No fat-cat salaries here

AS Justine Gordon-Smith’s membership expired a year ago she will have missed much of the good work that has gone on recently in improving the leisure centres in Islington (Pools: what a shower! July 1). This ranges from renewal of the gym and sports hall at the Sobell to the facelift at Highbury Pool and the new Aquaterra Outdoor programme. Updating and improving the facilities is a never-ending job and all the harder in the tight financial climate.

Aquaterra staff work hard and have had only one tiny pay rise in the last three years. That includes management and, no, there are no fat-cat salaries paid in Aquaterra; we are a charity. We run the leisure services for the benefit of the people of Islington very economically and we are working with the council to reduce costs even further.

We rate as highly as the major supermarkets in our annual surveys for customer satisfaction and value for money. We hold the government award for excellent customer service. We meet or exceed all the targets set for us by the council. 

I am sorry when any customer has an unsatisfactory personal experience and hope they get in touch with us directly so we can take action. I am easy to contact through the website or by phone and I do follow up complaints personally. 

PETER CARDY
Chief executive, Aquaterra Leisure 

Published: 8 July, 2011