September 2011 saw the proud unveiling of Valley Leisure's newly-refurbished gym at The Rapids leisure centre in Romsey.

Representing an investment of over £200,000, the facility features a spectacular range of equipment for customers to burn calories and expend maximum energy.

However, the new gym is also all about saving energy. With electricity costs continuing to climb to an all-time high, Valley Leisure decided to replace traditional fluorescent lighting in the gym with the latest generation of LED lamps from Ideal Lights, cutting energy consumption by 80 per cent while significantly increasing light levels. The enormous saving in lighting energy allowed plenty of headroom for the addition of 16 banks of colour-changing LEDs to project a panoramic wash of light across the gym's entire ceiling.

With an average life of 50,000 hours, the new LED lamps will vastly reduce bulb replacement costs and the corresponding maintenance burden. In an intensive exercise area where keeping clients comfortable and cool is essential, the very low heat emissions from LED lighting is a further plus and substantially reduces the load on the gym's air-conditioning system.

The end result - a bright, comfortable and welcoming gym that combines sustainable environmental and operational benefits with a fresh, colourful ambiance. Valley Leisure are now progressing proposals from Ideal Lights to roll out LED lighting across their two large leisure centres in Romsey and Andover, with projected savings in electricity and maintenance of £40,000 per annum.

Kevin Paterson, Chief Executive of Valley Leisure, commented: "Customers and staff alike have been bowled over by the transformation that Ideal Lights' LED lamps have delivered as part of our investment in our new gym. Ideal Lights' support in pinpointing the most cost-effective LED solutions, in demonstrating the financial and operating benefits and in meeting our tight timescale has been outstanding."