Price Increase - April 2023
Like everybody else we are facing extraordinary inflationary pressure. Swimming pools are energy-intensive and after the latest fuel price increases we have seen our daily energy costs increase from around £75 to £185. Inflationary pressure is not limited to rising energy costs. Staffing costs have increased compared with 2021, as have the prices of chemicals, insurance etc. It is unclear at present whether these increased costs will prove temporary and also unclear how long the effects will be felt for.
Unless central support is forthcoming for the industry there will be a significant number of pools closing within the next few months and the Trustees of LVCS are aware that the current situation is unsustainable in the long-term.
What can we do about it?
The Trustees have foreseen the likelihood of increases and built up sufficient contingency to allow short-term survival. Our energy costs are now locked-in until 2023 and therefore we do not anticipate any further increases until then. This provides us with some leeway which many other pools simply will not have. We intend to utilise this window to campaign loudly for Governmental support and we will explore all available funding support. We are lucky to have a record number of swimmers but this means that we are at capacity and cannot increase revenue by extending the number of people utilising the pool.
Unfortunately we therefore have no option but to increase all admission charges by 7.5% with immediate effect. This increase is broadly in line with inflation and will make a significant contribution to help meet the overall increases in costs which are outside of our control.
At a time like this it is particularly salient to thank the community for continued support. The pool is ours and the number of people using it illustrates how important it remains. As Trustees we will do everything we can to ensure that this message is heard.
Please see below our new admission prices as well as our swimming lesson and classes prices going forward.
