Community Moves – Empowering Over-50s to Move, Socialise, and Thrive

How a high-touch coaching partnership helped Community Moves expand to three sites, professionalise operations, and build a loyal member base for life

About the business

Community Moves Health & Fitness, founded by Accredited Exercise Scientist Van Marinos, is a multi-location fitness centre focused on helping over-50s move better, feel fitter, and live more active lives in Sydney’s North Shore. More than a gym, it’s an award-winning, barrier-breaking community—where fitness is tailored to every ability, group sessions are social, and members feel like they belong.

Before working with Candour Strategy, Community Moves was growing organically but needed sharper systems, more sales rigour, and the operational confidence to open new sites while keeping high standards and culture intact.

Challenges

Expansion stretched Van’s focus—making it harder to keep standards high and member experience consistent
Staff performance and engagement varied between sites, impacting retention and atmosphere
Sales and lead conversion was ad hoc, missing key training and accountability
Costs, supplier deals, and key expenses weren’t optimised, reducing margins
Operating procedures depended on one person’s memory, making scaling risky

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With a wealth of knowledge and experience, paired with excellent interpersonal relationship and communication skills, Candour Strategy have helped me move my business forward and continue to help me realise our full potential. Highly recommend!

The Solution

Candour Strategy partnered with Van to drive measurable business growth, launching a new website with clear member and revenue targets, building out replicable systems across sales, service, and operations, and delivering hands-on sales workshops to boost team confidence and conversion. They provided financial mentoring to keep costs lean and margins strong, introduced SOPs for every area of the business, and rolled out leadership coaching and accountability frameworks to help Van step into his role as owner with structure and focus.

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Member base grew from 240 to 350 (+46%) across three thriving, community-focused locations

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Sales conversion rates climbed sharply—staff now have the tools and confidence to maximise every lead

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Operating margins improved, and key expenses dropped with smarter negotiations and cost control

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Van reports greater control, confidence, and work/life balance, while the staff and member culture is stronger than ever

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