A recruitment agency for
West Sussex businesses
Pineapple Careers is an independent recruitment agency based in Horsham. Ashley Hemsley recruits personally for employers across West Sussex, from Crawley and Haywards Heath to Worthing and Billingshurst, with no team of consultants in between.
Based in Horsham · recruiting across West Sussex and Surrey
The West Sussex hiring market
Most good candidates
already have a job.
More people are in work in West Sussex than in the South East or England as a whole. These are the latest official figures, and they explain why a job advert on its own often brings in the wrong people or nobody at all.
82.5%
of West Sussex adults aged 16 to 64 are in work
That is well ahead of the South East (78.8%) and England (75.8%). The people you want to hire are mostly employed already.
ONS Annual Population Survey, July 2025 to June 2026 [1]
2%
claimant rate in Horsham, the lowest in the county
West Sussex as a whole sits at 3.1%, against 4.1% for England. Very few people locally are out of work and actively looking.
ONS claimant count, September 2026 [1]
+26%
more job adverts than a year ago
There were 14,104 unique job postings in West Sussex in September 2026. Your vacancy is competing with more adverts for the same small pool.
Lightcast job postings, September 2026 [1]
£37,916
median full-time pay for jobs in West Sussex
Up 11.2% from £34,094 in 2023. Candidates know what they are worth, and offers have to keep pace.
ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 [2]
What this means for your next hire
When most of the right people are already in work, the best of them never see your advert. They have to be found, approached and given a good reason to move.
That is the part Ashley does. She has spent over 15 years building relationships with candidates and employers in Horsham and West Sussex, so she can reach people who are not scrolling job boards and tell you honestly what it will take to bring them in.
Where Ashley recruits
Across West Sussex
and beyond.
Pineapple Careers is based in Horsham and recruits for businesses in towns and villages right across the county, as well as in Surrey and Brighton.
Ashley also supports clients recruiting elsewhere in the UK and internationally, so a business with sites outside Sussex can keep the same recruiter for every role.
- Horsham
- Crawley
- Haywards Heath
- East Grinstead
- Worthing
- Billingshurst
- Surrey and UK-wide
How it works
One recruiter,
from brief to start date
1
The brief
A conversation with Ashley about the role, your team and what a great hire looks like, including an honest view on pay and how long the search is likely to take.
2
Search and screen
Ashley searches her network, job boards and direct outreach, then screens and interviews every candidate herself. No CVs are forwarded unchecked.
3–5
A shortlist worth meeting
You meet three to five people who fit. The fee is only payable when your new hire starts, and every placement includes a 12-week rebate period.
Client testimonials
What businesses say.
We’ve really enjoyed working with Ashley at Pineapple Careers, who has helped us successfully recruit two new team members over the past six months. The whole experience has been incredibly professional, efficient and seamless from start to finish.
What we’ve particularly appreciated is the time Ashley has taken to understand our business, the roles we’re recruiting for and the type of person who would be a good fit for our team. The candidates she has put forward have always been well-vetted and genuinely relevant, which has made the recruitment process so much easier for us.
Communication has been excellent throughout - always friendly, responsive and proactive - and both vacancies were filled quickly and successfully. It’s been a real pleasure working with Ashley and Pineapple Careers, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to other businesses looking for a reliable and professional recruitment partner.
St.C (Travel Goods) Ltd / Go Places.co.uk
Insights
Insights for local employers
Permanent hiring in the South has fallen every month since April 2023
Permanent hiring in the South of England has fallen every month since April 2023, even while UK hiring briefly recovered. Here is what it means for Horsham.
Read the articleUK vacancies are at a 12-year low, but West Sussex job adverts are up 17%
Vacancies across the UK are at a 12-year low. In West Sussex, job adverts are up 17% and Horsham has the county's lowest claimant rate.
Read the articleCost of living in Horsham: what new pay and rent figures mean for your salaries
New ONS figures show typical full-time pay rose 5.8% to £811.20 a week in April 2026 (ONS). Meanwhile, the average Horsham rent reached £1,490…
Read the articleWest Sussex hiring questions
Recruiting in West Sussex: your questions answered.
Which parts of West Sussex does Pineapple Careers cover?
Pineapple Careers is based in Horsham and recruits for employers across West Sussex, including Crawley, Haywards Heath, East Grinstead, Worthing and Billingshurst, as well as Surrey and Brighton. Ashley Hemsley also supports clients recruiting elsewhere in the UK and internationally.
Is it hard to recruit in West Sussex at the moment?
For many roles, yes. In the year to June 2026, 82.5% of West Sussex adults aged 16 to 64 were in work, against 75.8% across England (ONS Annual Population Survey). Horsham’s claimant rate was 2% in September 2026, the lowest in the county, while job postings in West Sussex were about 26% higher than a year earlier. More adverts are chasing a small pool of active job seekers, so the strongest candidates usually have to be approached directly.
Why use a local recruitment agency rather than a national one?
A local recruiter already knows the employers, commuting patterns and pay rates in the area, and has relationships with candidates who are not on job boards. At Pineapple Careers the person who takes your brief is the same person who finds, screens and interviews your candidates: Ashley Hemsley, who has recruited in Horsham and West Sussex for over 15 years.
How much does it cost to recruit through Pineapple Careers?
Pineapple Careers charges a percentage fee that is only payable once your new hire starts: nothing upfront, and nothing if you don’t hire. Every placement includes a 12-week rebate period. Ashley will give you an exact quote after a quick chat about the role.
Hiring? Tell Ashley
what you need.
Four quick details and Ashley will call you back, usually the same working day. No obligation and no sales pitch.
- Takes under a minute
- A real conversation with Ashley, not a call centre
- 12-week rebate on every permanent placement
Thanks, that's with Ashley
She'll call you back, usually the same working day. If it's urgent, ring 01403 907444.
Sources
- West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Economy Snapshot, September 2026. Employment rate from the ONS Annual Population Survey (July 2025 to June 2026), claimant count from ONS (September 2026, provisional) and job postings from Lightcast.
- West Sussex County Council, West Sussex Economic Strategy: Economic Indicators Analysis (May 2026). Median gross annual earnings for full-time employees working in West Sussex, ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.