Louis Leppard

Experience

I have ten years' experience providing recruitment support for the Life Sciences and Manufacturing sector. I have recruited for global companies and also start-up medical organisations. In life sciences, I have recruited for QA and regulatory affairs as well as pharmacovigilance but also laboratory research based roles and technical sales. With regards to manufacturing, I have recruited for a global electronics company and also a worldwide design consultancy as well as smaller scale bespoke manufacturing. 

I have a strong expertise in executive search and have recruited a Regulatory Affairs Director for a cell therapy program, a Commercial Manager for a medicinal cannabis organisation and I have also led the recruitment strategy and been successful in the appointment of Managing Directors, in both life sciences and also a manufacturing company.

Skills and personality traits

I am resilient, driven and personable which are invaluable traits when working in this industry. I excel at account management and building strong working relationships, which has meant that some clients have become candidates and vice-versa with a lot of my relationships going back several years. I've worked in various recruitment companies including a start-up, an SME and a large corporate, all of which have given me transferable skills and extensive knowledge of different ways of working and led me to start Quay Recruitment as an independent consultancy. 

Interests

I love music and I've played guitar for over 20 years and also some bass and piano. I am a Beatles obsessive and bore people senseless with “fun” facts about the Fab Four. I'm also a football fan; I live close to Fratton Park and I'm almost unbeatable on 1990s football trivia.

What makes you tick?

Recruitment is a much maligned industry and sometimes rightly so. You won't find me pushing my clients for exclusivity (a little competition can be healthy!) and nor we do charge more for a retained service. I don't like the term "disrupter" too much but I like to think we at Quay offer something different and that is a more straightforward, consultative (not sales) service which is timely, efficient and reasonably priced. No pointless sales calls, no irrelevant KPIs, no outdated terminology (how many times have you heard retention mentioned at 96% based on a survey many moons ago!). I am proud to have worked with clients on benchmarking their remuneration packages and providing guidance on staff retention. With regards to candidates, they are integral to the process and our success. I still, after 10 years, get a genuine thrill when I hear the happiness in a candidate's voice when they have secured either their next rung up the ladder or at times, their first post graduate role or sometimes, even their first role in the UK if they are a foreign national. I can never get tired of that feeling!