What we do

Skybridge Recruitment Solutions focuses on delivering a high quality, bespoke and honest service to organisations operating within the Food Manufacturing, Engineering and Supply Chain sectors.. We complete permanent and interim assignments across senior and middle management roles as well as handling difficult to fill and first line management recruitment across all operational and commercial functions including Operations, Engineering, Technical, Quality, Supply Chain, R&amp;D, NPD &amp; Innovation, H&amp;S and Sales &amp; Marketing, HR and Finance.
Why Skybridge? Every assignment is unique and I will adapt the best solution to you. People buy from people and I measure my success from getting it right for you! I look to build the relationship for the long term and don&rsquo;t manage lots of assignments at any one time so you can rest assured that yours will get my time and attention! The difference you also get with me is that you get more than just a Recruiter. As a qualified coach I question deeply to really understand the brief and will only match candidates who are suited. I recognise that for many of our clients it is not always possible to have an HR function. We are therefore able to provide additional HR consultancy services alongside advising on their people and recruitment strategy. I am also able to advise clients and candidates on recruitment initiatives and strategies to gain the best solutions for their needs and enhance their brand positioning in the marketplace. My aim is to get the best outcome for everyone involved. If you want to deal with an expert in your sector, and someone who truly care about your best interests, feel free to get in touch and we can arrange a suitable time to speak.

I am excited to recruiting a new Managing Director for a rapidly growing Community Interest Company (CIC). Their mission is to improve the health, well-being and outcomes for veterans, ex-uniformed personnel, their families, and communities. They do this by roasting and selling the best Brazilian Coffee, and investing the profits in high impact outreach programmes, education, training, and development. Working alongside their Founder you will help grow and deliver more impact in line with the mission. Today the company operate cafes and mobile coffee vans around the region and supply coffee to companies and organisations of all sizes. You will be responsible for planning, organising, and overseeing the daily operations of this growing business in line with the strategy. You will be the one to ensure that the business is effective, well-coordinated and productive by setting clear goals, managing procedures, and coaching the team. As the responsibility for this role is broad, you will bring varied expertise to the team. You will be required to have a thorough knowledge of the various company processes, for example new business development, procurement, operations, accounting, and talent management. Balanced with this, you will also have experience of working in the public sector, or in the 3rd sector, with the ability to navigate regulated, or governmental institutions. The ideal candidate must be competent and able to plan many kinds of operational activities. You must be an excellent leader who can discover the most efficient ways to run the business but also be very comfortable to sometimes be hands on and support the community and team. As a growing organisation with increasing interest from national customers who have high service and quality expectations, you will need to be someone who can see the big picture and be strategic, whilst keeping an eye on detail. Key Responsibilities include: Plan and monitor the day-to-day running of business to ensure smooth progress. Assessing, managing, and resolving problematic developments and situations. Setting objectives, defining KPIs and putting in place systems and processes. Oversee all operations and manage the team by building a highly inclusive culture that ensures team members whether they are volunteers or employees can thrive to meet the goals of the organisation. Consult with customers and suppliers to ensure performance levels are agreed and reached. Facilitate the non-executive board and ensure accurate reporting to the Founder and board. Build and maintain trusting relationships with key customers, clients, partners, funders, and stakeholders. Develop and improve production systems, delivery, and stock control - constantly reviewing the quality and always ensuring full compliance with Health and Safety, Food Safety, and industry standards. Ensure effective recruiting, onboarding, performance management and retention of teams. Oversee sales operations, HR, marketing, finance, HR, and IT activities. Maintain a sales pipeline and appropriate field sales resource and processes. Create a funding strategy that includes proactively identifying suitable contracts and grants ensuring accurate and effective reporting to existing programme funders. Improve and maintain financial controls and regular effective management budgeting and review. Create monitoring and evaluation frameworks to establish key outcomes from the outreach programmes. Be responsible for overseeing a partnership, marketing, and stakeholder strategy to grow engagement and income. Develop and ensure effective use of IT across the organisation. Comply with data protection regulations, ensuring that information remains confidential and is retained in line with our policies and procedures. Ensure compliance with all necessary legal and regulatory instruments relating to the operation of Community Interest Companies. Identifying opportunities and developing and implementing growth strategies. Key Requirements: Proven and substantial knowledge of working within a senior leadership role with an in-depth knowledge of diverse business functions and principles. A track record in successfully managing teams in a fast-growing start-up or scale up operation along with excellent project management skills. Outstanding communication and people skills. Strong understanding of setting and managing budgets and interpreting numerical data. Experience of engagement, business development, contract management and strong commercial acumen. Resilient with the ability to work well under pressure with a proactive approach to identifying and raising areas for improvements in processes and performance. Driven and have a sense of urgency and needs to accomplish the task at hand. Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail with the ability to not get side-tracked. Working knowledge of data analysis and performance / operations metrics. Strong analytical skills and the ability to solve problems. Adaptable to change, as the business grows, so will the systems and staff. Change is inevitable and we are interested in people who see this as an opportunity. The role is based at their Suffolk based HQ alongside their Founder and part-time hours could also be considered. The role offers at salary of up to 60K 25 days holiday pension the opportunity to make a major impact in the next stage of their growth journey. The role would suit someone who has previously operated as a Managing Director, General Manager or CEO of a smaller business or worked in a senior leadership role in Commercial or Operations management.

Managing Director

I am excited to be partnering with this renowned business to appoint the newly created role of Commerical Director. Reporting to the Managing Director you will be part of the senior leadership team as they partake on the next stage of their growth strategy. This is a fast-paced and challenging business, and the individual will need not only to be a first-rate commercial leader but also someone who has the ability to manage a diverse team in the UK market where they are looking to grow. They want someone who can deal not only with day-to-day commercial issues with existing customers but someone who can spot other opportunities with new customers and develop the strategy to engage with these further. As a seasoned commercial professional, you will be used to delivering commercially challenging sales targets and used to creating your own path to deliver this. The successful candidate will be comfortable leading change and be a key figurehead in the business. Key Responsibilities include: Lead, develop and coach a team of sales professionals, fostering a culture of high performance coupled with a natural style for teamwork and accountability. Lead the development of the Customer Service strategy to manage the customer experience and ensure this foundation is flexible to grow in line with the ambitious growth plans. Lead the sales forecasting process to ensure that resources are aligned to maximise appropriate routes to market against ambitious growth plans. Work with the Technical/NPD team to make sure all customers quality specifications are met and maintained. Produce the annual sales and marketing budgets, for developing longer term sales strategy and for contributing to the development of the rolling corporate plan. Support the team with the more difficult negotiations where required and ensure that materials are purchased at the most competitive prices worldwide, on time and to the required specifications. Set and evolve KPIs that drive the overall purchasing strategy and maximise sales opportunities by constantly sourcing promotions. Lead reviews and negotiating with global suppliers. Oversee all management of projects from proposal acceptance through to installation, ensuring that they are undertaken within budget and on time. Key Attributes and Experience: Ideally educated to degree level or equivalent and have had operated with senior management or board level experience within food service or the retail food FMCG sector. You will be a seasoned commercial professional that is used to delivering commercially challenging sales targets and used to creating your own path to deliver this. Be comfortable with innovation creation and be a self-confessed foodie with an unrivalled passion for food and strong awareness of future trends. Have a high level of curiosity for improving ways to engage with our customers and seek new and different opportunities at every opportunity alongside galvanising pace and strength from the existing portfolio of customers. Results focused with a strong track record of delivering positive results and improvements. Data driven with strong analytical skills, with the ability to lead a dispersed team and motivate people around their development opportunities. Credible, professional and have sound commercial judgement and the ability to think broadly across the business. What is on Offer? The role offers a base salary of 120k bonus pension 25 days holiday healthcare.

Commercial Director

This is a rare opportunity for an experienced General Manager to join a growing family business as they progress onto the next stage of their journey in being a premium food manufacturer. In the last few years, their products have taken the UK food scene by storm and become a menu staple of top chefs, and they are known to frequently grace the tables of Royalty too! As farmers they are passionate about the food they produce and have diversified the original farm with their pioneering food products. This is a newly created role reporting directly to the owner and you will be the central figurehead ensuring operational efficiency and effectiveness across all relevant sales, operations, and administration departments. You will be responsible for organising and overseeing the daily operations of the business and be the one to ensure that the business is well-coordinated and productive by managing its procedures and leading its people. The area of responsibilities for this role will be very wide and thus requires thorough knowledge of various company processes and functions. The ideal candidate must be competent and able to plan many kinds of operational activities. You must be an excellent leader who can discover the most efficient ways to run the business and you should be able to manage and advance business’s strategic objectives and drive the company’s strategic visions. Key Responsibilities include: Plan and monitor the day-to-day running of business to ensure smooth progress. Supervise teams from different departments and provide constructive feedback. Mentor and lead the sales team, promoting a culture of accountability and excellence. Implement strategic improvements in systems and operations to support business scalability and ensuring the systems are right for the business. Oversee supply chain processes and coordinate material and resources allocation. Ensure consistent delivery of products, maintaining high standards of quality and reliability. Prioritise and manage workload effectively, focusing on critical operational aspects first. Act as a role model in professionalism, punctuality, and leadership without being overbearing. Setting operational goals and targets to challenge the team and to identify where training is needed. Oversee customer support processes and organise them to enhance customer satisfaction. Review financial information and adjust operational budgets to promote profitability. Revise and/or formulate policies and promote their implementation. Manage relationships/agreements with external partners/vendors. Evaluate overall performance by gathering, analysing, and interpreting data and metrics. Ensure that the company runs with legality and conformity to established regulations. Assessing, managing, and resolving problematic developments and situations. Creates initiatives to take advantage of market opportunities, reduce operational threats, forestall business risks, and maximises core strengths. Requirements: Proven experience as a General Manager or equivalent position ideally gained in the food or beverage industry. Proven commercial experience with a demonstrable track record of success in growing a company’s revenue and demonstrating capability to scale operations. Strong leadership skills with a passion for managing and developing, nurturing, and holding onto the best team members while encouraging other great people to join the organisation. Ability to hold team members accountable in a constructive manner with performance reviews and setting realistic yet challenging goals. Excellent organisational skills and the ability to identify and prioritise urgent tasks. Excels in optimising existing operations and systems. Resilient with the ability to work well under pressure with a proactive approach to identifying and raising areas for improvements in efficiencies and performance. A self-starter who is results focused with a 'can do’ attitude. Experience in developing and implementing strategic business plans. Credible, professional, driven, and resilient. Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The role offers a salary of up to 70k, 25 days holiday and pension.

General Manager

I am excited to be working exclusively with this premium food company to recruit an Operations Manager. Having doubled their business in the last three years and under a new Managing Director, they have an ambitious vision to double again in the next three years. As part of this growth strategy and with additional scale and complexity they are looking to strengthen their senior leadership team. A leader in its field, they specialise in high-end, food products and deliver these through various retail outlets and major grocers. The role has primary responsibility for the end-to-end movement of goods from UK &amp; European suppliers to distribution points / customers mainly in the UK but with some internationally. This will include working with key suppliers, hauliers, and distributers as well as the internal team to oversee the most profitable, smooth flow of goods. The Operations Manager will work closely with the senior management team and play an integral role in scaling the business from an Operations and Supply chain perspective. This role will also oversee a team of 3, consisting of Demand Planner and local / wholesale dispatch manager and local delivery driver as direct reports. The role is based at their Essex HQ alongside the Sales and Marketing teams and could be managed on a 4 day a week basis. Key Responsibilities include: Managing all aspects of Operations to the require company standards achieving Efficiency, Cost Control, Product Quality and Customer Service Organising the Demand and Supply Planning for B2B fulfilment Overseeing logistics from Europe as well as across the UK Updating daily operations including demand planning, production reports and reconciliation of stock Overseeing 3 direct reports and supporting in building out the team in the future. Leading with planning and development of internal operations processes, continuous improvement, and capability plan Responsibility for overseeing stock levels and providing robust reports. Quality control and supply chain crisis management. Working alongside the Sales &amp; Marketing Director and their teams to manage S&amp;OP process (demand planning, forecasting, financial planning). Working with senior management on new systems and implementations Ensuring that orders are placed with suppliers in a timely fashion. Occasional travel to co-packers to build relationships (UK and abroad). Working closely with Marketing &amp; co-packers to ensure NPD launched run to required time plan. Project management, including but not limited to, sourcing of the most cost-effective ingredients &amp; distribution to drive down costs. Minimising overall costs whilst optimising operational performance against established KPIs The ideal candidate will have proven and substantial knowledge of working within an operations role, ideally within the FMCG sector. You will be able to demonstrate both a track record in successfully managing teams in a fast-growing start-up or scale up operations along with excellent project management skills. You must also demonstrate clear and responsible leadership to drive the best individual and team performance. You will be resilient with the ability to work well under pressure with a proactive approach to identifying and raising areas for improvements in efficiencies and performance. Key competencies will include excellent organisational skills and attention to detail. You will also show strong analytical and critical thinking and be an inspiring authentic leader. This is a great opportunity for someone who is looking to progress their career in a forward-thinking fast-growing business. The role offers at salary of up to 50k and a 4-day working week is on offer bonus 25 days holiday pension.