Ray Algar, managing director of business insight specialist Oxygen Consulting, has called for the leisure sector to get better at understanding the data they hold and to utilise the social value they create.

"The fitness sector is driven by an altruistic purpose; public, private and third sector organisations all exist to serve and support the health and wellbeing of their customers," said Algar.

"However, the metrics used to quantify business success, especially in the private sector, are predominantly financial – profit is very often a key measure.

"The wider social impact health clubs create needs to be consistently measured."

To help operators achieve this, Algar is teaming up with Datahub, a "virtual repository" for sports and leisure data.

The strategic partnership will look to assist both private and public sector leisure operators more clearly define and champion the social value generated through their venues and programmes.

At the centre of the new partnership will be Datahub's Social Value Calculator (SVC).

Created in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University, the SVC currently utilises data from from more than 157 operators and 1,600 sites in the UK – equating to more than 400 million visits – and is used to deliver benchmarks and key insights about the social value created by the sector.

"I believe the DataHub’s new Social Value Calculator can help clubs to demonstrate in new and compelling ways the transformative social bearing they have," Algar said.

“Having a consistent method for operators to measure and compare the social impact of their business will provide a greater understanding of the important role this sector plays in improving the nation’s health and wellbeing."