Case studies · Precision machining & maintenance
Precision machining and maintenance roles, filled
Five manufacturing and precision engineering searches, from a 38-day toolmaking hire to a 169-day rebuild engineer. 130 candidates worked, 22 presented, seven hired.
Toolmaker / Precision Machinist / Bench Fitter
A long-established precision engineering manufacturer producing springs, pressings, stampings, wire forms and progressive press tools · Precision engineering & press tooling
- Time to fill
- 38 days
- Package
- £35,360 – £47,840 per annum DOE
- Location
- South East London — full-time, permanent
Progressive press tool work is a narrow skill. The client needed someone who could build, maintain and repair tooling for high-volume stamping, interpret 2D and 3D data, and work confidently across mills, lathes and grinders. The components go to automotive, aerospace and defence, medical, electronics, energy, rail and nuclear customers, so tolerance and reliability were fixed requirements.
Rather than flood the client with names, we worked a small, tightly qualified field. Nine candidates were sourced and screened, five came through internal interview and three were put forward. Two of those three were interviewed by the client and both were hired. A field of nine produced two appointments in 38 days.
Pipeline — candidates reaching each stage
- Sourced & screened 9
- Internal interview 5
- Presented to client 3
- Client interview 2
- Hired 2
Nine candidates worked, three presented, and two hired. Filled in 38 days.
Nine candidates worked, two hired. A narrow field is not a problem if every name in it is right.
38 days from brief to filled.
CNC Turner
A subcontract production machining business serving the valve, filtration and defence industries · Subcontract CNC machining
- Time to fill
- 39 days
- Package
- £35,000 - £37,000 DOE
- Location
- West Yorkshire — full-time, with an early finish on Fridays
A subcontract shop machining small batches and one-offs to tight tolerances needs a turner who can set and operate Fanuc lathes, edit the programs, select and set cutting tools, and inspect their own work on micrometres, gauges and CMMs. Setter, programmer and inspector in one person is what narrows the field.
Nine candidates were sourced and screened. Five were interviewed internally and four were judged worth presenting. All four went through to client interview and one was hired. The field was small, but the qualification behind it was accurate, and the role closed in 39 days.
Pipeline — candidates reaching each stage
- Sourced & screened 9
- Internal interview 5
- Presented to client 4
- Client interview 4
- Hired 1
Nine candidates worked to produce four presented. Filled in 39 days.
Four of the nine candidates worked were good enough to present. Screening tightly is cheaper than screening twice.
39 days from brief to filled.
Control Panel Builder
A specialist in control panel design, manufacture and building management systems, working across commercial, industrial and public sector projects · Control panels & building management systems
- Time to fill
- 74 days
- Package
- Up to £40,000 DOE
- Location
- Leeds, West Yorkshire — full-time
Panel building sits between electrical assembly and system integration. The client wanted someone who could wire and test bespoke panels from schematics and layout drawings — PLCs, relays, contactors, VSDs, switches and power supplies — to European wiring standards, and prepare backplates and enclosures. Panel builders with that depth of drawing-reading are scarce.
Twenty-five candidates were sourced and screened, thirteen were interviewed internally, and five were presented. One of the five went to client interview and was hired. The search ran 74 days from brief to hire, but the shortlist stayed small and the first client interview closed it.
Pipeline — candidates reaching each stage
- Sourced & screened 25
- Internal interview 13
- Presented to client 5
- Client interview 1
- Hired 1
25 candidates worked to produce five presented. Filled in 74 days.
Twenty-five worked, five presented, one interview, one hire. Precision at the shortlist stage protects the client's time.
74 days from brief to filled.
Mechanical Installation Engineer
A building services provider to food manufacturers and distributors, with a renewable division delivering low-carbon heating and cooling · Building services for food manufacturing
- Time to fill
- 107 days
- Package
- £42,000–£45,000 DOE
- Location
- South West England — site-based, with regional and national travel
Install technicians for food manufacturing sites need breadth: refrigeration, HVAC, plumbing, fabric, groundwork and general fitting, plus a CSCS card, a clean UK licence and the ability to read technical drawings and P&IDs. The role is site-based with travel and time away from home. Each requirement is common alone; together they thin the field quickly.
Nineteen candidates were sourced and screened, eleven went to internal interview and four were presented. Three of the four were interviewed by the client and one was hired. It took 107 days. Roles that combine several trades with regional travel are slow searches, and the funnel shows exactly where the time went.
Pipeline — candidates reaching each stage
- Sourced & screened 19
- Internal interview 11
- Presented to client 4
- Client interview 3
- Hired 1
19 candidates worked and four presented. Filled in 107 days.
Three of the four candidates presented reached client interview. The shortlist was right; the market was simply thin.
107 days from brief to filled.
Mechanical / Electromechanical Rebuild & Refurbishment Engineer
A growing specialist engineering business overhauling linear bearing systems, spindles, motors and gearboxes in a small workshop team · MRO & precision rebuild engineering
- Time to fill
- 169 days
- Package
- £27,000–£30,000 per annum
- Location
- The East Midlands — full-time, workshop-based
The client was open-minded about background — direct spindle or linear bearing experience was welcome but not essential. What could not be taught quickly was the combination: meticulous mechanical strip-down and rebuild, familiarity with three-phase motors and basic testing, and soldering ability already in hand. In a small workshop team, temperament mattered as much as skill.
This was the hardest search in the sector. Sixty-eight candidates were sourced and screened to produce six worth presenting. Four reached client interview and two were hired. It took 169 days, and the work of the other sixty-two candidates sat with us rather than with the client.
Pipeline — candidates reaching each stage
- Sourced & screened 68
- Internal interview 18
- Presented to client 6
- Client interview 4
- Hired 2
68 candidates worked, six presented, and two hired. Filled in 169 days.
Sixty-eight candidates worked to make two hires. That is what a genuinely hard brief looks like.
169 days from brief to filled.
How the fee works
Every role on this page was delivered on the same basis: a fixed fee, agreed before we start, with no percentage of salary attached. The straightforward search and the difficult one cost the client the same.
That is the point of the model. A percentage fee charges you more for hiring a better-paid person and rewards us for the easy search. A fixed fee puts the risk of a long search where it belongs — with us. And if we do not fill the role, you get every penny of your fee back.
Every figure here comes from our own placement records. Clients and placed candidates are not named. Full detail on the model is on our Guaranteed Hire page.
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