Lidos have a special meaning for those of us of a certain age. They evoke childhood memories of style and glamour with outdoor swimming, ice creams by the pool and art deco buildings, often gleaming white. But the development of modern indoor pools saw a great number of these outdoor pleasure palaces disappear as they fell into disrepair and failed to compete with modern local sports facilities.
commercial pools
Barry McCabe, owner of multi-awarding winning, Oyster Pools & Leisure, based in Monmouthshire, Wales, was once a London bus driver. Therefore, without him knowing, his wife Paula devised a ‘mobile party’ for Barry’s 70th that everyone agreed was a triumph.
With names like Master Blaster, Lagoona Bay and Volcano Springs, the Cariba Creek water park at the Alton Tower’s Splash Landings Hotel is still conjuring up as much aquatic excitement as it was when it first switched on the water features ten years ago.
Co- owner of Bell Leisure, Lawrence Pearce has always wanted to complete a marathon before he was 50 and, at 46 and counting; time was running out. So Lawrence signed up for this April’s Brighton marathon and began a strict training regime which resulted in him losing three and a half stone. “The marathon training was extremely hard but I got great support from my wife and girls throughout,” commented Lawrence.
Following the enthusiastic response to Hanovia’s inaugural UV seminar held in Dubai last year, the company hosted its second seminar in Jakarta, Indonesia recently. The event was packed with ideas, practical advice and in-depth analysis on the use of UV for bio-security in the hotel and leisure, food and pharmaceutical industries.
Giles Leisure is one swimming pool company that won’t be in hot water despite the tough economic climate and increasingly erratic winters. Passionate about getting more people to swim and creating a weather-proof extension to the business, Giles Leisure has created a unique Hydrotherapy Centre at its pool shop in Lewes, East Sussex.
UK-based Mineral Supplies International (MSi)has confirmed the appointment of Victoria Plompen-Philip as director of European sales with responsibility for Belgium, Holland and Germany. Involved in the European pool industry for 12 years, Victoria has witnessed the growth of MSi brands such as Zeoclere30, Jolly Gel, Clear ‘n Clean in addition to a range of own-label products. “The beauty of products such as Jolly Gel and Zeoclere is that they offer high performing, no problem products so once the customer has bought, they are highly likely to come back for more,”
Universally acknowledged as one of the buzziest shows for several years, the SPATEX team has been given an ideal launch pad as it prepares to move the trade show location to the Midlands
In the world of swimming and sports centres the growth of excellence in community facilities has been driven by a few key players. At the forefront of the design and delivery of some stunning buildings – including the Olympic Aquatics Centre – is the number one company, S&P Architects. With dozens of prestigious projects under their belt throughout the UK and Ireland it is difficult to comprehend the size of their operation, with regional offices in London, Nottingham, Glasgow and Dublin. They are soon to open an office in Birmingham. At the helm of today’s company, founded by two architects in 1982 – Peter Sergeant and Mark Potiriadis – is a man who admits he is hardly ever in the same office two days running.
When it comes to the challenging sector of swimming pool design, it pays to bring in the services of a specialist builder from the outset, preferably at the drawing board.
