Last month, an economic impact study was published covering the period April 2016 to March 2017, by independent Scottish consultancy firm BiGGAR Economics. The study has determined that Live Active Leisure contributes an extremely significant £16.1 million of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the local economy.

This sum is made up of the value of goods and services that we supply or purchase in the local area, which includes the contribution the Perth and Kinross community make by visiting our venues.

In 2017, there were around 9,000 of the Perth and Kinross population who were Live Active Fitness and Live Active card members - this is over 6% of the total population.

This is added to by the significant number of customers who visit on day trips, attend events or use our venues as part of their wider leisure commitments.

Additionally, the study highlighted almost £6 million in health care savings - evidence that our customers are improving their mental and physical health and in turn, reducing public expenditure on both health and social care.

Paul Cromwell, CEO of Live Active Leisure, commented: “Perth and Kinross regularly scores highly in quality of life indices and the attractive lifestyle cited is undoubtedly enhanced by our offer.

"This research showed us that almost 60% of our customers would exercise less or not at all if their Live Active venue or community offer was not available, which really emphasises the value of what we do.

"As a registered Charity dedicated to being the provider of choice for our community, we have always been confident that we provide good quality and accessible facilities for the people of Perth & Kinross.

"In addition, we have always worked hard to ensure that these services represent best value for money.  The cost-effective delivery of services from organisations such as LAL should, wherever possible, ensure an excellent return on all investment and we believe that this recent study shows just how successful LAL is at doing just that.”

Other significant figures uncovered by the study show that Live Active has generated £2.3 million in tourism and events, as well as creating 393 core and indirect jobs in the area.