Marshall Harmony is an independent recruitment consultancy for manufacturing and engineering businesses across Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands. Exclusive engagements, no upfront fees, and a 92% fill rate to prove it.
At a glance
Marshall Harmony is a Shropshire-based recruitment consultancy specialising in manufacturing and engineering hires across the Midlands. Founded by Laura Davies in 2021, after more than two decades in the industry. Exclusive engagement model, no upfront fees, 2% of every placement donated to Acorns Children's Hospice. 92% fill rate, 82% retention at twelve months, 60% of candidates not on the open market.
The numbers
How Marshall Harmony works differently
We only take a role if we are the only agency on it. No bun fight of CVs from competing recruiters, no confused candidates wondering who represents them, no race to send first instead of send well. Exclusivity is what makes the work actually possible.
Marshall Harmony only gets paid when a placement is made. We have never charged a retainer since we started trading. The work happens before we get paid. As Laura puts it: we would not sleep at night doing it any other way.
Every engagement starts with a discovery call to understand the problem you are hiring to solve, not just the job title you want to fill. Most vacancies that sit open for months are written wrong before the search begins.
Every placement made through Marshall Harmony includes a donation to Acorns Children's Hospice, where Laura is an ambassador. Clients have the option to match the donation. It just makes the work mean more.
The process
01
We start with an open conversation about what has worked, what has not, and what problem you are actually trying to solve. Not what the job spec says. What the hire is really for.
02
We draft an advert designed to attract the right person, not the most people. You see it, you sign it off. We say: get your red pen out. It is your advert, not ours. That keeps everyone accountable for what is going out there.
03
We work the search across our internal database of 26 years of network, our LinkedIn reach, the job boards, and direct headhunting. Around 60% of our placements come from candidates who are not actively on the open market.
04
We do not send CVs in bulk. We put three or four properly vetted, properly briefed candidates in front of you. By that point we know they are right for the role and right for the business. The interview becomes a culture conversation, not a screening exercise.
05
Most recruiters disappear at the offer. We sit on people to make sure they start. We check in, we prep, we wish them luck. Once they are in, we drop a goodie bag on day one and stay in contact. We do not just leave people. That is how we get to 82% retention at twelve months.
Sectors
Mechanical, electrical, design, controls, quality, and manufacturing engineering. Operators through to engineering directors.
Production, operations, supply chain, continuous improvement, and shop-floor leadership. Across SMEs and global manufacturers.
C-suite, MD, operations director, finance director, commercial director. Senior leadership across manufacturing-adjacent sectors.
Warehouse, logistics, fleet, and supply-chain operations. From transport planners to distribution-centre leadership.
Accounting, controllership, FP&A, and finance leadership for manufacturing and industrial businesses.
Business development, account management, technical sales, and marketing roles for B2B industrial businesses.
Where we work
Marshall Harmony is based in Ironbridge, and works extensively across Shropshire. Active in Telford, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Oswestry, Craven Arms, and the wider county manufacturing corridor.
Strong client base in Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Burton-on-Trent, Cannock, and Lichfield, covering the county's significant manufacturing and engineering footprint.
Active across Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Dudley, Walsall, Wednesbury, and the surrounding Black Country manufacturing belt. Regular work in Coventry and Solihull for engineering specialists.
For the right brief, Marshall Harmony also works further afield in Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire. Geography is not the deciding factor. Fit is.
A position worth knowing
"With culture add, that person will then recruit people who fit the culture they are helping to build."
For mid-level roles, culture fit is often the right model. A new hire integrates into the team that already exists, and everyone benefits.
For senior leadership, the question flips. A senior hire will go on to recruit the next layer of people in their own image. Hiring purely for culture fit at that level locks the business into the culture it already has, which is rarely the culture the business actually needs in the next chapter.
The right question for senior hires is not how they fit the room. It is what room they will go on to build.
Marshall Harmony Executive
Marshall Harmony Executive is the senior leadership arm of the business, led personally by Laura. Built around culture-add hiring and the principle that the wrong leader can ripple through an entire organisation. The right one can transform it.
Fees on Executive engagements are 20% of the package, excluding bonuses. Geographically focused on the Midlands but with a 26-year network that opens doors well beyond it.
And unlike most executive search, there is no retainer. Nothing is charged up front: the whole campaign happens first, the mapping, the networking, finding the right people. A third is invoiced when the candidate signs and commits, a third on the day they start, and a third a month later. Paid on delivery, not on promises.
What clients say
"As a candidate, from viewing the job profile, application, initial verbal contact and throughout all other communications, Laura is world class. No one else in the recruitment industry I have had dealings with comes close. There were some good recruiters; Laura is an exceptional one. As an employer, I will surely speak to her again. Recruitment is not just a B2B industry; it is also very much a P2P industry, and Laura definitely understands people and sees through the fog of recruitment to bring the right people together." Vicky T, Sales Leadership Specialist
"Laura has worked with us for many vacancies across the years and is still our go-to recruiter."Ian D, Country Director UK
Frequently asked
No. Marshall Harmony does not charge retainers or upfront fees. We only get paid when a placement is made. Laura's position is that paying for searches before placements are made misaligns incentives between recruiters and the businesses paying them.
Working exclusively means Marshall Harmony is the only agency on the role. No other recruiters are running on the same vacancy. Laura argues this is the foundation of doing the work well: it creates the conditions for proper briefing, proper candidate research, and proper communication, rather than a bun fight of CVs from multiple agencies racing for the fee.
Timelines vary based on the role and the seniority. The general process is: discovery call, advert drafted and signed off, targeted search across our database, LinkedIn network and job boards, shortlist of vetted candidates, client interviews, placement, and post-placement follow-up. Speed matters but the right person matters more.
Manufacturing and engineering are the core sectors, with significant work in distribution and transport, finance, sales, and marketing. Marshall Harmony places roles from entry level through to executive leadership, with senior and C-suite hiring handled through Marshall Harmony Executive.
The primary geography is Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands, including Telford, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, and Stafford. Marshall Harmony also works further afield in Greater Manchester, Liverpool, and Cheshire for the right brief.
Marshall Harmony Executive is the senior leadership and C-suite arm of the business, led personally by Laura Davies. Executive fees are based on 20% of the package, excluding bonuses. The Executive model is built around culture-add hiring, where the focus is what the leader will go on to build, rather than how they fit the culture that already exists.
Three distinct things: an exclusive engagement model rather than racing other agencies on the same role; no upfront fees or retainers; and 2% of every placement fee donated to Acorns Children's Hospice, where Laura is an ambassador. The result is a 92% fill rate on open vacancies, 82% retention at twelve months, and 60% of placements coming from candidates not actively on the open market.
Ready to brief us?
Tell us what you are hiring for, what has and has not worked before, and where you want to be twelve months from now. We will tell you whether Marshall Harmony is the right partner for the brief, and if it is, how the process would look. No retainer, no obligation, no pressure.
Looking for a role rather than hiring? Live vacancies and candidate registration are over on the Marshall Harmony site.