Sam Laite
IN PROFILE
Sam Laite
Fwd Thinking Recruitment
Sam Laite is owner and director of Fwd Thinking Recruitment. Based on Gay Street in Bath the firm specialises in marketing and digital, sales and executive appointments. We met with Sam to find out more about him and the business.
What did you do before Fwd Thinking?
I worked in London for the Sun Newspaper in advertising sales and JC Decaux selling top ticket outdoor billboard space. I loved that world, but decided to move back to Bath to be closer to family.
Are you originally from Bath?
I was actually born in Germany. My dad was in the Forces and I moved around 19 times growing up. I went to boarding school from the age of nine and spent a lot of time in Cornwall in the holidays. My family moved to Bath several years ago and it’ s always felt like home.
How did you get into recruitment?
When I moved to Bath I didn’ t want to work for one of the local media companies, so decided to do something completely different. Friends of mine said“ You’ d be great in recruitment” and that’ s what I did. I went to work for one of the large international recruitment firms in Bristol and commuted back and forth. They had just set-up their sales and marketing division which I was perfectly placed to work in. At aged 30, I told my boss in six months I’ ll be running the office for you, which I achieved. I built my team as fast as I could and did exceptionally well, but soon became eager for my next challenge.
The next role I was in for five years, recruiting for executive appointments with salaries of £ 80k +. It was a great job, but thought I can do this myself and set up Fwd Thinking. Two and a half years on I’ ve never looked back.
Who is a typical Fwd Thinking client?
It would be someone who recruits marketing managers or sales directors and the individual team members within those organisations. A company that needs a really strong e-commerce presence, so they need a digital manager and a web manager. Sector-wise they would be in food and drink, retail and e-commerce, professional or financial services, but effectively a typical customer is someone who’ s recruiting at salaries of around £ 40k and above. Marketing sales and digital professionals.
Do you think you have an advantage over the competition as you’ ve worked in media and sales roles in the past?
Some of the best recruiters in our sector, in my experience are those that have worked in a sales and marketing background. So, if I look at the creative make-up of the team, the best people have come from that background. The advantage that gives us, is when we’ re sat in front of a marketing director or sales director we can easily identify exactly what it is that they’ re looking for as we’ ve done that role ourselves.
Do you work with many companies in and around Bath?
We’ re really proud of the client base we’ ve built in and around the city. We work with some great Bath success stories such as Lovehoney and Wild & Wolf. We also work locally with Inspecs, Good Energy and LF Beauty. Further afield we work with well-known brand Neals Yard, based in Gillingham, Dorset. A lot of clients are South West focussed but may have a national or international reach.
Our latest client is Supernutrients based in South Stoke on the outskirts of Bath. Their branded product is Naturya which is now available in all of the major supermarkets. They are one of the country’ s fastest growing superfood businesses and it’ s great to be aiding their growth story.
Lauren Prince our recruitment consultant has built a niche in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods( FMCG) and retail sector. She has a strong knowledge in this area and has built an enviable reputation with brand managers, marketing managers and category sales managers.
If someone came to you and said“ I have a position that needs filling”, how would you work with them?
We would go and see them, visit their offices and meet the person recruiting for the role. We would also want to meet the people in the team currently. Meeting the boss of the person who’ s doing the recruiting would be key in order to understand what progression is like within the firm, the culture, what goes on behind the scenes etc. There would be a job description, but it would be more about the cultural fit and what that looks and feels like. This helps, so that when we’ re searching for the right candidates we can shortlist the right people. Before a candidate is selected for interview we meet them to do a pre-screening to ensure they’ re suitable.
What’ s the candidate marketplace like at the moment in your opinion?
The perception is that there’ s not many candidates, but in reality, if you network really hard and build a great reputation, people will refer good people to you. Relationships are key. If you pick up the phone and don’ t know someone saying:“ I have a role for you”, the chances are it won’ t go too well.
What’ s your vision for Fwd Thinking?
My ambition is to build this business to a team of 12-15 strong. The aim isn’ t to be the biggest recruiter around, but to recruit and retain high quality people that want to develop their career. Fwd Thinking people have to be highly passionate about what they do and truly care about delivering excellent customer service and a fantastic customer experience.
What’ s next for the business?
We’ re currently going through a rebranding exercise, to be unveiled this winter. As we move into our third year of trading it’ s the opportune time to relaunch and reinvigorate the brand. We are really excited about partnering with Simon Barbato of Mr B & Friends, who will manage and implement the rebrand and subsequent marketing strategy for Fwd Thinking. Look out for this in the winter edition of The Business Exchange!
For more info: www. fwdthinkingrecruitment. co. uk
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 35