What Coventry Sports Trust does

CV Life is a coordinated collaboration between two independent registered charities — Coventry Sports Foundation and Culture Coventry Trust — that has operated under a unified brand since 2021 (with Coventry Sports Foundation adopting the CV Life identity from 2018). The organization runs a portfolio of 10 leisure, sport and cultural venues across Coventry, including The Wave indoor waterpark, Coventry Transport Museum, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Mana Spa, Lunt Roman Fort, Coventry Archives, and four leisure centres (Xcel, Centre AT7, Alan Higgs Centre, Moat House). It attracts in excess of 1.25 million visitors per year and operates on a hybrid revenue model combining recurring membership subscriptions (Lifestyles Health and Fitness, Aquarius Swim School), pay-per-use facility access, venue and facility hire for corporate and community clients, event catering and hospitality, children's parties, school services, advertising sales to third parties across the venue network, and apprenticeship programmes delivered with Coventry College. Underlying technology is limited to a centralized online booking platform at bookings.cvlife.co.uk, a centralized CRM/contact infrastructure, and integration with the WelcoMe accessibility tool and Technogym fitness equipment.

The go-to-market is omnichannel and community-anchored: physical walk-in venues form the primary distribution, supported by the online booking platform, a Go CV loyalty card scheme, direct school-services contracts across Coventry, and community outreach partnerships with national governing bodies (England Squash, England Netball, British Cycling) and local clubs (Coventry Rugby Club, Sky Blues in the Community). Marketing spans the cvlife.co.uk website, multiple social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X and Bluesky, email and SMS communications, and community-program outreach. Customer segmentation is broad and includes general residents, schools, corporate clients, older adults (Move and Mingle), children and families, community groups, and culture/heritage visitors — with two primary segments being Coventry residents and educational institutions.

Strategically, CV Life pursues partnerships as the primary expansion lever, with notable recent moves including the 2024 launch of the bundled Attractions Pass, the 2026 Modern Apprenticeship partnership with Coventry College, the Mind '60 for 60' charity partnership, and engagement with Nature Positive Ltd on sustainability policy and Quest Award accreditation. The organization operates as a registered charity with no external private equity or venture capital ownership; revenue is retained for community delivery and venue operations across a single UK market (Coventry).

Name

Coventry Sports Trust

Legal name

CV Life

Website

https://coventrysports.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CV Life is a registered-charity collaboration operating 10 sport, leisure and cultural venues across Coventry under the Coventry Sports Foundation and Culture Coventry Trust, serving 1.25M+ annual visitors via memberships, pay-per-use, venue hire, school services, catering and advertising revenue streams.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Leisure, Sport and Cultural Services

NAICS

Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (713940), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Arenas & Indoor Sports Centers (MPAKAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Aquatic Family Entertainment Centers (Splash Pads, Aquatic Playgrounds, Swim Parks) (THAJAEAL), Hot Springs, Lagoons & Water-Based Wellness (Thermal Pools, Floating Spas) (THAJAJAN)

Keywords

• Public leisure services
• Swim school programs
• Cultural venue operations
• Community sports facilities
• School PE delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Coventry

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Lifestyles Health and Fitness memberships and Aquarius Swim School memberships offered on monthly direct debit basis. Members receive free public swimming sessions and discounted access to facilities.
2. Pay-Per-Use Facilities: Revenue from individual session bookings for swimming, sports courts, fitness classes, waterpark visits, and museum admissions.
3. Venue and Facility Hire: Hiring out meeting rooms, conference spaces, sports halls, pitches, and event spaces to individuals, community groups, schools, and corporate clients.
4. Event Catering and Hospitality: Catering services for events including buffet packages (Silver at £7.50 per head, Gold at £10.50 per head), packed lunches at £8.00 per person, and full event catering.
5. Children's Parties: Various party packages including swimming parties, soft play parties, bouncy castle parties, and themed parties at cultural venues.
6. School Services: Charged programs for schools including swimming lessons, PPA cover, competitions, after-school clubs, upskilling sessions, and gifted and talented programs.
7. Advertising: Advertising opportunities across venues reaching over 1.25 million visitors annually, including website adverts, leaflets, posters, banners, and literature adverts.
8. Apprenticeship Programs: Modern apprenticeship programs in partnership with Coventry College and training providers, generating income while developing workforce.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CV Life operates ten sport, culture and leisure venues across Coventry, including an indoor waterpark (The Wave), museums and galleries (Coventry Transport Museum, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum), a historic Roman fort (Lunt Roman Fort), a city archive, a spa (Mana Spa) and four leisure centres with swimming pools, fitness suites, sports halls and pitches. The trust sells memberships, swim school places, casual venue access, school PE and swimming services, facilities hire, children's parties, catering, advertising space and apprenticeships, generating commercial income to fund community sport and culture programmes across the city.

Product overview

CV Life is a collaborative entity formed through the partnership of Coventry Sports Foundation and Culture Coventry Trust, operating as a unified portfolio of leisure, cultural, and community venues and services across Coventry. The organisation manages multiple distinct venues including waterparks (The Wave), museums (Coventry Transport Museum, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum), historic sites (Lunt Roman Fort), archives (Coventry Archives), and leisure centres (Centre AT7, The Alan Higgs Centre, Xcel Leisure Centre, Moat House Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre). Supporting these venues, CV Life offers a comprehensive suite of programmes including Aquarius Swim School for swimming education, Lifestyles Health and Fitness for gym and group exercise memberships, Mana Spa for wellness treatments, children's activities and holiday camps, school sports services with the Engage programme, community wellbeing initiatives (Move and Mingle), and venue hire/meetings & conferences. The organisation also provides operational services including the CV Life Attractions Pass (bundled venue tickets), Go CV discount loyalty card, event catering, and Modern Apprenticeships training programme. This is a multi-venue, multi-service platform structure rather than a single unified product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Wave
• Coventry Transport Museum
• Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
• Xcel Leisure Centre
• Centre AT7
• The Alan Higgs Centre
• Moat House Leisure and Neighbourhood Centre
• Lunt Roman Fort
• Coventry Archives
• Mana Spa
• Lifestyles Health and Fitness
• Aquarius Swim School
• CV Life Attractions Pass
• Go CV Loyalty Card
• School Services
• Facilities Hire
• Modern Apprenticeships
• Move and Mingle
• Event Catering and Hospitality

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving over 1.25 million visitors annually across venues
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Coventry CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoventry College has partnered with CV Life to reintroduce apprenticeships, working with the citys largest provider of sport, culture and leisure. Together they recognise apprenticeship provision as an important milestone in the College's transformation journey.
• Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire MindminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCV Life is teaming up with the mental health charity as part of their 60 for 60 campaign to raise £60,000. CV Life supports fundraisers by offering access to facilities across all venues.
• Coventry City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Coventry Council is a key partner working with CV Life on various initiatives including Coventry Moves and city-wide sports programs.
• Coventry Sports NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSN is listed as a partner organisation working with CV Life to deliver company objectives.
• City of Coventry SwimmingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a partner organisation in the CV Life partnership network.
• WelcoMecoreTechnology or IntegrationWelcoMe provides technology for CV Life to give customers a dignified, discreet method to share accessibility requirements and access needs, enhancing experience for disabled visitors across venues.
• Nature Positive Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCV Life is working in partnership with Nature Positive Ltd. on a robust assessment of current sustainability performance and development of Environmental Sustainability Policy and Action Plan.
• Coventry MovesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoventry Moves is a partner supporting community movement and activity programs including walking football and other gentle exercise initiatives.
• Coventry Rugby ClubminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCoventry Rugby Club runs Walking Rugby sessions at The Alan Higgs Centre on Tuesdays, with specialist coaches providing training for over 50s, all genders and abilities.
• Sky Blues in the CommunityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSky Blues in the Community runs Walking Football sessions at Moat House Leisure Centre on Tuesdays, with specialist coaches providing training.
• England NetballminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEngland Netball provides Walking Netball sessions and netball court hire at CV Life venues.
• British CyclingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBritish Cycling delivers cycling sessions for children at Xcel Leisure Centre on Tuesday evenings.
• Various Coventry SchoolscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCV Life delivers PE programs, swimming lessons, competitions, and after-school clubs at schools across Coventry.
• Quest Award SchememinorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCV Life has entered preliminary stages of the Quest Award scheme providing transparency and accountability for their sustainability journey.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Places Leisure: Charitable leisure trust operating leisure centres, swimming pools and community programmes for local authority partners. Closely mirrors CV Life's charitable multi-venue operating model with swimming, fitness and community outreach.
• Active Communities Network: Leisure trust operating community leisure facilities on behalf of UK local councils with focus on health, fitness and community engagement. Comparable charitable multi-venue model.
• GLL (Better): UK's largest charitable social enterprise delivering leisure, fitness and cultural services on behalf of local authorities. Operates hundreds of facilities under the Better brand - same charitable multi-venue leisure trust model as CV Life.
• Everyone Active: Operates over 200 leisure and cultural facilities on behalf of more than 40 local authorities across the UK. Directly comparable charitable-leisure operating model with multi-venue portfolios including pools, sports halls and fitness suites.
• Legacy Leisure: Charitable leisure trust operating sports and leisure facilities in the West Midlands and surrounding regions. Comparable scale, charitable operating model and community programme focus to CV Life.
• Fusion Lifestyle: UK charitable leisure operator managing leisure centres, swimming pools and community health programmes on behalf of councils. Same charitable-trust structure as CV Life with multi-venue portfolios and school services.
• Active Luton: Charitable leisure trust operating multiple leisure and cultural venues for a UK town. Same charitable operating structure with mixed sport, fitness, swimming and community programming as CV Life.

Broad incumbents

• Serco Leisure: Large multinational services company that operates leisure facilities for UK local authorities as part of a broader portfolio including transport, healthcare and defence. Comparable leisure operating capability but as part of a much larger commercial services group.

Regional players

• Nottingham City Council Leisure Services: Council-operated leisure portfolio in Nottingham serving a single city with multiple leisure centres, swimming pools and cultural venues. Comparable single-city multi-venue model but operated directly by the local authority rather than a separate trust.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cvlifecoventrynews
• Facebookfacebook.com/cvlifenews
• Instagraminstagram.com/cvlifecoventrynews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coventry-sports-trust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

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 Coventry Sports Trust