Private company set to run Games stadium

1,000 USERS AND RESIDENTS SIGN PETITION OPPOSING £7.5m DEAL

- JANE HAYNES News Reporter

PRIVATE company Serco is taking over the day-to-day management of Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, to the dismay of hundreds of local residents and users.

They say the public should have been consulted about the move, which will see Serco run leisure facilities at the landmark venue under the oversight of Birmingham Community Leisure Trust (BCLT).

Some 41 council staff will be affected, with their roles being transferred to the trust.

The contract, worth £7.5 million, has been granted to the trust without first going out to tender and a petition opposing the deal has now been signed by more than 1,000 people.

Gym user and local resident Andrew Gulliver says the deal was done on the quiet and treated as a contract amendment despite the high profile of the site and value of the contract, which will run until May 2030.

He believes doing so goes against the council’s own 2020 Commonwealth Games legacy business case which promised full consultation on any major operational changes.