£Attractive salary, bonus, car allowance and benefits
Company
- Ash & Lacy is a family-owned, UK manufacturing and engineering group, with a turnover of c.£80m, and 350 employees. Operating across multiple sites, the business supplies high-quality, precision-engineered solutions to the construction and automotive sectors, underpinned by a strong heritage in metal manufacturing and fabrication.
- The Group has built a reputation for technical expertise, product quality and reliable delivery, serving a diverse customer base that includes all the major luxury and sports car manufacturers in Europe, contractors, and industrial clients. Its capabilities span both high-volume production and more complex, engineered solutions, enabling it to compete effectively across a range of demanding end markets.
- Looking ahead, Ash & Lacy is entering a significant phase of operational transformation and strategic development. This programme is focused on driving greater integration across its manufacturing footprint, alongside increased investment in automation, digital manufacturing technologies and lean processes. The goal is to enhance productivity, improve planning and capacity utilisation, and strengthen overall operational performance – enabling the group to move from an SME, to being a world class manufacturing business.
Role
- Reporting directly to the CEO, you will lead all manufacturing and operational activities across the group, driving operational excellence, productivity, efficiency, and cultural improvement.
- Responsible for implementing and embedding lean manufacturing disciplines across all operations, you will drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on waste reduction, flow, OEE and labour productivity.
- By identifying and implementing automation opportunities, to improve efficiency and reduce operational cost, you will help shape the future operational structure of the group, as operations become increasingly consolidated and technologically advanced.
Person
- You will have a strong background in manufacturing and operations leadership within a high-volume, lean environment – ideally with experience of automotive Tier 1 / Tier 2 manufacturing, or metal forming, fabrication and CNC machining experience.
- Ideally degree educated, in an engineering or business discipline, you will have a demonstrable track record of driving modernisation and improvement programmes, across an organisation that has a broad mix of traditional, and modern engineering capital equipment and processes.
- This role is both strategic and hands-on, and requires a commercially aware operational leader capable of delivering measurable improvements. It represents a rare opportunity to join a financially stable, family-owned manufacturing group, with long term ambitions, significant investment appetite, and genuine operational transformation potential.
