September brings a focus on renewal, sustainability, and changing approaches across the UK leisure industry. 

Holiday parks are looking to expand and reduce their environmental impact, while golf clubs are exploring new ways to secure their futures and broaden access to the sport. The hospitality sector is also seeing significant change, with established properties changing hands and major refurbishments planned for some of the UK’s best-known hotels. 

Meanwhile, investment in fitness and leisure facilities continues alongside ambitious new concepts such as the proposed Allas Pool Cardiff. 

Here’s a closer look at the developments shaping the sector this September...

• Ceredigion County Council has approved plans for Morfa Bychan Holiday Park in Llanfarian, near Aberystwyth, to build a 330kW solar farm on a former dog exercise area and sheep pasture to reduce its energy costs.

• Devon Hills Holiday Park near Paignton has submitted plans to add over 50 holiday lodges on its site off Totnes Road at Blagdon, with Torbay Council planning officers recommending approval despite opposition.

• Historic Newbattle Golf Club near Edinburgh is appealing to other clubs for support to raise up to £40,000 before securing a mortgage to buy its land which it has leased for 130 years and avert closure after the site was put up for sale. 

• Stoke Park, the famous course featured in James Bond's Goldfinger has shifted away from its traditional private membership model, opening its Top 100-ranked golf course to day guests on a pay-and-play basis seven days a week. 

• The Grade II-listed Lanes Hotel on Marine Parade in Brighton has been sold at auction via joint agents Fleurets and Savills for £2.8 million, ending nearly 50 years of ownership by the Beard family since 1977.

• Grosvenor has appointed Martin Property Group to oversee a major two-year refurbishment and take over as operator of the five-star, Grade II-listed Chester Grosvenor after current operator Bespoke Hotels departs when the site closes on 30th September. 

• The Gym Group has reported a 10% increase in H1 revenue and a 12% rise in profit. The group remains on track to also open 20 new sites in 2026 as well as completing 21 site refurbishments.

• A £250,000 council investment has delivered comprehensive gym refurbishments across both South Reading and Meadway leisure centres as part of an ongoing project to upgrade facilities town-wide.

• Following its July 2026 entry into administration, the historic 742-year-old Ruthin School in Denbighshire - comprising of 12 buildings, a sports field and 24 acres of agricultural land has been put on the market via estate agents Sanderson Weatherall with a £5 million guide price. 



• Finnish waterfront developer Nordic Urban has revealed plans to submit a planning application next month for Allas Pool Cardiff, a £17 million year-round outdoor bathing and sauna complex featuring a 25-metre heated outdoor pool across the disused, Grade II-listed Mount Stuart Graving Docks in Cardiff Bay.