Cornwall's leisure centres will be run by a national not-for-profit operator from spring next year after the winners of a tender process were revealed this afternoon.

Cornwall Council announced that GLL, which currently runs over 200 leisure centres and has more than 20 years experience, has been awarded the tender to operate leisure centres and other leisure facilities from April 2017.

Announcing the decision Adam Paynter, the council’s cabinet member for resources, said: “Firstly I’d like to place on record my thanks to Tempus Leisure for their fantastic work over the years running Cornwall’s leisure facilities in such a professional manner.

"We have always made it clear that we want to keep leisure centres open in Cornwall but without an ongoing subsidy from the Council. By taking the initiative, carefully considering all the options and then going through a vigorous tendering process, we are confident that in awarding this contract to GLL we will secure the future of the Council’s leisure facilities.

"The excellent staff that already work in our leisure centres will transfer over to the new operator on their existing terms and conditions.”

Chris Symons, GLL’s director of development, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract to deliver leisure facilities in Cornwall on behalf of Cornwall Council.

“As a charitable social enterprise we have no shareholders to pay, instead we plough any surplus back into improving facilities and boosting community sports participation.

“These are exciting times for GLL, staff and customers in Cornwall and we look forward to showing the difference our social enterprise operation brings.”

All the leisure facilities currently owned and maintained by the council will be included in the contract although the council will be continuing discussions with local community groups with a view to devolving Par Pavilion and Running Track to them in the near future.

The facilities included in the contract have been awarded to GLL on a long term 25 lease basis which means that the Council will continue to own the freehold of the sites.

The council claims the deal will save it almost £3.5m a year, as well as delivering work experience, volunteering and apprenticeship placements and supporting Cornwall’s athletes.

GLL is expected to make a significant investment into the leisure centres and the equipment which will be initially financed through council borrowing to be repaid with interest over the life of the contract.

The announcement is a blow for current operators Tempus Leisure, which had submitted a joint tender for the new contract, in collaboration with Fusion Lifestyle.

Chair of trustees Lucy Black said: "We are extremely disappointed to have been unsuccessful in our bid for the future operation of leisure services within Cornwall.  We know that we submitted an excellent proposal but this was obviously surpassed by our competitor. We will be taking some time to consider the next steps for Tempus.”

And chief executive, Simon Blamey added: "I would like to say a big thank you to all our customers that have supported us over the past five years; we have delivered significant growth in community engagement across Cornwall and believe that a solid foundation has been laid, which the new incoming operator will be able to build upon.  We would like to reassure our customers that we will work hard with the new provider to ensure a smooth transition to the alternative arrangements so that you can continue to enjoy the use of your community facilities.

“Finally, a huge thank you to each and every member of our staff. They have worked so hard on behalf of Tempus to deliver an improved service across all areas of the organisation and we have certainly enjoyed a host of successes over the past five years.  I wish them every success within the new organisation.”