Another good move for Mr Lawrence was moving from the United Kingdom to Dunedin, where he is a section manager and systems expert at global recruitment firm Hays, last year.
The move was not only to pursue his career but to be "a perfect family man", he said.
In a career spanning more than two decades Mr Lawrence spent the majority of time in retail in the UK.
Retail was exciting and challenging in the early stages of his career — "I would say retail business is the most exciting when you are young in the industry" — but it got more difficult juggling work with family commitments, particularly with the large amount of weekend work.
He started his career as branch manager in a mobile retail company Carphone Warehouse.
Later he joined as the showroom manager of Hearth & Cook by Rangemoors in Exeter, which sold stoves and range cookers.
"Retail business in the UK was consumer-heavy," he said.
The store he worked at opened seven days a week from 8.30am until 8pm.
It was a high-footfall store and he worked about 70 hours a week every week.
For him, customer satisfaction was the most important focus and he was not able to spend more time with his wife and children.
"Retail doesn’t give you back any time at all," he said.
"I wanted to spend more time with my family and I wanted to shift to a Monday-to-Friday job."
He decided to find a new job which allowed him to spend more time with his family and children.
"I worked 50 weekends out of 52 weekends in a year.
"I was not having time with my family and decided to change."
He had a few discussions with friends who had moved out of the retail sector.
The search for a better work-life balance landed him in recruitment.
He joined Hays in 2016 as the recruitment consultant and systems expert.
"Another thing I enjoyed about recruitment was that every morning I was getting people into new jobs.
"The best part of recruitment was that it helped people get into new careers."
In the early days, he specialised in accountancy and finance recruitment across the Devon and Somerset regions.
"My focus was to partner with candidates and clients and make sure the companies found the right talent and candidates landed in the right job.
"It can be a life-changing moment for them. The right job can change someone’s life.
"I can vouch for that because if I can find the right job and feel better then I can help others too."
The international footprint of Hays was another attraction for Mr Lawrence, who liked to travel.
When Hays offered Mr Lawrence an opportunity to work abroad he accepted.
"New Zealand was a very good place to work and Hays had a very good established business here."
However, Covid created hurdles for Mr Lawrence and his family who had hoped to arrive in New Zealand in early 2020.
The international border closure created "a bit of panic and delays" in their plans, he said.
"Like many others it was really an uncertain period for us.
"We packed our bags to travel in March 2020 then the borders closed. We waited for around six months before unpacking the stuff," he said.
The family landed in Christchurch on July 23 last year and he joined the company in August.
Mr Lawrence, who lives in Andersons Bay, enjoyed outdoor activities and nature with his wife and four children.
"I am exploring the beaches and nature here.
"There is definitely a cultural change. However, Dunedin is not that dissimilar to Exeter in the UK."
Hays had a significant presence in New Zealand and was expanding its business in Otago and Southland
"I was given the opportunity to come down and establish the business."
He had been given responsibilities for widening the business in Otago and Southland.
"I am meeting a lot of people.
"It may not be a huge city but there are good commercial opportunities."
People here were different from UK and were more relaxed and "probably more chilled out".
"The job market everywhere has challenges. I think the challenges are different."
He was now getting time with his family, he said.
The education system in Dunedin was good and his children were happier in school.
A keen gym-goer, Mr Lawrence said he was passionate about strong-man competition.
He has competed in the strong-man competition in the UK national level competitions.
He believed that his passion for it had helped him in his professional growth too.
"Strong man as a sport is incredible and it is much more than physical strength, it is about consistency — consistency at work is also key to success."
Mr Lawrence planned to compete in a strongman competition in Christchurch at the end of the year.
