Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching

What Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching does

Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching (legal entity: Ruth Wagstaff Recruitment Ltd) is a UK-headquartered, founder-owned recruitment and career services firm established in 2010 by Ruth Forster and operating from Lichfield, Staffordshire. The company delivers permanent search, retained executive search, and contract/interim engineering staffing focused exclusively on the engineering, manufacturing and automation sectors in the UK, Europe and the USA. Its service model is relationship-led: a core team of approximately five recruitment professionals conducts face-to-face client engagement and applies DiSC profiling to assess cultural fit alongside technical skills. The firm monetizes primarily through contingency-based placement fees on permanent hires, retained fees on executive searches, and managed-services margins on contract engineering supply, with revenue from these streams being significantly larger than its careers coaching line. Career coaching and consultancy services, including redundancy support delivered in partnership with Nova Associates, are offered at £90 + VAT per coaching session and represent a secondary, individually-paid professional services stream rather than a core revenue driver. The business is bootstrapped with no external investors, no disclosed funding, and no M&A history, and it extends its international reach through vetted partner networks including NPAworldwide and TEAM rather than through owned foreign offices.

Name

Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching

Legal name

Ruth Wagstaff Recruitment Ltd

Website

https://wagstaffrecruitment.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching is a UK-based specialist recruiter delivering permanent, executive and contract staffing plus career coaching to engineering, manufacturing and automation organizations across the UK, Europe and the USA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Temporary Help Services (561320)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Temp-to-Hire Staffing (BPACACAG)

Keywords

• Engineering recruitment services
• Permanent executive search
• Contract engineering staffing
• Career coaching services
• Manufacturing talent acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

Lichfield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Permanent Recruitment: Permanent search and selection services for engineering, manufacturing and automation roles. Placement fees likely contingency-based, typically charged on successful placement.
2. Retained Executive Search: Executive search services including DiSC profiling for cultural fit assessment. Higher-value retained engagements.
3. Contract/Interim Engineering: Supply of experienced contract engineers to manufacturing businesses for short-term cover, busy periods, project work and interim cover while recruiting permanently
4. Careers Coaching: Career coaching sessions at £90 + VAT per session, providing support for career transitions, CV writing, interview preparation and personal development
5. Recruitment Consultancy: Internal recruitment strategy building, DiSC profiling for team development, advertising services, and employer value proposition (EVP) development

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wagstaff Recruitment provides permanent search and selection, retained executive search with DiSC profiling, and contract/interim engineering staffing for engineering, manufacturing and automation organizations in the UK, Europe and USA. It also offers careers coaching, redundancy support, and internal recruitment consultancy to both businesses and individual job seekers. Services are delivered via a small in-house team and a network of vetted international partners.

Product overview

Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching operates as a unified service portfolio focused on the engineering, manufacturing, and automation sectors. The core offering comprises four interconnected service lines: Recruitment Services (permanent search, retained executive search, and contract/interim staffing), Careers Coaching (CV guidance, interview prep, networking, and personal branding), Consultancy Services (internal recruitment strategy, DiSC profiling, and advertising), and Contract Engineering Support. Additional offerings include Recruitment and People Strategy (a comprehensive HR consultancy package), Redundancy Support Services, International Recruitment Services for the USA, and Insight Reports including salary surveys and workforce research. The company was established in 2010 and is headquartered in Lichfield, UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recruitment Services Full-service recruitment consultancy offering permanent search and selection, retained executive search (including DiSC profiling), and contractors and interims placement for engineering, manufacturing, and automation sectors across the UK, Europe, and USA.
• Careers Coaching Career coaching service for individuals from entry level to directors, providing CV creation guidance, interview preparation, networking advice, personal branding support, and mental health resources for job seekers.
• Consultancy Services Recruitment consultancy helping clients build internal recruitment strategies, including internal recruitment strategy building, DiSC profiling for high-performance team development, and advertising services.
• Contract Engineering Support Provision of experienced contract engineers for manufacturing businesses, offering short-term cover, extra resource during busy periods, project work, and interim permanent recruitment coverage.
• International Recruitment Services International recruitment services supporting engineering, manufacturing, and automation organizations across the USA, managed by local experienced professionals through vetted partner networks.
• Redundancy Support Services Redundancy support including one-to-one sessions, group workshops, CV crafting, identifying transferable skills, LinkedIn profile optimization, and job search confidence building for both employers and employees.
• Recruitment and People Strategy Service Comprehensive consultancy package delivering tailored recruitment solutions, strategic workforce planning, bespoke employee training and development programmes, inclusive workplace culture strategies, and succession planning and outplacement support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Some clients have partnered with Wagstaff since 2010 or earlier through Ruth Forster's career in the 1990s

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and supporting.

• NPAworldwidecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal recruitment network enabling Wagstaff to deliver international assignments. All recruitment partners are trusted, thoroughly vetted, and members of NPAworldwide which enforces strict codes of conduct and promotes collaborative recruitment efforts.
• TEAM (The Employment Agents Movement)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUK recruitment network with Ruth Forster serving as Divisional Director for Engineering & Manufacturing. Enables collaboration and delivery of recruitment assignments across the network.
• Nova AssociatesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMental health partnership supporting positive mental health in careers coaching. Clare Davis of Nova Associates partners with Wagstaff Careers Coaching for redundancy support services.
• Network of Recruitment AssociatessupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTrusted associates in the UK, USA, and Europe enable delivery of large, multi-disciplined international projects through collaborative recruitment efforts.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Hays: Global FTSE-listed recruitment firm with a strong UK engineering and manufacturing desk. Far larger and more diversified than Wagstaff, but directly competes for the same engineering/manufacturing permanent and contract placements in the UK and Europe.
• Reed: UK-headquartered generalist recruitment firm with engineering and manufacturing capability. A broader competitor that nonetheless competes for the same mid-market engineering and manufacturing roles Wagstaff serves.
• SThree: International STEM-focused recruitment group (including Huxley, Real Staffing, Progressive). Targets engineering and manufacturing contractors and permanent hires, overlapping with Wagstaff's contract engineering and permanent search offerings.
• Michael Page: Large UK-origin recruitment group with a dedicated engineering, manufacturing, and industrial division. Competes with Wagstaff for mid-to-senior engineering and manufacturing roles across the UK and internationally.

Direct peers

• Brookfield (formerly Meridian Business Support): UK staffing and recruitment group with a strong engineering, manufacturing, and industrial division. Competes with Wagstaff for contract engineering and permanent technical hires across UK manufacturing hubs.
• Hunters Four Engineering: UK-based engineering and manufacturing specialist recruiter. Closely comparable niche focus, division structure, and SME scale, serving many of the same client types as Wagstaff.
• NES Fircroft: UK-based specialist engineering and manufacturing recruiter (MBO from Fircroft). Closely comparable to Wagstaff in vertical focus, contract engineering services, and presence in UK/EU/US markets, though at significantly larger scale.
• Jonathan Lee Recruitment: UK independent specialist recruitment firm focused on engineering, manufacturing, and technical services. Direct competitor to Wagstaff in the same niche vertical with comparable SME scale and consultative approach.
• ATA Recruitment: UK specialist engineering and industrial recruitment agency. Closely comparable to Wagstaff in vertical specialism, contract and permanent offerings, and target customer base of mid-market UK manufacturers.
• WR Industrial: UK recruitment firm with an industrial and engineering practice competing for similar contract and permanent placements. Similar geographic footprint and target customer profile to Wagstaff.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WagstaffRecruitment
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wagstaffrecruitmentcareerscoaching
• Xx.com/rwrecruitment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wagstaff Recruitment & Careers Coaching