Sport England is launching a brand new Quest service as part of its commitment to helping the leisure industry transition out of the pandemic and into a recovery-development phase.
The new Quest Recovery service replaces Quest Prime (Recovery), which was written to support the sector during the pandemic, and is ideal for facilities building their basic operations and business resilience post-pandemic.
Sarah Maxwell, Head of External Accreditations at Right Directions, which manages Quest on behalf of Sport England, explains: “Sport England’s continuous improvement tool, Quest, has been designed to measure how effectively leisure facilities are operating.
To ensure it remains relevant, having been launched initially back in 1996, the tool and its assessment modules are continually reviewed and updated.
“The new Quest Recovery assessment not only enables operators to be nationally recognised and accredited for their hard work as we emerge from the pandemic, but provides a view of what ‘good’ and ‘great’ look like so they can benchmark and review their services against a national picture and ensure their teams and their facilities deliver greater impact and social outcomes.
It’s no longer just about being safe. We will be undertaking detailed mystery visits onsite from a customer perspective and making sure aspects such as their programming are fit for purpose in this Covid recovery phase as we approach a busy September.”
Quest Recovery has been developed by combining the latest industry best practices with learnings from Quest Prime (Recovery) and key principles seen in Quest Entry (pre-pandemic), which include the re-introduction of a more detailed mystery visit, as well as reviews of business development and operational plans.
There will be two levels to choose from:
Quest Recovery includes a mystery visit and one-day assessment conducted against seven core modules that provide the key building blocks for success, such as cleanliness and hygiene, the customer journey and programming, as well as operational management, managing the team and community engagement.
Quest Recovery Plus also includes a second day-long assessment covering modules tailored to the individual facility, helping them improve in specific areas of their business.
These can include anything from their contribution to health and wellbeing, engaging with specific groups, such as children or people with long-term health conditions, and safeguarding to event management, food and beverage and swimming lessons.
Local authority leisure centres will be able to take the new Quest Recovery assessment from 1 April 2022.
The traditional Quest Entry and Quest Plus will still be available for sites that don’t wish to undertake Quest Recovery, and are ideal for leisure facilities that have re-established a strong core offer and are ready to review their existing business plans and community development plans in full.
For more information about any of the Quest assessments contact [email protected], phone 01582 840 078 or visit www.questaward.org.