Places Leisure

Places Leisure is a not-for-profit social enterprise and part of the Places for People Group.

With over 100 leisure centres across the UK and a virtual studio, it promotes physical activity and emotional wellbeing through fitness, sport and health services. The organisation operates many of its facilities on behalf of local authorities, placing a strong emphasis on security, accessibility and customer experience.

As Places Leisure expanded rapidly, it faced mounting pressure to bring new sites online quickly while moving away from legacy on-premises infrastructure. With a small internal IT team, the organisation needed a scalable, secure and cost-effective solution to support its growth. It also wanted to improve Wi-Fi performance, streamline booking systems and enable advanced safety technologies, all while maintaining high standards of data protection.

The SD-WAN rollout has transformed the digital experience across Places Leisure’s facilities. Each site is now protected by a next-generation firewall, configured through a templated design that ensures consistent security. This setup allows the IT team to monitor protection and data trends centrally, without logging into multiple systems.

“We operate these facilities on behalf of local authorities, so there’s an extra emphasis on security and protecting personal data, and we’re able to meet that requirement with the SD-WAN.” — Andy Jones, Head of Technology Support, Places Leisure

Wi-Fi performance has improved dramatically. Guests now enjoy faster, more reliable connectivity, even during peak times. This has enhanced the use of fitness wearables, streaming services and smart gym equipment, while reducing complaints and boosting satisfaction.

The booking system has also benefited, with around 99.9% availability thanks to prioritised bandwidth and cloud-based infrastructure. This has helped reduce frustration and increase revenue.

Places Leisure has even been able to deploy Lynxight, an AI-powered anti-drowning system that uses poolside CCTV and smartwatches to alert staff in real time. The system relies on stable Wi-Fi, and we handled all the templating to ensure quick rollout across multiple sites.

“It uses existing poolside CCTV cameras to detect potential drowning incidents in just a few seconds—notifying lifeguards, swimming teachers, and pool staff directly and in real-time on their smartwatches. It’s an example of how we researched an IT application that could make a real difference to our business, and how Node4 supported us by integrating it into our systems. Node4 also did all the necessary templating work so that it could be rolled out quickly at each location.”