Anger as private firm to manage Games stadium

PRIVATE company Serco is to take over the management of the city’s flagship Alexander Stadium, sparking a major backlash.

- JANE HAYNES News Reporter

Users of the stadium say the public should have been consulted about the move, which will see Serco take over running leisure facilities at the landmark venue under the oversight of Birmingham Community Leisure Trust.

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

The contract, worth £7.5m, has been granted to the Trust without first going out to tender, angering users who say alternatives might have been put forward if it had been publicised as an opportunity.

A petition opposing the deal has now been signed by more than 1,000 people and rising.

Gym user and local resident Andrew Gulliver says the deal has been 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 Games legacy business case which promised full consultation of any major operational changes.