Industrial Tech & IIoT sales recruitment in Blackburn
Retained search for industrial-tech commercial leaders, with hybrid industrial / SaaS profiles at the centre of the brief. On the ground in Blackburn and across the wider North West industrial tech & iiot cluster.
Blackburn's commercial fabric is built on a deep manufacturing heritage that has modernised into a diverse industrial economy. The Whitebirk and Walker Park industrial zones, the Cathedral Quarter and Town Centre regeneration, and the Furthergate and Shadsworth manufacturing belts host a substantial concentration of food and drink, industrial engineering, aerospace tier-two and packaging employers. Blackburn-Darwen unitary authority's investment in business space and the proximity to the M65 / M6 junction have also drawn in distribution, e-commerce fulfilment and a growing community of B2B SaaS and industrial-tech businesses serving the East Lancashire manufacturing base.
Blackburn's industrial-tech commercial market is small but distinctive — WEC Group and the wider East Lancashire industrial belt give the town a serious buyer-side base, while EG Group's supply-chain technology function adds a national-scale industrial-SaaS commercial bench in its own right.
WEC Group (digital divisions)
Industrial fabrication adopting digital
Blackburn-headquartered industrial group adopting industrial software at scale.
EG Group (supply-chain tech)
Convenience-retail supply chain SaaS adjacency
Blackburn HQ with significant supply-chain technology commercial roles.
Holker IT
Industrial-IT services
North West industrial-IT services business with a Blackburn-area commercial base.
Industrial-tech commercial supply is small but unusually high quality, drawing on hybrid backgrounds that combine industrial-sector tenure with SaaS GTM experience. Most senior candidates are passive and approached on warm referrals.
Industrial-tech commercial salaries broadly track SaaS for equivalent seats, with a mild premium where the role explicitly requires industrial-sector fluency.
Blackburn salary nuance
Blackburn industrial-tech commercial salaries run broadly in line with Manchester for equivalent seats. EG Group-trained supply-chain technology commercial leaders command the regional benchmark when moving into wider North West and national roles.
Blackburn Station gives direct services to Preston (20 min) and onward to Manchester (70 min). The M65 connects east to Burnley and west to the M6 at Preston, with the M61 giving direct access to Bolton and Greater Manchester.
How we work
01
We start with a structured kick-off that captures the commercial objective, not just the title. Reporting line, comp envelope, the deal sizes the person will sell, the buyers they will sell to, and the behaviours that will succeed in your environment.
02
We map where the right people actually sit, across direct competitors, adjacent industries and proven environments in your region. This becomes the long-list of candidates we approach, not just whoever is on the job boards this week.
03
Candidates are approached with a clear commercial narrative, not a job advert. We communicate the opportunity, the leadership environment, the expectations and the growth path, so only genuinely relevant people move forward.
04
Two structured commercial screens before a candidate ever reaches you. Track record validation, deal-stage probing, motivation, and a credibility check on the numbers they have actually delivered.
05
You receive a considered shortlist, not a CV flood. Each candidate is presented with strengths, potential risks and a fit assessment. We then support the process through to offer, acceptance and the first 90 days.
FAQs
Industrial software, IIoT, MES, predictive maintenance and digital-manufacturing platforms — anything that sells software or a software-enabled service into a manufacturing or process-industries buyer.
Blackburn offers one of the most diverse manufacturing economies in the North West (food and drink, aerospace supply, industrial engineering, packaging, coatings) supported by major anchors such as BAE Systems Samlesbury, EG Group, WEC Group and Graham & Brown. Cost base sits significantly below Manchester for equivalent commercial seats and the East Lancashire catchment delivers a deep technical-sales pool.
Food and drink manufacturing, aerospace and defence supply (with BAE Systems Samlesbury adjacent), industrial engineering, packaging and coatings, distribution and convenience retail (anchored by EG Group), plus a growing layer of industrial software serving the East Lancashire manufacturing base.
Email Rachel Lunn and the team. We will reply within one working day with a Blackburn-specific industrial tech & iiot market read for the role you have in mind.
Email Rachel Lunn/sales-recruitment/blackburn/industrial-tech
Sales recruitment, GTM recruitment and revenue advisory for SMEs UK-wide. We reply within one working day.
Email Rachel Lunn