Absolutely Together keeps Little Hay Golf Complex under a 15-year contract from 1 October, promising adventure golf, four padel courts and five lodges. Its bid scored 86.35 of 100.
Little Hay Golf Complex will be run by Absolutely Together for the next 15 years from 1 October 2026, after Dacorum Borough Council picked it as preferred bidder in a tender that drew 18 expressions of interest and three full bids. The operator’s proposal includes an 18-hole adventure golf course, four all-weather padel courts, five accommodation lodges and a shot-tracking system on the driving range, all of which still need planning permission. (Dacorum Borough Council, 21 July 2026)
The council’s press release names the winner and the wish list. The Cabinet paper behind it, from 9 June, has the numbers: how the three bids scored, what the complex currently pays the council, and a first-year cost the council expects to carry. (Cabinet report, Little Hay Golf Course, Preferred Bidder, PDF)
Who Absolutely Together is
The name may be new to some Little Hay regulars, but the operator is not. The Cabinet report records that the complex is currently run by Dacorum Sports Trust under a short-term lease agreed in November 2024, and the council’s release says Absolutely Together “already manages the complex”. Absolutely Together’s own website describes Dacorum Sports Trust and Absolutely Leisure as its subsidiaries; it is registered charity 1152093, and its stated purpose is free leisure activity for families of children and young adults with additional needs, counted in “Smiles”. (Absolutely Together) The Little Hay website still names Dacorum Sports Trust, registered charity 1103980, as the operator. (Little Hay Golf Complex, About us)
So the practical change on 1 October is not a new face at the clubhouse. It is a long contract with a fixed investment plan replacing a stopgap lease.
How the bids scored
The council weighted the tender 65 per cent technical, 35 per cent commercial. Bidder A, which the council’s release identifies as Absolutely Together, took the full 35 commercial marks and 51.35 of the 65 technical marks, for 86.35 out of 100. Bidder B actually edged it on the technical side, 52.00, but scored 18.40 commercially, for 70.4 overall. Bidder C came in at 29.71. (Cabinet report, Table 1, PDF)
Bidders were asked for a standard 15-year bid and could add a 25-year variant. Two did, but the report says neither variant offered “significantly enhanced investment proposals” or a bigger management fee, so the council decided on the standard bids alone. The council brought in The Sport Consultancy and law firm Browne Jacobson to run the process, and the report notes that having identified the highest-scoring compliant bid, the council “may not award the contract to another provider” without risking a legal challenge. (Cabinet report, PDF)
What the council gets, and what it pays
Under the current arrangement the operator paid the council a management fee of £42,000 for 2025-26, and pays a further £21,000 plus an inflation uplift for the final six months to 1 October. The new contract “will provide a management fee to the Council”, and the finance officer’s comment says it “is expected to deliver significant income for the authority” over 15 years. The size of that fee is in the restricted appendix and has not been published. (Cabinet report, PDF)
There is a catch in year one. The report says nothing was budgeted for the retender in the council’s medium-term plan and there is “an anticipated £17k cost pressure in the first full year of implementation”, to be picked up in the 2027/28 budget. Because Dacorum was due to be replaced by a new unitary council, the report also notes the fee will pass to “the subsequent Unitary Authority”. (Update, 10 September 2026: that reorganisation was put under government review on 7 September, and the May 2027 shadow authority elections have been cancelled. See our report.)
The investment plan
Alongside the adventure golf, padel courts, lodges and driving-range tracking, the council says the proposal includes a 15-year masterplan for the site, solar panels and battery storage at the clubhouse, and around 10,000 free “Smiles” activities for Dacorum residents over the life of the contract. (Dacorum Borough Council, 21 July 2026)
None of the building work is approved yet. Padel courts, an adventure golf course and lodges each need a planning application to Dacorum, and the council’s release says so plainly. When those applications appear they will show up on the borough’s Public Access register and we will cover them on our planning news page.
The complex today has an 18-hole course, a 23-bay driving range, a six-hole pitch and putt, foot golf and disc golf, and a clubhouse with bar and changing rooms. (Cabinet report, section 1.1, PDF)
What it means for you
- If you play at Little Hay: the operator does not change on 1 October, so there is no handover to a new company. The council’s report says the contract includes a “concession pricing policy” for residents and under-represented groups, so watch for what the price list looks like once the new terms are live.
- If you live near Box Lane: padel courts with all-weather surfaces and lodges bring lighting, noise and traffic questions. Those get decided at planning stage, not now, and neighbours will be consulted on each application.
- If you are a council-tax payer: the current fee is £42,000 a year, the new one is described only as “significant income” over 15 years, and the council has budgeted a £17,000 pressure in the first year. The exact fee is confidential.
- If you were hoping for a public leisure alternative: the report considered bringing Little Hay in-house, either temporarily or for good, and rejected both.
For other outdoor options in and around the town, see our things to do in Hemel Hempstead page.
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