coaches covering fundamentals of skating.
• Tom Daley Diving AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTom Daley Diving Academy 'Learn to Dive' programme carefully devised to take participants from beginner to advanced level diver. Programme is for everyone whether adult wanting to enjoy health benefits or child with aspirations to dive at Olympics.
• GLL Sport FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSport foundation supporting athletes and sports development as part of the GLL group of companies.
• Local Councils (London, Dudley, Lincolnshire)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with councils in London, Dudley and Lincolnshire to offer local library services. When becoming a library member, customers gain access to all resources, activities and events for the whole area, not just their local library.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Everyone Active: Operates more than 200 leisure and cultural facilities across the UK on behalf of local authorities under a charitable/social-enterprise model, making it the closest like-for-like competitor to Better in council-contracted leisure operations.
• Places Leisure: UK charitable leisure operator running leisure centres, swimming pools and community health programmes on behalf of local councils, with a similar public-sector contracting model and community-focused positioning to Better.
• Serco Leisure: Operates leisure facilities on behalf of local authorities under outsourced contracts, directly competing with Better for council leisure tenders in the UK.
• Fusion Lifestyle: Operates leisure and cultural facilities for local authorities across the UK, often in partnership with councils, providing a directly comparable public-sector leisure trust model to GLL/Better.

Broad incumbents

• PureGym: UK's largest low-cost gym chain, operating several hundred 24/7 gyms nationwide. Directly competes with Better on gym-only memberships and forces price discipline in the value segment.
• Nuffield Health: UK not-for-profit health and wellbeing operator running fitness clubs alongside hospitals and clinics; overlaps with Better on gym and swim offerings and on the charity/community positioning.
• David Lloyd Leisure: Premium UK and European health club, racquet and family leisure operator, competing with Better at the higher-quality family and racquet sports end of the market.
• The Gym Group: Listed UK low-cost gym operator with 240+ sites, competing with Better on affordable gym access and increasingly on digital fitness content.
• Virgin Active: Premium health club operator in the UK offering gyms, pools, classes and family facilities, competing with Better in the mid-to-premium tier.

Others

• GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited): The charitable social enterprise that owns and operates the Better brand; effectively the parent and operating entity, included because it is the legal and operational counterpart of the Better business.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/better_uk
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCF9cgcJnyHkg5SXrbKFxy9w
• Facebookfacebook.com/BetterUK/?fref=ts
• Instagraminstagram.com/better_uk/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Better