Retained Recruitment Partnership for a High-Growth Leisure Operator
The Scenario
A rapidly growing leisure operator, Educated Body (150% growth in staffed facilities over the last three years), specialising in luxury residential and corporate wellness facilities, was facing increasing recruitment pressure driven by ongoing expansion and high service expectations.
While previous project-based recruitment with 4Leisure Recruitment had delivered strong results, the pace and scale of growth created a clear need for a more structured, scalable and embedded recruitment solution.
Key challenges included:
- Ongoing hiring across multiple critical roles and multiple sites
- Maintaining luxury brand and service standards across all recruitment
- Reducing pressure on internal hiring managers
- Establishing a more cost-effective and sustainable model to support growth
The Solution
4Leisure implemented a fully managed, retained recruitment partnership, designed to operate as a seamless extension of Educated Body’s internal team.
This was underpinned by a dedicated account management structure led by Amy and Susie, ensuring consistent communication, responsiveness, and close alignment with operational priorities at all times.
Key elements of the solution included:
- Full end-to-end recruitment delivery across Club Managers, Assistant Managers, Duty Managers, Personal Trainers and Lifeguards
- Rebuild and ongoing management of the branded careers portal
- Full screening and management of all applications (internal and external)
- Proactive headhunting aligned to luxury brand standards
- Coordination of interview processes (video and in-person)
- Targeted attraction campaigns across premium job boards and specialist networks
- Employer branding support to strengthen candidate attraction and engagement
- Fully compliant temporary staffing support for urgent operational needs
Alongside this, Tunde played a key role in continuously uncovering new candidate markets, expanding reach beyond traditional channels and ensuring a consistent and diverse talent pipeline was always in place to support both immediate and future hiring needs.
The Results (Over 3 Years)
- 50% cost saving vs standard recruitment fees (approx. £300k saved)
- 170 candidates successfully placed
- Average time-to-hire reduced from 23 days to 13 days
- Strong calibre of hires, with many progressing into promoted positions internally
- Significant increase in quality applications and overall candidate engagement
- Strengthened employer brand within the luxury leisure and wellness market
- Reduced vacancy levels and reliance on temporary staffing solutions
- Lower operational burden on senior internal managers
- A sustainable recruitment infrastructure supporting long-term growth
Summary
Over a three-year period, 4Leisure supported Educated Body in transitioning from reactive recruitment to a fully embedded, retained partnership model.
With structured account management from Amy and Susie, and proactive market mapping and candidate sourcing from Tunde, the partnership ensured a continuous flow of high-quality talent, reduced internal pressure, and provided a scalable recruitment solution aligned with the business’s rapid growth and premium brand standards.