Built on a Decade of Fitness Recruitment. Focused on the World.
Love Recruitment International is the global arm of the UK's leading specialist fitness recruitment agency — placing exceptional talent across the Middle East, Australia, USA and Europe.
Our Story
Love Recruitment was founded in 2015 by Lawrence Everest and Abhi Lakhina, with Tom Trout joining as owner and director shortly after. Over the following decade it has become the UK's leading specialist fitness and leisure recruitment agency, built on a simple but uncompromising commitment to Service and Delivery.
International ambition was always part of the picture. Before Covid, the group ran Love Recruitment Australia, led by Maddie Cummings, giving the team early experience of what placing fitness talent outside the UK actually involves, the different operator cultures, the relocation dynamics, the candidate motivations that don't apply to a domestic move.
When the pandemic paused that chapter, the focus returned to the UK. But the knowledge stayed.
In 2024, Abhi made a deliberate decision to restart international operations and under its own brand. Love Recruitment International was built on the foundations of everything the group had learned in the UK, combined with Abhi and Tom's growing relationships with operators across the Middle East, Europe, Australia and the United States.
Today, Love Recruitment International is run by Abhi and Tom from the UK, serving global clients with the same rigour, honesty, and industry knowledge that built the parent business. It isn't a side project. It's a specialist agency in its own right, one that happens to have a ten-year track record of exceptional recruitment sitting directly behind it.
The People - Who's Behind Love Recruitment International
Abhi Lakhina co-founded Love Recruitment in 2015 and leads Love Recruitment International. He has spent over a decade recruiting in the fitness industry and has built genuine in-market knowledge across the Middle East, Australia, Europe and the USA. Abhi works directly with international operators on senior and specialist searches, bringing the same consultative, relationship-first approach that defined the UK business to every global mandate.
Tom Trout is a founder and director of LRI and brings a background that sets him apart from most recruiters — he began his career in the fitness industry itself, working his way up from Personal Trainer to General Manager before moving into recruitment. That lived experience means he understands the roles he recruits for from the inside, and it's what clients and candidates consistently say makes the difference.
What Connects LRI to the Wider Group - Part of Something Bigger
Love Recruitment International sits within the Love Recruitment Group alongside Love Recruitment (UK fitness and leisure), Love Childcare Recruitment, and Love Fitness Jobs.
The group has made over 2,000 placements since 2015, works with more than 200 businesses, and holds a 4.7-star Google rating from nearly 400 reviews. That reputation - built over a decade of consistent delivery in the UK - is the foundation Love Recruitment International operates from.
When you work with us, you're not working with a startup trying to figure out international recruitment. You're working with an established, trusted business that has deliberately expanded into global markets because it has the team, the track record, and the relationships to do it properly.
Find out more about Love Recruitment Group here
How We Work - Our Approach
Love Recruitment International operates from the UK, serving clients globally. Abhi and Tom work directly with every client. When you brief us, you speak to the people doing the work.
Our approach is proactive. We don't post a job and wait. We go to the talent, using a decade of relationships, an active international candidate network, and genuine market knowledge to find the right people and take your opportunity to them directly.
We work across the full management spectrum, from Club Manager and General Manager to Regional Director and C-Suite, placing into premium operators, boutique studio groups, resort and wellness brands, and fitness suppliers across five continents.
For candidates, the approach is the same: honest advice, clear communication, and genuine representation. We take your story to market. We don't just add your CV to a database.
Our Markets - Where We Recruit
Middle East — The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Our most established international market. We have deep relationships with premium operators across the region and a strong track record of placing management and senior talent, including candidates relocating internationally for the first time.
Australia — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and beyond. A market the group has history with, and one Abhi and Tom know well. Strong demand for UK-trained fitness professionals at management level, and a growing premium sector creating genuine senior opportunities.
United States — New York, Los Angeles, Miami and across the country. World-class operators, high-ceiling packages, and a boutique fitness market that leads globally. The visa pathway is more complex than other markets but the opportunities for the right senior candidate are significant.
Europe — The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and across the continent. Boutique fitness is expanding fast in European cities and the demand for experienced international operators is growing ahead of local supply. Amsterdam is our most active European market right now.
United Kingdom — Our home market and the foundation of everything. We support UK operators hiring internationally and UK fitness professionals ready to take their next step abroad.
Whether you're a fitness operator looking to build a team internationally, or a fitness professional ready to explore what a move abroad could mean for your career — we'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch with Abhi at abhi@loverecruitmentgroup.com or Tom at tom@loverecruitmentgroup.com, or browse the jobs page to see what's live right now.