Sheffield sports venues make shortlist in national awards

Sheffield's multi-award winning Hillsborough Leisure Centre will defend its national Centre of the Year crown for an unprecedented fifth consecutive time.

The Penistone Road centre, managed by Sheffield International Venues, has taken the prestigious sports industry FLAME (Fitness Leadership And Management Excellence) award for Centre of the Year for the last four years.

It will be joined for the first time at the awards by its sister venue the English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EISS) which has been nominated for the Club of The Year (under 1000 members). This is the first time that EISS has entered and been shortlisted.

The awards recognise and applaud excellence and best practice within the health and fitness industry and provide operators with rigorous independent assessments to help benchmark their facilities.

Steve Brailey, chief executive of Sheffield International Venues, said: "To have two venues in the shortlist for two awards is testament to our growing reputation for managing top class venues, staging world-class events and delivering excellence in leisure provision.

"Our success in the FLAME Awards over the last four years with Hillsborough has been quite remarkable, so to be in with a chance of being crowned Centre of the Year for the fifth time is extraordinary.

"Being shortlisted for these awards puts Sheffield and SIV on the map as a significant leader and player in the leisure industry."

This year has already proved to be an award winning year for SIV with Sheffield City Hall winning the Large Venue of the Year award category at The Insider Business Tourism Awards - Destination Yorkshire 2009 along with the Grand Prix Award - the champion of champion's honour.

Both Hillsborough and EISS will now undergo a rigorous examination process on people management, policy and procedures, marketing and customer processes, impact on society and key business results.

The awards are due to take place at the Reebok Stadium, in Bolton, June 9 - 10 2009.