Production Director / Site Leader, £Attractive Six-figure Base; Bonus; Car Allowance and Benefits Scheme, Location – Lostock, North West England

The Company

• Severfield is the UK’s largest producer of structural steel, with an impressive and consistent track record of growth in profitability and turnover, both organically, and through strategic acquisitions. With six sites in the UK, a recently acquired business in The Netherlands, and a joint venture in India, the group has an annual capacity to produce up to 300,000 tonnes of fabricated steelwork.


• Partnering with customers and contractors in the infrastructure, transport, nuclear, culture, and commercial markets, their products are an integral part of many iconic landmarks and buildings across the UK and Europe.


• With expertise in design, production, fabrication, delivery, construction, and project management, the group is a well invested business, with a prominent position in sectors with strong growth potential, including those in support of a low-carbon economy. Over the last five years, the group has performed and grown consistently well, and is ambitious for further growth. 

The Role

• Severfield are looking to appoint a new Production Director for its plant in Lostock, northwest England, which is a key fabrication plant for the group, and has 170 employees. Its processes comprise of cutting, welding, coating, and assembly, in a batch-led environment, producing large bespoke products for highly challenging engineering projects, where quality, and adherence to stringent regulations and standards is key.


• The role is responsible for planning, directing, and leading the manufacturing activities for the site, ensuring safe, sustainable, high quality, competitive, efficient, and cost-effective operations. The role leads a team of direct reports across Production, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, Continuous Improvement, and Planning.


• Your role will be to assess and modernise the plant’s manufacturing processes, improve its quality performance, and develop its ability to execute its manufacturing plan consistently and efficiently. This will require the proven capability of being able to deal with old and established methods, alongside introducing new and modern processes that will benefit the business, whilst being able to manage unions effectively.


• Promoting a culture of continuous improvement, and leading by example, you will develop the capabilities of your team through coaching, mentoring and recruiting new talent into the organisation.

The Candidate

• This is a leadership role for a highly accomplished Manufacturing leader, with a track record of leading a manufacturing plant of scale, where you will have successfully led a programme of transformation and modernisation to improve the sites’ safety, production, quality and commercial performance.


• A passionate advocate of effective HSE, quality and CI, you will be someone who empowers your teams, and who is equally adept at being strategic as you are getting into the day-to-day operational details of the plant. You will be strong, commercially, and comfortable working in a data-led environment, with a proven track record of applying continuous improvement processes effectively to different scenarios and markets.


• Sectors of interest include manufacturers of products used in the Energy, Oil & Gas, Construction, Aerospace, Automotive and Industrial markets. A track record within an engineering/design led business, and experience of supplying the construction contracting sector, would be advantageous.   

For an informal and confidential discussion, please speak with our advisors at Berwick Partners:

Jonathan Burke

0113 386 8525 / #####