About us
We’re a network of recruitment and retention experts transforming how care providers attract, recruit and retain their staff
We achieve a better ROI from your job advertising spend.
We screen candidates for you and speed up your time to hire.
We enable a more structured recruitment journey for candidates.
We are not just another media agency buyer.
We teach your teams how to attract, recruit and retain care staff.
We collaborate so you can achieve your recruitment hiring goals, consistently.
We benefit from hands-on experience, having worked as carers and hiring managers.
Our Story
We’ve been there so we know what it takes
The Care Social Network was founded by Stephen Forster, a former Care Assistant with deep, firsthand experience in the care industry. Driven by a genuine commitment to care, Stephen gained comprehensive insight into the sector’s challenges and opportunities. He advanced his career to become an HR and Recruitment Manager at a CQC-rated ‘Outstanding’ domiciliary care company—an achievement shared by only 4-5% of care providers in the UK. During his tenure, Stephen successfully scaled the company, honing expertise in recruitment and staff management.
In 2020, Stephen identified a widespread gap among care providers: many struggled with efficiently managing recruitment processes, from crafting effective job adverts and leveraging job boards to conducting interviews, managing offers, onboarding, and maintaining staff morale and retention. In response, The Care Social Network was created to empower care companies with the knowledge and tools needed to master these essential practices. Through a clear, step-by-step blueprint, the company has since transformed recruitment and retention strategies for care providers across the UK, helping them build stronger, more sustainable teams.
Meet the team
Our skilled team bring a broad mix of experience and expertise.
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Founder & Managing Director
Stephen prides himself on being an ex Care Assistant and HR and Recruitment Manager in the care industry. With 10 years worth of recruitment and retention experience, Stephen works closely with UK and Ireland care providers to ensure they can attract, recruit and retain their care teams.
Stephen is proud to have worked on previous projects with Skills For Care and Care England. Stephen has a long term goal of promoting values based recruitment across the industry as well as aiming to have the principles of caring for people taught in schools.
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Care Recruitment Advisor & Finance Manager
Rosanne is a key team member who is responsible for the screening element of candidates who apply for care companies. Rosanne spent 3 years as a midwife as well as previously working as a Maternity Support Worker so you could say she knows quality care better than most of us!
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Account Manager
Katrine is our expert Account Manager who ensures the smooth running of your job boards as well as making sure your team has the correct processes set up. A proud wife as well as Mum of 2 lovely children. Katrine has previously worked in recruitment roles as well as a domiciliary Carer in North Yorkshire.
How we work
Our Process
Having a robust recruitment process and strong online presence can be challenging and time consuming. At The Care Social Network we work alongside your internal team as advisors, analysing your current processes and introducing our proven methods of hiring and retaining care staff.
01 : Discovery
30 minute discovery call - let us know what your care recruitment and retention challenges are so we can make suggestions.
02 : Audit
We conduct a demographic audit for the areas you need to hire care staff so you can look at what actions are needed to be competitive.
03 : Strategy
We conduct an audit on your advertising spend and help you decide how to spend your budgets on what job boards or media platforms.