6 Reasons to Choose Gladstone as Your Leisure Management Platform

Choosing a leisure management system in 2026 is about more than features.

Operators need a platform that works across every centre, adapts to different operating models, supports staff under pressure, and delivers the kind of digital experience members now expect as standard.

At Gladstone, we’ve spent decades working alongside leisure operators across the UK. That experience shapes everything we build.

Our message for 2026 is simple:

One Platform. Every Centre. Endless Possibilities.

Here are six reasons operators continue to choose Gladstone, and what that actually means in practice.

1. One platform, built for real-world leisure complexity

Leisure is not simple. Multi-site estates. Mixed facilities. Different membership rules. Public sector requirements. Commercial targets, not to mention a sector within a sector, Universities.

Gladstone is designed to support that complexity without forcing operators into workarounds or disconnected systems. Whether you manage one site or dozens, the platform flexes to fit how leisure actually runs.

One platform means:

• One source of truth
• One operational view
• One consistent experience across centres

It reduces duplication, simplifies management, and gives teams confidence they’re working from the same information.

2. Open by design, with a growing ecosystem of partners

“One Platform” does not mean closed.

Gladstone is built as an open platform, supported by a growing marketplace of trusted partners. This gives operators choice and flexibility to extend the platform where it makes sense for their organisation.

The benefit is balance:

• A strong, consistent core platform
• The freedom to integrate specialist services
• No forced lock-in or brittle custom builds

Everything connects back to Gladstone, maintaining data integrity and a single operational view while allowing innovation at the edges.

3. Proven at scale, every day

Scale matters. Platforms behave very differently under real-world pressure.

Gladstone supports leisure operations at scale across the UK, processing activity continuously across sites and services.

Across the platform:

• 17 million member bookings are processed each year
• 1.5 billion daily requests are handled
• 500+ leisure centres rely on Gladstone to run daily operations
• 44k daily users staff users in Operators nationwide

These are live environments, supporting real customers, real staff and real demand. The platform is built to perform when it matters most.

Switching platforms is one of the biggest changes an operator can make. It needs to be done carefully, confidently and with the right support.

In 2025, we successfully onboarded Places Leisure with over 90 sites, one of the largest leisure migrations in the UK. That experience reflects our ability to manage complex transitions while keeping services running smoothly.

Our onboarding, training and support teams work closely with operators to ensure change feels manageable, not overwhelming.

4. Cloud-native where it counts

Cloud is no longer optional. How cloud is used is what makes the difference.

GladstoneGo is built as a cloud-native platform, designed for performance, resilience and continuous improvement. This allows us to deliver updates safely, scale with demand, and keep services available during peak periods.

Cloud-native design means:

• Less disruption when changes are made
• Faster delivery of improvements
• Greater resilience under load
• A platform that can evolve without starting again

It removes the fear from change and allows progress to be ongoing, not episodic.

5. Security, compliance and trust built in

A platform is only as strong as the trust behind it.

Gladstone operates to recognised industry standards, including:

• ISO 27001 for information security management
• ISO 9001 for quality management
• PCI DSS for secure payment handling
• Cyber Essentials Plus for advanced cyber protection
• Gladstone’s consumer digital experience is designed to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards
• GladstoneGo is available in Welsh language

These accreditations underpin how we design, host and support the platform. For operators, they provide reassurance that data, payments and services are protected to established standards.

Security and compliance are not add-ons. They are fundamental to the platform.

6. Practical AI that supports teams and members

AI should make life easier, not noisier.

We’re already using AI in practical ways that support users today. Our AI Support Assistant helps customers find answers quickly, reducing time spent searching for help. On our website, Gladys, our AI agent, helps visitors get the information they need more easily.

Looking ahead, our roadmap continues to focus on responsible, practical uses of AI, including:

• Supporting natural language interaction with data
• Helping users explore insight more intuitively
• Reducing repetitive tasks for teams

The focus is simple. Use AI where it adds real value. Avoid it where it doesn’t. 

What to look for when choosing a leisure platform

When comparing platforms, it’s worth asking a few straightforward questions:

• Can one platform genuinely support all your centres?
• Is it cloud-native or adapted from older technology?
• Does it reduce workload or simply move it elsewhere?
• Can it demonstrate scale in live environments?
• Is security and compliance embedded, not bolted on?
• Does the provider invest sensibly in future capability, including AI?

These are the questions Gladstone is built to answer. Gladstone is not about chasing trends or adding features for the sake of it.

We focus on building a platform that:

• Works across every centre
• Supports real operational complexity
• Scales reliably
• Stays secure and compliant
• Evolves responsibly as expectations change

One Platform. Every Centre. Endless Possibilities.

That’s not a slogan. It’s how we design, deliver and support the Gladstone platform.

Last updated: January 2026