Equipment - The Paddocks

This capital procurement project represents a strategic investment in the health, fitness, and modern infrastructure of the council's leisure portfolio. It focuses specifically on the targeted acquisition of equipment assets across two distinct work streams

1. The Paddocks (Lot 1): A completely new fitness installation requiring standard premium cardio and fixed resistance equipment (Lot 1)

2. The Paddocks (Lot 2): Deployment of fully automated, advanced digital strength and diagnostic equipment featuring real-time data streaming and NHS reporting integration. The infrastructure demands high-durability hardware capable of supporting automated user tracking, data-driven facility management, and direct synchronisation with exercise referral clinical metrics. (Lot 2)

3. Runnymede Leisure Centre (Lot 1): Cardiovascular replacement consisting strictly of premium cardiovascular equipment upgrades. (Lot 1)

4. The Paddocks (Lot 3): A dedicated suite of power-assisted, continuous motion exercise machines equipped with digital cloud connectivity software. This equipment is specifically engineered for inclusive rehabilitation, active aging, community health referral pathways, and users with limited mobility or long-term health conditions. (Lot 3)

The existing assets at Runnymede Leisure Centre have reached the end of their operational lifespan, resulting in increased maintenance overheads and a decline in user experience. Simultaneously, the development at The Paddocks requires a highly sophisticated setup to attract and retain members while supporting targeted health and physical progression initiatives.

Rather than relying on legacy hardware configurations or static, unmonitored equipment, the Authority is prioritising a forward-thinking, data-driven approach to gym management. By introducing automated biometric tracking and high-precision physical diagnostics alongside premium traditional fitness lines, the council aims to drive member engagement, reduce member attrition, and optimise overall facility performance.

Options Appraisal

1. Continued Maintenance of Legacy Hardware: Rejected. Continuing to repair out-of-warranty machinery or relocating aging equipment to new sites is financially non-viable. It fails to meet modern public expectations, incurs high ad-hoc maintenance costs, and does not provide the tracking capabilities required for contemporary data-driven health strategies.

2. Unified Multi-Vendor Bulk Purchase: Rejected. Attempting to bundle specialised digital diagnostic ecosystems and standard mechanical gym equipment into a single, generic lot restricts competitive bidding. It prevents the Authority from strictly specifying the unique software integrations required for real-time strength progression tracking and cloud-based user diagnostics.

3. Split-Lot Framework Procurement (Preferred Framework): The procurement is divided into three distinct, specialised Lots. This strategy allows the Authority to independently evaluate best-in-class manufacturers for traditional cardiovascular and mechanical resistance machinery (Lot 1) while establishing exact technical criteria to secure a highly specialised, closed-loop digital strength circuit and automated onboarding ecosystem that links in with NHS (Lot 2).

4. Acquire a state-of-the-art power-assisted, digitally connected physical therapy and active health circuit designed for inclusive access, rehabilitation, and active aging (Lot 3)