Precision machining & maintenance
Manufacturing recruitment agency
A flat fee by salary band with no commission: a five-point review of the role, a dedicated recruiter, advertising plus headhunting and a screened shortlist. Below are the 5 precision machining & maintenance vacancies we have actually filled, with the real pipeline behind each one.
What we are usually asked to fill
- Production Manager
- CNC Machinist
- Shift Supervisor
- Quality Inspector
- Maintenance Technician
What is actually hard about hiring in manufacturing
Shift patterns and site location decide these hires more than salary does, and neither is negotiable after an offer. A candidate who will not do nights, or cannot reliably get to a rural site at 6am, is not a candidate however good the CV reads.
What we screen for
The exact shift pattern they will commit to in writing, real travel time to site rather than map distance, the machines and tolerances they have worked to, and whether their experience is high-volume or low-volume — the two rarely transfer.
The precision machining & maintenance roles we have filled
| Role | Location | Days to fill | Candidates screened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toolmaker / Precision Machinist / Bench Fitter | South East London — full-time, permanent | 38 | 9 |
| CNC Turner | West Yorkshire — full-time, with an early finish on Fridays | 39 | 9 |
| Control Panel Builder | Leeds, West Yorkshire — full-time | 74 | 25 |
| Mechanical Installation Engineer | South West England — site-based, with regional and national travel | 107 | 19 |
| Mechanical / Electromechanical Rebuild & Refurbishment Engineer | The East Midlands — full-time, workshop-based | 169 | 68 |
Median 74 days, slower than our overall median of 42 across 46 filled roles. Full funnels for every one of these are on the precision machining & maintenance case studies.
A vacancy of that length at the pay currently advertised for a production manager (£53,000) nets out at about £7,327 in output not produced, less the salary not paid — the cost of vacancy calculator shows every step of the sum. Before you settle on a salary, check what the local market is advertising for the same job title. Our published data covers both halves: how many applications an advert draws by sector and how long a vacancy takes to fill by sector.
What it costs
| Salary band | Our flat fee | A 20% agency would bill |
|---|---|---|
| Roles up to £30,000 | £1,500 +VAT | up to £6,000 |
| £30,000 – £44,999 | £2,000 +VAT | £6,000 – £9,000 |
| £45,000 – £59,999 | £3,000 +VAT | £9,000 – £12,000 |
| £60,000 – £79,999 | £4,000 +VAT | £12,000 – £16,000 |
The precision machining & maintenance roles above paid between £27,000 and £47,840, which puts most of them in the £1,500–£3,000 bands. Every band gets a five-point review of the role, a dedicated recruiter and a screened shortlist.
Frequently asked questions
How much does manufacturing recruitment cost?
A flat fee by salary band, agreed before the search and unchanged by the salary you agree: Roles up to £30,000 — £1,500 +VAT; £30,000 – £44,999 — £2,000 +VAT; £45,000 – £59,999 — £3,000 +VAT; £60,000 – £79,999 — £4,000 +VAT. There is no commission when you hire, and it starts with a five-point review of your role. The precision machining & maintenance roles we have filled paid between £27,000 and £47,840, so most sit in the £1,500–£3,000 range against £5,400–£9,568 at a 20% agency.
How long does it take to fill a manufacturing role?
Across the 5 precision machining & maintenance vacancies we have filled and publish in full, the median was 74 days from brief to hire — slower than our overall median of 42 days across 46 roles. The fastest took 38 days and the slowest 169. We publish the slow ones too.
Do you charge commission on a manufacturing hire?
No. The fee is fixed by salary band before the search starts and does not move with the salary agreed. That is the whole point of the model, and the saving against a percentage grows as the role gets more senior.
What do you screen manufacturing candidates for?
The exact shift pattern they will commit to in writing, real travel time to site rather than map distance, the machines and tolerances they have worked to, and whether their experience is high-volume or low-volume — the two rarely transfer.
Can I just advertise the role instead?
Yes, and sometimes you should. A £399 +VAT advert puts the role across the major job boards and sends you the applications. It took a median of 19 candidates worked to make one hire in precision machining & maintenance, so if somebody in your business genuinely has those hours, advertising is the cheaper route and we will say so.
Hiring in manufacturing?
Tell us the role and we will tell you what it costs and how long it is likely to take — using the 5 we have already filled in this sector, not a guess.
See Premium Hire Talk to a recruiter
Or call 0161 327 2895. Prefer to advertise it yourself? Post a job online from £399 +VAT, or write the advert first with our free job advert generator.
Before you decide, the numbers
Cost comparison
Recruitment fees by salary band: agency % vs flat fee
A salary-band table of what a UK contingency agency bills at 15%, 20% and 25% against the published flat fees for the same search, from £30,000 to £75,000 — with the three cases where the percentage is still the better buy.
Cost comparison
Is flat-fee recruitment cheaper than an agency for a £45,000 hire?
Worked figures for a £45,000 UK hire — what a contingency agency bills at 15%, 20% and 25%, what the published flat fees are, what the real difference is once you count your own screening time, and the three situations where the agency is the better buy.
Benchmarks
How long does it take to fill a role in the UK?
The median role we filled took 42 days from brief to close, but the spread runs from 14 to 169 days. The per-sector breakdown, what actually drives the difference, and how to read a time-to-fill promise.