Simon La Fosse

Updated: 13/01/2025

Treating everyone with care and respect may not sound like a radical business idea but, in the world of recruitment, it has proved a key point of differentiation for Simon La Fosse.

These foundational values are still front and centre, and have been embraced by each new staff member as the business has grown.

Simon became an entrepreneur at the age of 42, starting La Fosse at a ‘do or die’ personal crossroads when he had been with his employer for 14 years and could no longer see any way to progress. He felt he could create something different - away from simple sales targets, and so set out to do just that.

Explaining his motivation for leaving, Simon commented: “My clients would say that my brand and the company’s brand were slightly different. I felt that if you treated people well rather than always looking at the numbers then it was a better way to work. That meant getting the basics right but also understanding that you were dealing with people at a vulnerable point in their lives. I wanted to treat candidates well, to treat clients well, and to treat my own staff well.”

However, his timing wasn’t ideal as he started the business in 2007, just months before the global financial crisis hit and the recruitment market dried up. This, he admits, gave him some sleepless nights.

Regardless, Simon persevered. The business soon received a large long term contract to recruit for the Royal Mail, which helped get the business through the difficult years in the wake of the crisis and. Simon explains:

“The better your relationships, the luckier you get! It was a big task, but the client trusted me and he knew I’d do anything to make sure it was done well. Our existing relationship was his due diligence and it really showed me the importance of trust.”

While there were elements of running a business that Simon found difficult – namely the pressure to be organised, a good manager, and a good leader all at once – he relished that the buck stopped with him:

The values-driven ethos of the business – treating everyone with care and respect – doesn’t stop at clients and candidates; most importantly, it applies to ensuring staff are trusted and rewarded. Simon says:

Previous experience has also taught him to be generous when sharing the success of the business. Since 2023, La Fosse has been an employee-owned business, making its people part-owners and enabling them to benefit from the company’s future growth. This has helped to create a unique culture, particularly for a recruitment company, whereby employees at all levels work together and look after each other as they work towards a common goal.

Employee well-being is also high on the agenda for La Fosse; the organisation has upped its spending on key areas, such as mental health. Simon notes:

“We already have a regular counsellor and hypnotherapist, but we have doubled the amount of time available and introduced new services to further support the mental health of our workforce.”

Simon is acutely aware that today’s candidate may be tomorrow’s client. In a digital age, reputations can be won and lost very quickly so care and attention is crucial. He has sought to build this into the collective consciousness of the firm. Setting an example by caring for the wellbeing and happiness of his employees, he believes that they in turn will be better equipped to care for their clients and candidates.

La Fosse has long-term ambitious plans, and Simon still has real enthusiasm for the business.

“Recruitment is a great business. It’s not just doing a job and going home. It’s so interesting – I never get bored.”