Friday May 15th 2026
Teviot Leisure Centre in Hawick
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Members of Scottish Borders Council are being asked to endorse spending of more than £5m to revitalise two leisure complexes.
It is proposed to spend the majority of the funds, £4.2m, on improving the customer experience at Teviot Leisure Centre in Hawick, strengthening the fitness and family offer and supporting increased commercial performance through a series of targeted internal refurbishments.
Key measures include reconfiguring the reception and entrance to improve visibility and arrival, enhancing the main foyer with seating and informal workspace to encourage dwell time and secondary spend and converting under‑used spaces into new group exercise and cycling studios to broaden the fitness programme.
The proposals would also create dedicated dry changing facilities to better serve gym, class and bowling centre users, and reconfigure the café kitchen and fitness suite to deliver a significantly larger, modern fitness area while maintaining essential access routes.
In addition, the café and soft play entrance would be relocated to the lower ground floor, with the soft play area expanded into an existing squash court, creating an integrated family offer that improves commercial viability and allows improved café access for pool users.
An additional £500k is earmarked for Tweedbank Sports Complex and Bowling Hall for investment in equipment to immediately maximise activities that get young people active, mainly gymnastics, inflatable activities, and possibly dance and youth health and fitness.
The aim is that the both investments will pay dividends and ensure the facilities are on a firm financial footing, delivering estimated additional income of £742k.
Members will also be told that “significant progress” has been made in stabilising the financial and operational position of Scottish Borders Council’s leisure and cultural services provider.
When members of SBC meet next week they will receive a positive report on Live Borders since a shake-up was agreed in November last year.
Live Borders had been operating at a loss of about £3m each year since the Covid pandemic.
Since 2023 the organisation has required an additional £6m of emergency funding from SBC on top of its annual management fee of more than £5m.
That led to proposals from consultants to shut up to 30 buildings and reduce the workforce by about 50.
After consultation, the council drew up scaled back plans to take the organisation forward at November’s meeting.
Members will learn that £500k of in-year savings were made in the 2025/26 financial year, ensuring Live Borders ends the financial year within the £1m loan provided by SBC.
An organisational restructure is also complete, securing circa £200k of ongoing permanent, recurring savings.
Meanwhile, a new five-year Live Borders strategy is in draft form, and extensive consultation has taken place with publication targeted for later this month.
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