Found.
Found Recruitment Solutions Limited is a UK-based recruitment consultancy operating two divisions — Found Industrial (temp-to-perm staffing for South East manufacturers and logistics firms) and Found Food & Drink (permanent placement for UK food and drink manufacturers across technical, operational, and commercial roles).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersCrawley, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Found. does
Found Recruitment Solutions Limited is a privately held UK recruitment consultancy operating two specialized divisions: Found Industrial and Found Food & Drink. Found Industrial delivers temp-to-perm and permanent staffing to manufacturers, engineering firms, packaging plants, logistics centres, and light assembly sites across Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, using a structured 5-step process (Site Setup, Targeted Search, Testing & Referencing, Placement & Support, Candidate & Feedback) anchored by face-to-face site visits. Found Food & Drink is a consultancy-led permanent placement firm focused exclusively on UK food and drink manufacturers and challenger brands, placing mid-to-senior hires across Technical & NPD, Engineering, Production, Operations, Supply Chain, and Sales & Commercial functions, with additional offerings in Executive Search, Embedded Support, and a monthly subscription Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) model.
The company operates from three UK offices (registered: Bolton; operating: Crawley and Dartford) with a team of approximately 6–10 named individuals, co-founded and managed by Oliver Cartwright (Co-Founder & Managing Director) and Matthew Covell (Co-Founder). Revenue is generated primarily through professional service fees — placement fees on permanent recruitment and margin on temporary labour rates in temp-to-perm engagements — with the RPO subscription providing a recurring revenue stream. The technology stack is standard: an ASP.NET-based website with session and authentication cookies; no proprietary ATS, AI-matching system, or candidate platform is disclosed.
The go-to-market is consultative and field-based, with regional consultants conducting on-site employer visits, supplemented by a self-serve candidate job portal. Marketing relies on LinkedIn presence, content (salary benchmarking reports, case studies, market insight articles), and testimonial-driven referrals. The company holds a Highly Commended recognition at the REC IRP Awards (Permanent Consultant of the Year, for Matthew Covell) and reports a 97% retention rate across permanent placements within the Food & Drink division, though no revenue figures, funding rounds, or institutional investment are disclosed.
Found. firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Found.
- Legal name
- Found Recruitment Solutions Limited
- Website
- https://found-rs.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Found Recruitment Solutions Limited is a UK-based recruitment consultancy operating two divisions — Found Industrial (temp-to-perm staffing for South East manufacturers and logistics firms) and Found Food & Drink (permanent placement for UK food and drink manufacturers across technical, operational, and commercial roles).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Found. industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Recruitment Services
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Executive Search Services (561312)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG), Functional Leadership Search (HR/Finance/Legal/Marketing/Sales/Ops) (BPACAAAB)
Keywords
Where Found. is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Crawley
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Found. business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Permanent Placement Recruitment (Food & Drink): Found Food & Drink acts as a permanent recruitment consultancy, placing candidates into permanent roles across technical, operational, engineering, and commercial functions. Fees are likely structured as retained or contingency placement fees, though specific rates are not publicly disclosed.
- Temp-to-Perm Staffing (Industrial): Found Industrial provides temporary staffing through its Temp-to-Perm Plan. Workers begin as temps and convert to permanent employees through a structured 5-step process. Revenue is generated through margin on temporary labour rates, with conversion fees or continued margin upon perm conversion.
- Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO): Found Food & Drink offers RPO services under a monthly subscription model covering strategy, process, on-site support, and delivery — a single flat recurring fee replacing per-hire transaction costs.
- Executive Search: Confidential, research-led searches for senior-level and board appointments in food and drink businesses. Likely billed as a retained search engagement.
- Embedded/On-site Support: Consultancy-led recruitment support integrated within the client's business, provided during periods of rapid growth or multi-function hiring builds. Billed as a professional service engagement.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
Found. product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Found Recruitment Solutions Limited is a UK recruitment consultancy operating two specialist divisions. Found Industrial delivers temp-to-perm staffing and permanent industrial recruitment for manufacturing, engineering, logistics, warehousing, food production, print and packaging, and light assembly businesses across Sussex, Surrey and Kent, structured around a 5-step site-specific process. Found Food & Drink provides permanent recruitment, executive search, embedded support, market insight and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) for food and drink manufacturers across the UK, covering technical, engineering, production, operations, supply chain and commercial functions.
Product overview
Found Recruitment Solutions operates as a dual-branded recruitment services company with two distinct divisions. Found Industrial is the temp-to-perm staffing and permanent recruitment arm serving industrial employers across Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, covering sectors such as manufacturing, engineering, logistics, warehousing, food production, print and packaging, and assembly. Found Food & Drink is a consultancy-led permanent recruitment service focused exclusively on the food and drink manufacturing sector, offering services across six functional areas: Technical & NPD, Engineering, Production, Operations, Supply Chain, and Sales & Commercial. The company does not offer a SaaS platform; its core offering is recruitment consultancy services delivered through its two specialized divisions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Found Industrial: Industrial recruitment division covering Sussex, Surrey, and Kent, specializing in temp-to-perm placement for manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and engineering sectors.
- Found Food & Drink
Products and services
- Temp-to-Perm Plan
Quantifiable outcome
- 97% retention rate across permanent placements (Food & Drink division)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Found.
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Found. technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Found. partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Found. competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- ManpowerGroup: Global workforce solutions and staffing company with extensive UK industrial, logistics, and engineering operations. Comparable to Found Industrial's temp-to-perm and permanent industrial placement offerings across UK regions.
- Hays: Global specialist recruitment firm with strong UK presence in construction, engineering, manufacturing, and professional services. Comparable to Found Food & Drink's professional permanent placement model, particularly in technical and operational functions.
- Robert Half: Global specialist in finance, accounting, technology, and office recruitment, with UK operations. Comparable to Found Food & Drink's executive and senior-level permanent recruitment focus for commercial and operational leadership roles.
- Michael Page: Global recruitment firm with strong UK presence across industrial, engineering, and food & drink manufacturing permanent and contract placements. Comparable because it serves the same dual customer segments (industrial employers + food & drink manufacturers) that Found targets, though at much larger scale.
- Reed: Major UK recruitment firm with broad coverage across industrial, professional, and specialist sectors. Comparable to Found's broad multi-sector coverage but operates at vastly larger scale with national branch networks.
- Adecco: Global staffing giant operating in the UK across industrial, logistics, and professional recruitment. Comparable to Found Industrial's industrial temp-to-perm model, though at vastly larger scale and with broader geographic coverage.
Direct peers
- Blue Arrow: UK-focused staffing firm specialising in industrial, logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing temp and temp-to-perm placements. Closely comparable to Found Industrial's core offering of site-driven, face-to-face industrial staffing across regional UK markets.
- Pertemps: One of the UK's largest independent recruitment agencies, providing temporary and permanent staffing across industrial, driving, commercial, and professional sectors. Comparable as a multi-divisional UK recruitment firm covering industrial and professional verticals like Found.
Emerging players
- Caterer.com: UK-based specialist job board focused on hospitality, food production, and food & drink manufacturing roles. Comparable to Found Food & Drink's candidate-attraction channel within the food and drink sector, though it operates as a marketplace platform rather than a consultancy.
Others
- StepStone / Totaljobs: UK job-board platforms enabling candidate registration and employer self-serve posting. Comparable because Found's distribution channel includes a self-serve candidate portal (/Account/Register, /industrial-jobs, /food-and-drink-jobs) that competes for the same candidate attention.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Found. social profiles
Digital presenceFound. compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Found. financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Found. leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Found. funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Found. M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Found.
What does Found. do?
Found Recruitment Solutions Limited is a UK recruitment consultancy operating two specialist divisions. Found Industrial delivers temp-to-perm staffing and permanent industrial recruitment for manufacturing, engineering, logistics, warehousing, food production, print and packaging, and light assembly businesses across Sussex, Surrey and Kent, structured around a 5-step site-specific process. Found Food & Drink provides permanent recruitment, executive search, embedded support, market insight and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) for food and drink manufacturers across the UK, covering technical, engineering, production, operations, supply chain and commercial functions.
Is Found. a public or private company?
Found. is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Found. founded?
Found. was founded in -1. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Found. based?
Found. is headquartered in Crawley, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Found. make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Permanent Placement Recruitment (Food & Drink) is the primary driver. The others are temp-to-Perm Staffing (Industrial), recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), executive Search and embedded/On-site Support.
Who are Found.'s main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are ManpowerGroup, Hays, Robert Half, Michael Page, Reed and Adecco. Direct peers are Blue Arrow and Pertemps. Caterer.com is listed as an emerging player. StepStone / Totaljobs is listed as an others.
Does Found. have an API?
No public API is recorded for Found..
What industry is Found. in?
Found.'s product category is Recruitment Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAFAA, General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry), with a secondary code of BPACAKAG, Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops). Its NAICS code is 56131 and its SIC code is 7361.