Head of Leisure - Operations

Locations Bournemouth and Portsmouth

£50,000 - £55,000 + £5,000 pa car allowance

We are retained to recruit a Head of Leisure to join BH Live, you will lead the operations across the 12 BH Live Active site across both Bournemouth and Portsmouth. The centres generate a combined turnover of £20m + with more than 25,000 direct debit gym members, 7500 participants on learn to swim with comprehensive junior activities and community programs across a wide and diverse range of sporting and leisure facilities.

Reporting to our Associate Director of Leisure, you will lead, coach, and support the Cluster Managers, General and Centre Managers looking after 12 BH Live Active sites. They have circa 800 colleagues working across these sites in a diverse range of roles with a mix of full time, part time and casual workers. .

• Drive the commercial and operational performance of the business and ensure the services provided to our customers meet our high customer experience standards.
• Create effective business and service delivery plans, tracking success and progress against targets.
• Create a strong performance culture across all centres, ensuring strategic objectives are clearly communicated, and outcomes are achieved.
• Develop leadership and management skills, to create successful and high performing teams that deliver results.
• Improve the customer experience within the leisure operation with a strong focus on colleague training, colleague engagement and customer focus.
• Continually encourage and deliver innovation within service and business plans delivery.
• Contribute to the wider strategic development of BH Live in relation to business strategy, product development and enabling strategies.
• Ensure effective annual business and service delivery plans are developed and implemented and subsequently monitor their progress against targets and objectives, and review regularly.
• Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, health and safety, ethical and social requirements across the leisure facilities.
• Represent BH Live to external bodies and key stakeholders.
• Project Manage significant capex investments and gym refurbishments.

We are ideally looking for candidates who can demonstrate the following:

• Significant experience of working in a contract management or potentially a senior GM managing a flagship multipurpose leisure centre.
• Have extensive sales management experience and operated large learn to swim programs.
• An inspirational leader and coach, managing and motivating high performing teams.
• Financially astute with extensive financial management and budgeting experience.
• Possess a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of health and safety.
• Have extensive experience managing and presenting to key stakeholders.

You will typically be expected to spend 3 days per week within the Bournemouth contract and two days in Portsmouth. As such you will need to be based within a reasonable travel time of both locations. The position will be predominantly Monday to Friday with only the occasional requirement for weekend working to support new openings, launches and high-profile events.

In addition to a competitive basic salary of 50-55K with a 5K car allowance, benefits include 25-days holiday plus bank holidays, company pension matched up to 6% contributions, health cash plan, complimentary gym membership, colleague discounts on food and drink, training and development opportunities and colleague recognition.

To apply for this position please forward your CV to David Peacock, Director at Leisure People, our recruitment partner who is managing this search on our behalf. David's email is and if you would like to have an informal conversation, please call him on 07974 313421.

Closing date 29th February 2024.