Physical activity sector firms will soon be able to measure how they stack up against rival businesses, thanks to new benchmarking insights being provided to Flame Awards entrants as part of their feedback report.

The Flame Awards, which take place this Wednesday (22 June), are the most prestigious in the industry and require entrants to undergo a rigorous assessment process that provides them with a comprehensive evaluation report – as well as the prospect of an award.

For 2015, this assessment has been scaled up, with the two or three stage process including customer insight surveys, mystery calls, visits and on-site customer interviews. ukactive’s Research Institute has redesigned the entire evaluation, to provide a deeper, more detailed understanding of the consumer experience at each entrant’s site.

One of the standout features of the revamped awards will see entrants receive individualised assessment reports which include national benchmarking data based on analysis of information received from more than 100 leisure centres and health clubs, translating to 11,774 consumers across the UK. This allows facilities to benchmark their site performance against the national average across key consumer-focused areas such as customer loyalty, commitment, belonging, warmth, staff attitude, equipment and facilities.

Utilising this wealth of data, the ukactive Research Institute will publish a report presenting the key findings on a national scale in September, to coincide with the opening of The Flame Awards 2016.

“This is a transformational moment for Flame. With the new feedback reports that will be sent to every entrant within two weeks of the awards, the value of entering the Flame awards has never been clearer,” said ukactive operations director Geraldine Tuck.

“These reports not only analyse each entrant but benchmarks their performance against the national Flame average, enabling them to compare their performance with the others in the sector. At the national level, it provides us with unique insights into what is making the members of our members tick.”

Health Club Management will be on hand throughout Flame 2015, live reporting on the latest developments throughout the conference/awards ceremony and posting them straight to the Health Club Management website. Head of news Jak Phillips will also be live-tweeting from the event, follow him on Twitter by clicking here.