current assignments

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Confidential Managing Director Opportunity 

Midlands

Wilson Brook is managing a confidential search for a Managing Director to lead a specialist UK building products business within a larger, well-established group.

This is a significant business leadership appointment with full end-to-end P&L accountability. The successful candidate will take responsibility for the strategy, performance, people leadership and continued development of an established specialist business operating in a technical, project-led construction products category.

The business has strong market foundations, recognised product capability and a clear opportunity to improve performance through sharper strategic direction, better commercial discipline, stronger operational alignment and a more integrated approach across brands, channels and teams.

This is not a steady-state role. The incoming Managing Director will be expected to bring pace, clarity and leadership grip. Key priorities will include strengthening the business plan, improving revenue and margin performance, developing the leadership team, simplifying complexity, enhancing customer focus and creating a more joined-up, accountable operating rhythm.

The role requires a commercially strong, data-led business leader who can operate comfortably across sales, operations, finance, product, people and customer strategy. Candidates must have previously held ultimate P&L accountability for a business or business unit, including budgeting, forecasting and delivery of financial performance.

We are particularly interested in candidates from building products, construction products, technical manufacturing or closely adjacent B2B product environments. Experience of specification-led, contractor, merchant, distributor or multi-channel routes to market would be highly relevant.

The successful candidate will combine strategic capability with practical operating discipline. They will be close enough to the detail to understand customers, products, margin, stock, service and performance drivers, but senior enough to lead the business confidently, develop people and influence effectively within a wider group environment.

This opportunity will suit an experienced Managing Director, General Manager, Business Unit Director or divisional leader who has a demonstrable track record of improving business performance, developing teams and taking people with them through change.

Key requirements include:

• Proven full P&L ownership, including budgeting and forecasting
• Experience leading a business, division or substantial business unit
• Strong commercial and operational understanding
• Credibility in building products, construction products, technical manufacturing or an adjacent B2B product environment
• Data-led approach to revenue, margin, pricing, pipeline and performance management
• Experience developing people and building effective leadership teams
• Ability to lead change, simplify complexity and improve accountability
• Strong communication, resilience and stakeholder management skills
• Practical, hands-on leadership style suited to a specialist manufacturing or product-led environment

This is an excellent opportunity for a proven business leader to shape the next phase of development for a specialist organisation with strong group backing, established market presence and clear scope for performance improvement.

All enquiries will be handled in strict confidence by Wilson Brook. Email your CV to CV@wilsonbrook.com 

This assignment is being managed by Matthew Lambert

Confidential Executive Opportunity

Managing Director — Southern-Based Construction Materials 

Southern England

We are working on a strictly confidential Managing Director appointment for a long-established, privately owned building materials group with a Southern-based UK platform.

The business operates in practical, site-led construction materials markets, supplying trade, contractor and project customers where reliability, service, logistics, technical consistency and strong relationships are central to performance. It is not a distressed situation; the opportunity is about planned succession, professionalisation and the next phase of operational and commercial development.

The group has real assets, established customer relationships, experienced people and a supportive long-term ownership structure. The UK operation includes complementary materials activities with different operating rhythms, giving the incoming MD the opportunity to bring clearer leadership, stronger management cadence and a more joined-up commercial approach without losing the local, service-led character of the businesses.

This is a confidential leadership opportunity suited to a commercially sharp, people-led operator who combines full P&L ownership, customer credibility and operational grip. The successful candidate will lead through a structured handover, protect continuity, strengthen profitability, improve customer service and continue the cultural and process improvements already underway.

The role would suit an existing Managing Director, General Manager, Regional Director, Business Unit Director, Commercial Director with broader leadership exposure, COO or senior number two from construction materials, aggregates, concrete, mortar, cementitious products, quarrying, heavyside manufacturing, building products, merchanting or an adjacent asset-heavy B2B environment.

The ideal candidate will bring strong commercial judgement, confidence around pricing and margin, experience managing important customer relationships, and enough operational credibility to engage with plant, fleet, logistics, production, compliance and site-based teams. Experience in a privately owned, family-owned or owner-managed business would be advantageous, although candidates from larger groups will be considered where they have proven they can operate without excessive corporate infrastructure.

This is not a corporate maintenance role. It requires visibility, pace, emotional intelligence and the appetite to be close to customers, people, numbers and execution. For the right person, it offers genuine autonomy, direct ownership access, meaningful accountability and the chance to shape the next chapter of a substantial Southern-based materials platform.

All conversations will be handled in strict confidence. The company identity and detailed brief will only be disclosed after appropriate qualification and confidentiality controls.

Email your CV (in confidence) to CV@wilsonbrook.com

This assignment is being managed by Matthew Lambert & Neil Holloway

Head of Engineering UK – Schöck Ltd

Bicester, Oxfordshire

Wilson Brook is delighted to be supporting Schöck Ltd with the appointment of a Head of Engineering UK.

Schöck is a privately owned, international construction products business with a strong reputation for technical excellence, innovation and high-quality engineered solutions. The UK business is best known for its market-leading position in specialist structural thermal break and punching shear re-enforcement solutions, through its long-standing relationships with engineers, architects, contractors and developers.

This is a senior UK leadership appointment with real influence.

Reporting to the Managing Director, the successful candidate will lead the UK application engineering function, bringing structure, pace, accountability and clear operational discipline to a technically capable team.

The business is not looking for a purely hands-on technical specialist. This is first and foremost a leadership and technical operations role. The priority is to appoint someone who can manage people, coordinate workload, improve project ownership, develop the team and ensure that technical service is delivered accurately, commercially and on time.

The successful candidate will inherit a knowledgeable engineering team and will be supported by strong technical expertise within the business. The opportunity is to build on that platform by creating a more proactive, customer-focused and commercially aware engineering function.

Key areas of responsibility will include:

• Leading, mentoring and developing the UK application engineering team
• Managing workload, priorities, lead-times, quality, accurate and technical service levels
• Improving project ownership and communication across the team
• Supporting sales and specification colleagues with complex technical enquiries
• Ensuring compliant, efficient and commercially sensible technical solutions
• Building a more structured, accountable and proactive working culture
• Regulatory reporting on the performance of the department 
• Acting as a senior manager within the UK business

We are particularly interested in candidates from construction products, structural building systems, façades, balconies, fixings, structural connections, precast, steelwork, specialist contractors, building envelope or adjacent technical construction environments.

You may currently be operating as an Engineering Manager, Design Manager, Technical Manager, Applications Engineering Manager, Drawing Office Manager, Technical Operations Manager or similar.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Experience leading an engineering, design, application engineering or technical office team
• Strong people management and workload coordination capability
• Good understanding of construction, structural drawings and technical building products
• Commercial awareness and the ability to support customer-facing technical decisions
• Gravitas, communication skills  and the confidence to lead experienced people
• A practical, structured and improvement-focused management style

This is an office-visible leadership role. Candidates must live within a reasonable commuting distance of Bicester and be prepared to spend at least four days per week in the office, leading the team, supporting day-to-day communication and collaborating closely with senior colleagues. This is not a work-from-home role or a long-term live-away opportunity. We are, however, open to candidates who are genuinely willing and able to relocate at their own cost.

This is a strong opportunity for someone who wants to move beyond technical delivery and play a broader leadership role in a respected international business. Schöck offers the stability of a well-established group, the visibility of a focused UK business and the chance to make a meaningful impact on how the engineering function operates.

There is also scope for career progression in the medium term as the group widens its commercial activities and routes to market.

To explore the opportunity in confidence, please email your CV to CV@wilsonbrook.com 

Lead Consultant: Jonny Pegler

 Confidential Search: Sales & Marketing Director

Wilson Brook is managing a confidential executive search for an ambitious, privately owned B2B distribution business entering its next phase of growth.

The business is well-established, profitable and highly respected in its sector, with a strong service proposition, long-standing customer relationships and significant headroom for further growth. Following recent investment in infrastructure, systems and senior leadership, the company is now looking to appoint a senior commercial leader to help professionalise and scale its sales and marketing function.

This is a sales-led leadership role with responsibility for driving growth across multiple routes to market, including independent trade customers, national accounts, buying groups and selected strategic channels. The successful candidate will lead a sizeable sales team, strengthen commercial discipline, improve CRM usage and forecasting, and bring greater structure, accountability and performance focus to the commercial function.

The role will also include accountability for marketing, although the priority is sales and commercial leadership rather than deep technical marketing expertise. The business is looking for someone who understands how marketing, product communication, customer engagement and lead generation can support sales growth.

Key priorities will include:

• Developing and delivering a clear multi-channel sales strategy
• Driving new customer growth and increasing share of wallet
• Improving sales margin, pricing discipline and commercial controls
• Strengthening performance management, CRM adoption and forecasting
• Supporting growth through national accounts, buying groups and independent customers
• Building a more structured, scalable and data-led commercial engine
• Leading and developing a relationship-led sales team through change

We are particularly interested in candidates from B2B distribution, trade supply, merchant channels, building products, industrial products, tools, fixings, KBB, electrical, plumbing/heating or adjacent product-led environments. Product experience is helpful, but the core requirement is experience of leading sales growth through complex B2B channels.

The ideal candidate will have operated in a growing SME or mid-market business and will be comfortable combining strategic leadership with hands-on execution. This is not a corporate maintenance role; it requires pace, pragmatism, commercial edge and the ability to build structure without creating bureaucracy.

The role is likely to suit someone based across the Northern Home Counties, Midlands or surrounding regions, with flexibility for home working, regular national travel and periodic presence at company offices. 

This is a confidential appointment.

This assignment is being led by Matt Lambert.

To apply please send your CV to CV@wilsonbrook.com All applications will receive a response, but only suitable candidates will be spoken to.

 Business Development Manager - Acoustic Panel Systems

Market-building technical sales | Acoustic composite products | Industrial and commercial noise-control applications

A specialist manufacturing business is looking to appoint a high-energy Business Development Manager to build commercial traction for a newer acoustic composite panel product. This is a product-led sales development opportunity: opening doors, identifying applications, creating awareness, converting early opportunities and feeding market intelligence back into product development.

Role Type: Technical sales  development / business development

Market Focus: Acoustic screening, plant noise, heat pumps, highways, local authority and industrial  applications

Working Pattern: Field-based / home-office with regular customer travel

The opportunity

• Join early in the development of a product line with significant growth potential and a clear need for commercial momentum.
• Shape priority markets and applications while staying focused on sales conversion rather than broad theory.
• Work directly with senior leadership and technical colleagues in a practical, agile manufacturing environment.
• Develop opportunities across external acoustic screening, noisy plant and machinery, air-source heat pumps, councils, highways, health-and-safety driven projects and industrial noise-control needs.
• Help create a more repeatable, scalable revenue stream alongside larger project-led business.

What you would be doing

• Create sales momentum through proactive prospecting, door-opening, customer engagement and structured follow-up.
• Convert qualified opportunities into orders while protecting margin and maintaining commercial discipline.
• Engage consultants, contractors, facilities teams, industrial customers, local authorities, OEM enclosure builders and channel partners.
• Monitor competitor activity, pricing and positioning, and feed useful market intelligence back into the business.
• Own commercial follow-up from customer meetings, events and trade-show activity.

The person this will suit

• A proactive technical sales developer who enjoys building a product line rather than inheriting a mature territory.
• Experience in acoustics, noise control, industrial products, construction products, building envelope, M&E, HVAC, highways, local authority, plant or specialist building systems.
• Relentless, curious, disciplined and comfortable knocking on doors while learning enough technical detail to be credible.
• Suited to an ambitious step-up candidate who wants ownership, visibility, autonomy and reward for measurable results.

This assignment is being led by Imogen Pearson.

To apply please send your CV to CV@wilsonbrook.com All applications will receive a response, but only suitable candidates will be spoken to.

Head of Sales (Sales Director Designate)
Specialist Capital Equipment Solutions Business – Midlands

The opportunity

This is a pivotal opportunity to join a well-established specialist capital equipment rental business at a key inflection point in its growth journey. Following a period of operational stabilisation and internal restructure, the business is now ready to accelerate growth, supported by strong utilisation, a clear five-year plan and the imminent launch of a new, market-leading product.

Backed by a long-standing, family-owned investment group, the business is seeking to appoint a Head of Sales to lead the next phase of commercial development. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role reporting directly to the Managing Director, with genuine influence over strategy, structure and execution.

The role

This is a player-manager position with responsibility for both leading the sales function and personally driving key revenue opportunities. The focus is on new business acquisition, successful launch of a new product, and strengthening sales capability while protecting and growing existing customer relationships.

Key elements of the role include:

• Ownership and delivery of the overall sales strategy during a critical growth phase
• Leading the commercial launch of a new product, delivering first-year volume targets
• Personally winning new key accounts, particularly within UK food manufacturing and food logistics
• Maintaining close oversight of strategic existing customers, ensuring retention, renewals and expansion
• Developing a stronger hunter-led sales culture alongside effective account management
• Reviewing and evolving the sales operating model, including structure, coverage and incentives
• Operating with commercial autonomy on pricing and deal structures within agreed parameters
• Using CRM to drive pipeline discipline, forecasting  accuracy and customer engagement
• Contributing to the longer-term development of a future pharmaceutical-focused solution

The role sits on the Senior Leadership Team but is not a statutory board appointment (at this time).

The person

We are looking for a commercially astute, credible sales leader who enjoys being hands-on and close to the market.

You are likely to have:

• Senior sales leadership experience (Head of Sales, Sales Director or similar) within specialist capital equipment rental or a  technically complex B2B environment
• A strong track record of new business acquisition and key account growth
• Experience selling capital equipment into food manufacturing and/or food logistics or pharmaceutical manufacturing  environments
• A background operating in a player-manager role, personally leading major deals
• Confidence in managing pricing, margins and deal structures
• Experience of consultative, solutions-led selling  rather than purely transactional models
• A practical, action-oriented leadership style with the gravitas to operate at senior level
• High levels of integrity and discretion in a  competitive market

Why join?

• A business at a genuine growth inflection point, not  a turnaround
• Strong backing from a supportive, cash-rich parent group
• A newly launched, innovative product with clear market demand
• Direct access to, and influence with, the Managing  Director
• The opportunity to shape the sales strategy,  structure and culture
• A down-to-earth, commercially focused environment  with short decision lines
• A role that can grow significantly in scope as the  business expands with future succession planning opportunities 

Location: North Midlands HQ. This role will involve regular travel throughout the UK; but candidates should ideally live within a reasonable commuting distance of the North Midlands.

Application Process:

This assignment is being led by Matthew Lambert.

To apply please send your CV to cv@wilsonbrook.com All applications will receive a response, but only suitable candidates will be spoken to.

General Manager – Multi-Division B2B Operation (Southern England)

We are working with a well-established, privately owned B2B distribution and merchant business to appoint a General Manager for a large and complex operation in Southern England.

This is a newly created role and a genuine step above a traditional Branch Manager position. The successful candidate will take full ownership of a high-value site comprising multiple interconnected divisions, currently generating approximately £18m, with clear potential to scale significantly beyond this.

The role

You will have end-to-end responsibility for a multi-division operation that includes:

• A high-turnover trade branch
• A centralised sales support/account management hub
• A growing distribution capability
• A fast-scaling specialist product offering

Your mandate is to align these divisions into a single, cohesive business, eliminate internal friction, and drive sustainable growth through strong leadership, effective structure, and robust customer relationships.

This is not a day-to-day operations role. It is about leading leaders, setting direction, building the right structure underneath you, and executing a growth strategy at pace.

What we’re looking for

• A proven senior leader who has managed multiple managers or business units
• Strong commercial instinct with a track record of growing revenue through customer relationships
• Experience within builders’ merchants, B2B distribution, or a similar trade-led environment
• Comfortable operating at scale, with a “helicopter view” and the ability to prioritise across competing demands
• Disciplined, credible, and “audit-ready” with high standards of control and governance
• Visible, on-site leadership style; collaborative, pragmatic, and resilient

Why this role stands out

• Rare opportunity to shape and lead a large, complex site as a single operation
• Significant growth headroom across multiple revenue streams
• Real autonomy to design the operating model and leadership structure
• Senior-level influence without corporate bureaucracy

This role will suit an ambitious, commercially driven leader seeking a more significant and comprehensive challenge than a traditional branch or single-site management position.

This assignment is being led by Imogen Pearson.

To apply please send your CV to cv@wilsonbrook.com All applications will receive a response, but only suitable candidates will be spoken to.