General Manager – Sport, Fitness & Community Venue

Sutton - Surrey

Up to £40k + performance bonus

This is not a sit-behind-a-desk General Manager role.

We’re looking for a sport-loving, people-first leader to run and grow one of Sutton’s most exciting community leisure venues. If you come from a fitness, leisure or sports background, thrive in an active environment, and get genuinely excited about seeing courts busy and people having fun — you’ll feel right at home here. This role suits someone who wants to be visible, involved, and proud of the venue they run.

The role

As General Manager, you’ll be the face of the venue and the driving force behind its success. You’ll balance commercial performance with community impact, making sure the venue is buzzing, welcoming, and brilliantly run.

 You’ll be:

• Leading from the front — on the floor, on the courts, and with your team

• Owning day-to-day operations, standards, safety and customer experience

• Growing participation across sport, fitness and social programmes (especially padel)

• Building strong local relationships with clubs, coaches, schools and community groups

• Creating events, leagues and initiatives that keep people coming back

• Managing budgets, targets and performance with a commercial but people-led mindset

Who we’re really looking for

This role is ideal for someone from a sport, fitness or leisure background — not a corporate facilities manager.

You’ll likely be:

• From leisure, fitness, sport or hospitality management

• Comfortable being hands-on and visible (tracksuit days encouraged)

• Energised by busy venues, social sport and active communities

• Confident leading teams, coaches and front-of-house staff

• Naturally community-minded and great at building local connections

• Commercially switched-on without losing the human touch

• Happy working evenings and weekends — when sport actually happens

 Bonus points if you love padel, play padel, or are desperate to get involved in it.

Why this role stands out

• You get real ownership of a growing, sport-led venue

• You shape the culture, the energy and the community

• You’re part of a modern, social approach to sport — not traditional leisure management

• You get to build something people genuinely care about in Sutton
  

This role is being recruited by Love Recruitment, specialists in fitness, leisure and sport roles across the UK. Your recruiter is Helen Horton, Account Director. To apply, simply click Apply Now.