Crestwood
Partners

Your Industry, Our Expertise

0%
Retention Rate
Our placements last, because we match the right talent with the right opportunity.
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Successful Placements
Our numbers speak for our experience and reputation in the industry.
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Disciplines Covered
across the whole of the manufacturing sector from operations to finance and almost everything in between.
The British Firm
Quietly Powering America's
Manufacturing Workforce
Hire Talent Today

The Crestwood Difference

– Why We're Not Another Recruiter

A Team of Specialists

We don’t generalise. Manufacturing is our sole focus, and that depth means we understand the real distinctions that shape performance — whether you're running a food plant, a metals facility, a packaging line, or a medtech environment. We grasp your operational realities quickly and recognise what separates a steady contributor from a transformative hire. Our specialism allows us to identify people who will thrive in your world, not just people who match a job title.

We Feel Like Home

Working with us never feels transactional. Every partnership is founder-led, giving you direct access to people who understand your business, your pressures, and your long term goals. We take the time to learn how you operate, how your teams think, and what success genuinely looks like in your environment. That closeness allows us to support you with clarity and consistency — a relationship that feels personal, not corporate, and earns trust that lasts well beyond a single hire.

We're Fast and Precise

Speed matters, but only when paired with accuracy. Our process is built to move quickly without compromising the depth of assessment that senior manufacturing roles demand. We research, refine, and curate — delivering shortlists that are tight, relevant, and aligned to both your operational context and culture. You won’t sift through noise or volume; instead, you meet candidates who feel handpicked, allowing you to make confident decisions at pace.

We're Proven

Our results are measured not just in placements, but in the long-term impact those leaders have on your organisation. We’re trusted because our hires stay, perform, and elevate the teams around them. With exceptional retention rates and hiring timelines that consistently outperform industry norms, we bring a level of reliability that reduces risk and strengthens your leadership foundation. The outcomes speak for themselves — consistent, repeatable, and grounded in real performance.

How We Partner With Clients

- A Process Designed for Senior Talent

01

Immersion

We spend two to three days inside your operation - on the floor, in the offices, and wherever you’re comfortable giving us access. Because we come from your world, we know what we’re looking at: the maturity of your QMS, the rhythm of your production environment, the way decisions genuinely flow, and the culture that exists beyond the posters on the wall. This on-site immersion allows us to define what success really looks like in your environment. Before we search, we understand the leader you need - not just the role you want to fill.

Strategic planning workspace
02

Market Architecture

Rather than “talent mapping,” we build a Market Architecture - a structural blueprint of every credible talent source available to you. Competitors, adjacent sectors, regulated environments, turnaround specialists, scale-up leaders, and the hidden operators who never apply for roles - all analysed, segmented, and understood before the first call is made. We don’t search broadly; we search with mathematical accuracy. No viable candidate is missed, and no irrelevant one enters your funnel. Our process pairs cutting-edge technology with deep human evaluation - enabling us to identify, research, and engage exceptional talent faster than our competitors, without ever sacrificing judgement, nuance, or fit.

Executive dashboard and reports
03

Behavioural Stress-Testing

Every shortlisted candidate goes through a level of scrutiny most search firms never attempt. We recreate the pressures, decisions, and ambiguities they will face inside your operation — from throughput challenges and customer expectations to team maturity and cultural dynamics. Through scenario-based evaluation, leadership diagnostics, and failure-point exploration, we uncover how they think, how they respond under pressure, and whether they can perform in your real-world conditions. Only candidates who demonstrate capability, resilience, and cultural alignment progress to your table.

Strategic architecture and planning
04

Precision Placement & Performance Launch

Placement isn’t the finish line — it’s the start of impact. We support your new hire through a structured performance launch, aligning expectations, defining early wins, and helping them embed quickly within your organisation. Our feedback loops keep both sides aligned, ensuring a smooth transition and accelerated contribution. This engineered approach is why our retention rates outperform the industry and why the leaders we place deliver tangible value faster. We don’t hope placements succeed - we design the conditions that make success inevitable.

Professional transition and navigation

Case Studies
That Matter

We Measure Our Success in Your Operational Gains

2024
Challenge:
A major aerospace components manufacturer faced chronic backlog growth due to uneven site leadership, ageing processes, and inconsistent execution across shifts. Delivery penalties were mounting and customer confidence was declining.
Outcome:
Our Director of Operations hire reset the daily operating rhythm, upgraded shift leadership capability, and standardised performance routines across the plant. Backlog reduced rapidly, on-time delivery rose, and customer confidence stabilised.
Director of Operations | Aerospace Components
2025
Challenge:
A medtech organisation scaling internationally struggled with fragmented supplier performance, weak planning coordination, and volatile material availability, risking customer commitments.
Outcome:
The Head of Global Supply Chain we placed rebuilt the entire S&OP structure, implemented strategic supplier segmentation, and introduced disciplined forecasting. Service levels increased, lead times tightened, and global supply risk decreased materially.
Head of Global Supply Chain | Medtech
2023
Challenge:
A plastics manufacturer operating in regulated markets suffered from recurring non conformances, increasing customer complaints, and inadequate compliance controls across multiple lines.
Outcome:
Our Director of Quality & Compliance strengthened QMS maturity, introduced site-wide statistical process control, and rebuilt frontline problem-solving capability. External audit performance improved, complaints significantly reduced, and compliance confidence returned.
Director of Quality & Compliance | High-Volume Plastics
2024
Challenge:
A multi-site food processor saw high turnover at supervisor and frontline management levels, with poor leadership capability slowing throughput and increasing rework.
Outcome:
The Head of People & Culture we placed deployed a leadership capability framework, stabilised workforce planning, and redesigned onboarding and development routes. Supervisor retention increased, internal promotions rose, and operational stability improved across sites.
Head of People & Culture | Food Processing
2025
Challenge:
A logistics provider lacked data visibility, leading to missed SLAs and client churn in its Tier-1 accounts.
Outcome:
Our Data Director established BI dashboards, improving SLA adherence to 97% and client retention by 30%.
Director of Maintenance & Reliability | Metals Processing
2023
Challenge:
A specialty materials business needed to increase capacity significantly, but outdated processes and fragmented engineering leadership were holding back improvements.
Outcome:
The Head of Process Engineering we appointed redesigned critical processes, led a suite of optimisation projects, and unified engineering standards. Throughput increased, cycle times reduced, and the plant reached its highest performance levels in years.
Head of Process Engineering | Advanced Materials

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you ensure the leaders you present will succeed in our environment?

Success begins with immersion. We spend time inside your operation, observing how decisions are made, how teams interact, and what “good” truly looks like in your world. We assess culture, pace, maturity, and leadership expectations with a level of depth most firms never attempt. Every candidate is then stress-tested against those realities through scenario analysis, behavioural evaluation, and past-performance scrutiny. By the time a profile reaches you, they are aligned not just to the role, but to the precise environment they will be stepping into.

What makes your search methodology more accurate than traditional recruitment?

Traditional recruitment casts a wide net and hopes the right candidates appear. Our method is engineered for accuracy, not volume. We build a Market Architecture for every assignment: a structural blueprint of where credible talent actually sits, across competitors, adjacent sectors, and specialised pockets of expertise. Combined with deep immersion and behavioural stress-testing, our approach produces shortlists that are consistently tighter, more relevant, and more capable than standard search models.

How do you assess leadership capability beyond the CV?

We focus on how leaders think, act, and respond under real pressure. CVs tell you what someone has done; our process reveals how they lead. Through structured behavioural questioning, scenario-based evaluation, and analysis of decision-making patterns, we look for resilience, judgement, accountability, and the ability to influence teams. This allows us to predict leadership impact, not just technical f it.

How do you protect confidentiality during a search?

Every search is conducted under a formal NDA to protect both your organisation and the integrity of the assignment. We never publicise roles, never use mass outreach, and never disclose identifiable information without explicit written approval. All research, candidate approaches, and assessment are handled by senior members of our team, ensuring total control over the flow of information. Whether the search involves succession planning, restructuring, competitive environments, or sensitive internal dynamics, confidentiality is maintained through disciplined process, restricted access, and strict contractual safeguards.

How do you balance speed with the need for precision?

Our process is engineered so that speed and precision support each other rather than compete. The upfront immersion and Market Architecture allow us to target only the most relevant individuals from day one. With a clear definition of excellence and a mapped talent landscape, we move quickly while remaining highly selective. This enables us to deliver curated shortlists within 12–15 working days without compromising rigour.

What guarantees do you provide around retention and performance?

Our guarantee is reflected in the outcomes our placements deliver. The way we assess capability, behaviour, and cultural alignment translates into long-term success, not short-term placement. We support the transition and onboarding phases to ensure early momentum and organisational fit. This is why our retention rates consistently exceed industry norms and why clients trust us with repeat, mission-critical searches.

How do you identify candidates who are not active in the market?

The majority of the leaders we place are not applying for roles or responding to traditional recruitment outreach. We identify them through targeted research, competitor analysis, industry mapping, and discreet engagement informed by our Market Architecture. Because we understand both the technical and operational demands of manufacturing environments, we can recognise potential where others overlook it. This allows us to surface exceptional leaders who would never enter a traditional recruitment funnel.

How involved is senior leadership from your side?

Every assignment is founder-led. You work directly with the people who built the firm, who understand the nuance of manufacturing, and who can interpret both technical and cultural signals with accuracy. We do not hand searches to junior staff, outsource research, or dilute accountability. The expertise you engage is the expertise delivering the work.

How do you ensure cultural alignment, not just technical fit?

We assess culture by experiencing it first-hand during immersion. We look at how teams communicate, how decisions are made, what behaviours are rewarded, and what the unwritten rules of success are. Candidates are evaluated against these dynamics through behavioural interviewing, scenario exploration, and reference triangulation. The result is leaders who fit naturally into your environment and elevate it rather than disrupt it.

What differentiates Crestwood from executive search firms and specialist recruiters?

Crestwood operates at the intersection of operational depth and executive search discipline. We understand manufacturing at a practical level, yet assess leadership with the rigour of high-end search. Our process is engineered, not improvised. Our shortlists are curated, not churned. Our partnerships are founder-led, not transactional. We are judged on long-term organisational impact, not on number of CVs sent.

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