Manufacturing sector
Manufacturing is the single largest industrial sector in the North of England and the deepest part of Evara's commercial network. From aerospace tier-ones in East Lancashire and the AMRC-anchored advanced-manufacturing cluster in Sheffield, to precision engineering in Huddersfield and the global automotive supply base spanning the M62 corridor, the North hosts more genuinely strategic industrial employers than any other UK region outside the South East.
Industrial sales is a specialism. Strong commercial leaders here understand engineering economics, multi-year capital sales cycles, frame contracts, OEM channel structures and the difference between selling a stock SKU and selling into an Airbus or Jaguar Land Rover supply programme. Evara's partners have placed and built commercial teams in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, industrial automation, industrial software and tier-one automotive supply. We hire technical-sales DNA, not transferable SaaS BDRs.
BAE Systems Samlesbury
Aerospace and defence
F-35 and Typhoon airframe work; regional anchor for aerospace engineering and commercial talent.
Safran Nacelles
Aerospace
Burnley site producing nacelle systems for Airbus and other airframers.
AMRC (University of Sheffield)
Advanced manufacturing R&D
Anchor of the South Yorkshire advanced-manufacturing cluster; gateway for industrial-tech vendors.
Cummins Turbo Technologies
Industrial engineering
Major Huddersfield manufacturing and commercial site.
Reckitt
Consumer health manufacturing
Hull-headquartered global manufacturer.
Smith & Nephew
MedTech manufacturing
Hull-rooted global medical devices business.
Siemens Gamesa
Renewable-energy manufacturing
Wind-turbine manufacture on Alexandra Dock, Hull.
AMS Neve
Pro-audio engineering
Burnley-headquartered global manufacturer of broadcast and studio consoles.
VEKA
Industrial systems
European HQ in Burnley for the global PVC-U systems manufacturer.
Senior Aerospace Weston
Aerospace tier-one
Major Burnley site supplying global aerospace primes.
WEC Group
Industrial fabrication
Blackburn-headquartered group serving rail, defence and process industries.
Graham & Brown
Consumer manufacturing
Blackburn-headquartered global wallpaper and home decor manufacturer.
Crown Paints
Coatings manufacturing
Major Darwen site adjacent to Blackburn.
Reliance Precision
Precision engineering
Huddersfield-headquartered precision components.
Velocity Composites
Aerospace materials
Burnley-listed advanced composites business.
The Northern manufacturing commercial talent pool is unusually deep at sales engineer, KAM and BDM level. Many candidates have apprenticeship or engineering backgrounds and very long tenures with single employers, which makes passive search the dominant route to senior hires. Director-level supply is more concentrated and most genuinely senior industrial CCOs and CROs are embedded in long-term equity packages with PE-backed industrial groups. Global KAM and export-led roles attract a meaningful relocation premium against pure-domestic seats.
Industrial commercial salaries in the North sit slightly below SaaS for equivalent seniority but pull above on global KAM, aerospace and capital-equipment seats where the deal sizes and commercial complexity justify it. A typical Sales Director in a £30m-£200m industrial manufacturer earns £100k-£150k base with OTE of £160k-£230k, with global aerospace and automotive primes at the upper end. Fractional CRO day rates for industrial scale-ups run £1,500-£2,200.
Yorkshire
Yorkshire's manufacturing commercial story runs through Sheffield's AMRC-anchored advanced-manufacturing cluster, Huddersfield's precision-engineering belt (Cummins, David Brown Santasalo, Reliance Precision), Hull's MedTech and renewables anchors (Smith & Nephew, Reckitt, Siemens Gamesa) and Bradford's heritage industrial base. The dual STEM pipeline from the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, Leeds and Huddersfield universities keeps junior technical-commercial supply healthy.
North West
The North West manufacturing story is dominated by aerospace and defence. BAE Systems Samlesbury (F-35, Typhoon), Safran Nacelles in Burnley, Senior Aerospace Weston, Velocity Composites and a long tier-one supply chain make East Lancashire the densest aerospace cluster in the UK outside Bristol. Add Blackburn's broader manufacturing base (WEC Group, Graham & Brown, Crown Paints, Holland's Pies), Manchester's industrial-software cluster and the wider M62 / M6 corridor, and the North West offers the deepest industrial commercial talent pool in England.
Services
Retained executive search for senior industrial sales hires. We work to a structured engagement process with a named partner accountable from kick-off to onboarding, and a defined market map of the relevant Northern (and where required national) talent pool before any approach is made.
GTM hires for industrial businesses moving beyond traditional sales — RevOps, sales engineering, commercial enablement, digital and IIoT GTM leads. Often the first time the business has hired a non-quota-carrying commercial role; we help define the shape of the seat as well as fill it.
Strategic Revenue Audit and fractional CRO support for industrial scale-ups, PE-backed industrial groups and family-owned manufacturers professionalising their commercial function ahead of an investment, exit or generational transition.
Locations
FAQs
Industrial sales hires across aerospace, advanced manufacturing, automotive supply, precision engineering, industrial software and IIoT. Roles range from sales engineers and KAMs through to Sales Director, Commercial Director and Chief Commercial Officer, plus fractional CRO support for PE-backed industrial scale-ups.
Industrial sales cycles, capital-equipment economics, OEM and aftermarket channel structures, and global KAM relationships are not transferable from generic SaaS or consumer recruitment. A wrong industrial Sales Director hire costs significantly more in lost programme work and damaged customer relationships than a wrong SaaS hire. Evara's partners have placed in this market for over a decade.
East Lancashire (Burnley, Blackburn, Preston) for aerospace and broad manufacturing, Sheffield and Huddersfield for advanced manufacturing and precision engineering, and Hull for MedTech, renewables and consumer-health manufacturing. Each cluster has a different talent profile and Evara recruits accordingly.
Yes. We frequently support European, North American and APAC industrial OEMs and tier-ones building or refreshing their UK commercial leadership. The brief usually combines retained executive search with a Strategic Revenue Audit to set the operating model before the hire.
Operator playbooks
8 to 10 weeks
How to hire a Head of Sales in the North of England
Read playbook →
One working week
How to build a commercial scorecard in week one
Read playbook →
Ninety days
How to write a 90-day plan for a VP Sales
Read playbook →
Decision guides
Email Rachel Lunn and the Evara team. We will reply within one working day with a sector-specific market read for the role you have in mind.
Email Rachel Lunn/industries/manufacturing
Sales recruitment, GTM recruitment and revenue advisory for SMEs UK-wide. We reply within one working day.
Email Rachel Lunn