Fusion Lifestyle chased over more than £357,000 in unpaid fees and bills after end of its contract to run Bedford's leisure centres

Fusion Lifestyle is being chased over more than £357,000 in management fees and utility bills according to a solicitor's letter from Bedford Borough Council

But the council has said it is part of an "end of contract reconciliation" and added it is not taking legal action against its former leisure management contractors.

Fusion Lifestyle’s contract with Bedford Borough Council ended on January 31, 2024.

But Bedford Borough Council has had to chase unpaid bills as well as payments that should have gone to the new management company Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).

The letter sent last week by the borough council’s solicitors to Fusion’s representatives, and seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said a “number of issues” remain in relation to the management organisation’s tenure of the council’s leisure premises.

These included Fusion’s “failure to meet the deadline” for the transfer of client direct debit data to GLL.

This meant Fusion received direct debit payments in February when “it should not have done”.

“To compound this failure your client has not transferred (with appropriate evidence of reconciliation) those sums to GLL,” the letter said, “despite numerous requests for it to do so.

“Retention of these sums is wholly unreasonable conduct on the part of [Fusion] and if not paid forthwith to GLL this amounts to unjust enrichment in respect of which we anticipate that we shall receive instructions shortly to proceed with further legal action,” it said.

The letter said that £166,375.74 in management fees remains due (which includes two invoices for clinical collection and/or clinical storage related to Oasis and Robinson pools).

It went on to say that despite having received assurances that utilities charges up to and including November 2023 would be settled, £190,919.00 was still outstanding.

“There has been no explanation as to why these sums have not been paid and remain outstanding, and our client is unable to see why this would be the case,” the letter said.

“This is not the first occasion on which monies have been provided to your client and they have not been paid to the utilities provider as required.

“Our client does not have confidence that payments will be made in respect of the December 2023 and January 2024 utilities invoices,” it said.

Therefore the letter asked Fusion to pay the £166,375.74 owed in management fees to the utility providers as well as the arrears.

The council will then pay its utilities contribution.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Bedford Borough Council for a comment.

A spokesperson said: “Like with any commercial arrangement of this nature, that has been in place for 10 years and relates to multiple sites, there are arrangements and reconciliations to be made at the end of the contract and the council are [sic] working with Fusion to that end.”

Fusion Lifestyle was also approached for a comment but has yet to respond.