Why the UK Fenestration Industry Needs a Talent Advisory Approach, Not Just Another Transactional Recruiter

The UK fenestration sector isn’t short of pressure right now. Economic volatility, a squeeze on discretionary household spending, and the push toward sustainable materials are all reshaping the market at once. And it’s producing a real split: some fabricators and installers are seeing double-digit growth, while others are struggling to hold volume.

The difference usually isn’t the product. It’s leadership.

Yet when a senior leader moves on, or a new strategic direction calls for fresh expertise, most businesses still default to the same approach: get us CVs, get them fast. In a market this complicated, settling for whoever’s available at the time isn’t a shortcut, it’s a massive risk.

What the industry actually needs is a collaborative strategic talent advisory partnership.

The True Cost of Transactional Recruitment

In 11 years building leadership teams across UK fenestration, I’ve seen the limits of traditional recruitment first-hand. Flinging CVs at a problem doesn’t solve it.

When you’re hiring a Managing Director, a Sales Director, or a Non-Executive Director, you’re not filling a vacancy, you’re making a strategic investment in the business. A transactional recruiter might find someone with the right job title. They rarely take the time to understand your boardroom dynamics, the cultural fit you actually need, or where the business is trying to go.

Fenestration is a specific industry. It needs leaders from inside and outside the industry who can understand the different demands of trade and retail customers. But increasingly, it needs more than that. Leaders who can drive change. We’re seeing a real move away from like-for-like replacement hires. The businesses getting this right are investing in leaders who can push digitalisation, sustainability and operational transformation forward, not just keep the lights on.

What Talent Advisory Actually Looks Like

At Collingwood Executive Search, we’ve spent over a decade partnering with some of the industry’s best-known names: VEKA UK, Sidey, CWG Choices Limited, Hörmann, and Q19 Group, recruiting for every role in the boardroom.

Our approach is different. We work as an end-to-end Talent Advisory partner, which means we’re with you through the whole process, not just sourcing candidates, but making sure your talent strategy actually aligns with where you want the business to go.

1. Deep leadership analysis

Before we look at the market, we look at your existing leadership team. Using behavioural and experience-based assessments, we map your current leadership dynamic so we understand exactly what impact a new hire will have, and whether they’ll strengthen the team or disrupt it.

2. Data-driven candidate profiling

We don’t guess. We use industry analytics and live market data to define the experience, leadership style and background you actually need and confirm that profile exists in the market before you spend months chasing it.

3. Genuine storytelling

The best leaders in fenestration aren’t browsing job boards. They need to be found and given a reason to move. We build real narratives about your culture, your successes, and where you’re heading not just generic employer branding. We take being your brand ambassador very seriously.

4. Strategic talent pipelining

Succession planning is a real weak spot across the sector. With skills already in short supply, reactive hiring leaves you exposed. We help you map talent pools in advance, so when a leader does move on, you’re not starting from zero.

Building a Boardroom That Lasts

The fenestration businesses that lead in the years ahead won’t be the ones that treat talent as an admin task when someone hands in their notice. They’ll be the ones treating it as a growth lever.

Whether you’re navigating consolidation, expanding your product range, or just trying to hold your ground, getting the right people at the top isn’t optional. Working with a specialist who genuinely understands building products and fenestration, not just how to write a job spec, means you’re hiring for today while building the leadership you’ll need tomorrow.

If you’re ready to move beyond CV-flinging and build a leadership team for the long term, arrange a confidential chat.