Sport England has appointed a partnership consisting of Right Directions and Leisure Net Solutions to manage the Quest awarding scheme. The two companies will also be responsible for the National Benchmarking Service for Sports Centres (NBS).

Previously managed by consultants PMP, which entered administration earlier this year, Quest was launched in 1999 as a tool for "continuous improvement", designed to evaluate the management and operations of sports facilities.

The hope was for Quest to be used as an incentive for operators to improve industry standards and to establish good practice.

Sport England described the deal with Right Directions and Leisure Net Solutions as a "fresh start" for Quest. The contract with Right Directions will be three years in length and Sport England is looking to re-tender the work at the end of the current deal.

Sport England's Chair, Richard Lewis, said: "I would really encourage everyone in the sector to look at how they could benefit from these (Quest and NBS) services.

"At a time of increasing pressure on finances in every sector, it's vital that we do everything we can to help our partners to secure value for money for their investment in sport - and to ensure that sports facilities are constantly improving."

Caroline Constantine, director at Right Directions, said: "We will focus on getting Quest and NBS back on track and looking forward to launching some new and improved products in the new year."

NBS provides local authorities with independent assessments on the performance of their sport and leisure centres and compares the results with similar facilities across the country.

NBS data analysis and reporting will continue to be carried out by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University.

Quest currently has two models: "The Facility Management model is aimed at the management of any facility which provides an activity for customers; public, private, trust and voluntary sector. The Sports Development (SD) model is aimed at the management of any team which provides or facilitates participation in an activity; public, private, trust and voluntary sectors."