Foxgroves Recruitment

21/10/2026

We are having another busy week at Foxgroves Recruitment HQ!

A real mix going on this week, from business support right through to senior leadership, with some lovely results to share and plenty still open.

Filled this week with candidates starting in November...
🧡 Head of Business Operations, Penrith
🧡 Senior HR Advisor, Penrith

Two cracking roles now off the list, with two happy clients and two people about to start something new.

These are now closed and moving to second interviews next week...
✅ Operations Director
✅ Chief Information Officer (Constabulary)
✅ Brand Manager

Fingers crossed for everyone heading into final stages.

Still open and accepting applications...
📩 Sales Administrator, Penrith
📩 Client Relationship Manager, Pirelli, Midlands
📩 HR & Payroll Assistant, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire

If any of these have caught your eye, don't sit on it. Get in touch or apply via our jobs board on the website, and I'm always happy to have a confidential chat about any of them. 👇

Interested, or know someone who'd be a great fit? Drop me a message for a confidential chat or send your CV directly to [email protected]

🦊 Foxgroves Recruitment - The go-to partner for HR appointments in Cumbria!

View the full advert here 👇

https://recruiterflow.com/foxgrovesrecruitment/jobs

21/10/2026

🗞️ Recruitment Confessions Newsletter! 💼

"The Five Words That Ruin a Candidate's Weekend...please prepare us a presentation." 😮

Say these words to most candidates and watch what happens.
The colour drains. The breathing changes. A mild look of terror crosses their face. And somewhere in the back of their mind, they're already rehearsing their excuses for pulling out entirely.

Here's what I've seen go wrong - and right:

✅ 27 slides for a 10 minute presentation
✅ Six drafts of the same deck with tiny changes each time
✅ Reading word for word from slides
✅ Not answering the question that was set

But the candidate who prepared properly, answered the question and clearly practised? Offered the job on the spot

Interview tasks aren't designed to catch you out. Used well, they separate the wheat from the chaff. Used badly, they frustrate good candidates and can sabotage the process.

Both sides have work to do here.

📧 Want the full breakdown - including the free consultancy problem nobody talks about? Click below for the complete article 👇

"You'll Need to Prepare a Presentation"Say these words to most candidates and watch what happens.

12/10/2026

🗞️ Recruitment Confessions Newsletter! 💼

"STAR Got You This Far. CARL Will Get You the Job."

Back in March I wrote about competency interviews and why they're the one type of interview you can actually prepare for.
That post covered the STAR method. And STAR is solid. But there's a better version. And most candidates have never heard of it.

It's called CARL. And the difference is one letter that changes everything.

What CARL adds that STAR misses:

✅ Context - replaces Situation AND Task. Simpler, cleaner
✅ Action - the heart of every competency answer.
✅ Result - numbers, outcomes, impact.
✅ Learnings - the part STAR skips entirely.

The Learning element is where good candidates become great ones. A candidate who reflects honestly on what didn't go perfectly is infinitely more credible than one whose every answer ends with a perfect outcome and universal happiness

Real projects don't end like that. Interviewers know it.

📧 Want the full breakdown including a real before and after CARL example?

Click below for the complete article 👇

07/10/2026

🚨NEW VACANCY - Senior HR Advisor (Interim) | Education Sector | Home-based with occasional days in Cumbria | Circa £26 - £28 per hour | Approx. 6 months, may extend | Immediate start🚨

Foxgroves Recruitment are working exclusively with a well respected client in the education sector. We are looking for someone who knows the education sector inside out and is available now for a period of around 6 months.

This is the complex end of HR. Sensitive disciplinary, grievance and parent complaint investigations including safeguarding and SEND, advising at panels and appeal hearings, TUPE consultations linked to academy conversions, and restructures from consultation through to completion. You'd be working directly with the teaching and support staff unions throughout.

What's on offer…

💷 Circa £26 - £28 per hour, negotiable for the right experience
📆 Around six months, with a genuine possibility of extension
🏡 Genuinely home-based, with a day at the Cumbria office every couple of weeks/once a month
🌴 Holiday pay, likely rising to 30 days plus bank holidays after 12 weeks
🤝 Flexible working, they're open to how you structure your week
🚗 Mileage covered for any school visits
👥 A proper specialist team around you, so you're not carrying the difficult cases alone

Interested, or know someone who'd be a great fit? Drop me a message for a confidential chat or send your CV directly to [email protected]

🦊 Foxgroves Recruitment - The go-to partner for HR appointments in Cumbria!

View the full advert here 👇

https://recruiterflow.com/foxgrovesrecruitment/jobs/208

07/10/2026

We are having another busy week at Foxgroves Recruitment HQ!

A real mix going on this week, from business support right through to senior leadership, with some lovely results to share and plenty still open.

Filled this week with candidates starting in November...
🧡 Head of Business Operations, Penrith
🧡 Senior HR Advisor, Penrith

Two cracking roles now off the list, with two happy clients and two people about to start something new.

These are now closed and moving to second interviews next week...
✅ Operations Director
✅ Chief Information Officer (Constabulary)
✅ Brand Manager

Fingers crossed for everyone heading into final stages.

Still open and accepting applications...
📩 Sales Administrator, Penrith
📩 Client Relationship Manager, Pirelli, Midlands
📩 HR & Payroll Assistant, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire

If any of these have caught your eye, don't sit on it. Get in touch or apply via our jobs board on the website, and I'm always happy to have a confidential chat about any of them. 👇

https://recruiterflow.com/foxgrovesrecruitment/jobs

06/10/2026

🚨NEW VACANCY - Sales Administrator | Near Penrith, Cumbria | Circa £25,500 | 🚨

Foxgroves Recruitment are working with a well-established business near Penrith. They have a brilliant reputation with their customers and their staff, and a loyal customer base that has been with them for years.

You'd be joining a small, friendly sales office team of five.
The heart of the job is order processing, keeping things accurate and moving. Alongside that you'll be giving product advice, sorting despatch queries and keeping on top of customer accounts, including the odd polite call about credit limits or overdue payments.

Full training is provided on the products and the credit control side. There are no sales targets and no cold calling.

What's on offer…

💷 Circa £25,500
🎉 2pm finish every Friday for everyone
🌴 30 days holiday including bank holidays (pro rata), rising with service by up to 5 extra days
🏦 Company pension
🩺 Company healthcare scheme after probation
🚲 Cycle to Work scheme

You'll need a full UK driving licence and your own vehicle, due to the location.

Interested, or know someone who'd be a great fit? Drop Chantell Vermaak-Johnson a message for a confidential chat or send your CV directly to [email protected]

View the full advert here 👇
https://recruiterflow.com/foxgrovesrecruitment/jobs/205

05/10/2026

🗞️ Recruitment Confessions Newsletter! 💼

"Am I Too Old to Change Career?"

I get asked this a lot. Usually by someone in their late thirties or forties who has spent years building expertise in one field and is now seriously wondering whether it's too late.

The short answer is no. You are not too old.

The longer answer is more complicated. And nobody talks about it honestly enough. So let's do that.

What's actually holding people back:

✅ 43% say loss of income whilst retraining is the biggest barrier - not confidence
✅ 40% fear feeling too old - and yet the average worker thinks it's too late at 45
✅ Only 11% say confidence or motivation is their biggest obstacle
✅ The employer question nobody mentions - will they stick it out for £10k less?
✅ It is a long process. Emotionally draining. And worth it

I watched a close family member make a huge career change. Three years of hard work, uncertainty and moments of wondering whether it was all worth it.

Three years on - earning more than before and exactly where they want to be.

📧 Want the full picture including the stories that have stayed with me? Click below for the complete article 👇

I get asked this a lot in my job. Usually by someone in their late thirties or forties who has spent years building expertise in one field, and is now seriously wondering whether it's too late to do something completely different.

30/09/2026

I am really proud to share this lovely testimonial from a candidate Chantell Vermaak-Johnson recently placed in an Operations Manager role in a valued client based in West Cumbria.

Well done Chantell 🧡 its always wonderful to hear directly from candidates that they are having a great experience here at Foxgroves Recruitment!

If you are looking for a new role and would like to speak to Chantell Vermaak-Johnson about how she can support your search and match you with the right positions, drop her a DM or connection request today!

Visit our jobs page for some inspiration for your next role
https://recruiterflow.com/foxgrovesrecruitment/jobs

30/09/2026

TEMPORARY WORK IS ON THE RISE! 🚨

The number of interim HR enquires and opportunities have risen over the last couple of months as many employers look to bring in more support with the rise in ER cases.

As a result I'm building a pool of interim HR professionals for temporary ER case work with clients across my patch.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR TEMPORARY WORK IN HR? CHECK OUT THE INFO BELOW AND GET IN TOUCH TODAY!

What the work looks like:

✅ Managing disciplinary, grievance and absence cases from start to finish
✅ Carrying out investigations and preparing reports
✅ Supporting hearings, taking notes and drafting outcome letters
✅ Advising line managers with clear, practical guidance
You'll thrive if you:
✅ Have solid, hands-on ER experience at Advisor level or above
✅ Can pick up a case quickly and get it moving
✅ Are confident working with minimal supervision
✅ Are CIPD qualified, or working towards it

What's on offer?

💷 Between 17.95 to £23.08 per hour plus holiday pay
📅 Flexible, temporary assignments
💫 HR Advisor temp roles in Carlisle and Workington

Interested, or know someone who's now looking for interim HR work? Message me for a confidential chat, or email [email protected]

Foxgroves Recruitment - Your go-to partner for HR Opportunities in Cumbria.

29/09/2026

We've renewed our Club 24 membership with Eden Valley Hospice and Jigsaw, Cumbria's Children's Hospice, and they'll be Foxgroves Recruitment's Charity of the Year for another year. 🧡

Club 24 is simple. Each business funds 24 hours of care for a local patient. Those 24 hours might mean a young person spending a day and night at Jigsaw in a fun, homely setting while their family gets a proper break.

It might mean a patient spending a full day at the hospice with their partner and children, eating their favourite meals and watching a film in the cinema room while their pain is managed.

Or it might mean someone's last day, spent with the people they love and saying goodbye in the way they want to.

The hospice costs around £5 million a year to run, and only about 20% of that comes from NHS funding. The rest comes from people and businesses in our community. This blows my mind!

What I like about Club 24 is that it's built for businesses like mine. Most of Cumbria's businesses are SMEs, budgets are stretched and there are plenty of good causes asking for help. Club 24 gives you a manageable, regular way to fund something specific that makes a real difference.

More than 40 local businesses have already signed up. The aim is to reach 365, enough to fund a full year of care between us.

If you run a business in Cumbria and want to be part of it, drop me a message and I'll put you in touch with the amazing team or drop the lovely Emma R. a DM.

You can check out Club 24 via the link in the comments 👇