THE organisation which runs South Gloucestershire’s leisure centre has reported an annual revenue growth of more than £700,000.

The Circadian Trust, which operates eight centres across the district including Yate and Thornbury, has reported growth of 7.6 per cent in the last financial year.

The social enterprise said revenue grew £727,000 during the year to £10.22million, a quarter of a million pounds above the budget target. Expenditure was also controlled and despite being higher year-on-year due to significant investment in facilities, it was lower than budget forecast.

Trust chief executive Mark Crutchley welcomed the figures, some of the most successful since it took over the region’s leisure centres, then known as South Gloucestershire Leisure, in 2005.

He said: “These set of results are one of the most successful to date for the trust and are testimony to the dedication of our staff across all our sites.

“Key drivers have been significant investment in the facilities, commencement of a digitisation programme to continuously enhance the customer experience and the introduction of a social media programme to heighten interaction with our customers.

“The figures speak for themselves and show that we are delivering what our customers want at prices they are willing to pay.”

He said the results reflect a rise in paid visits during the year, which were up by nearly 280,000 (12 per cent) to 2.5million people.