I am the firm

There is no research team, no account manager and nobody to hand a struggling mandate to. Every search is run by me from briefing to close.

I am the firm

There is no research team, no account manager and nobody to hand a struggling mandate to. Every search is run by me from briefing to close.

I am the firm

There is no research team, no account manager and nobody to hand a struggling mandate to. Every search is run by me from briefing to close.

How I got here

I have been in food manufacturing since 2006, ten of those years inside the industry before I recruited into it. I founded Williams Recruitment in September 2020 and run every search myself.

Williams Recruitment

Since 2020

Williams Recruitment

Since 2020

Ten years inside the industry

I joined food manufacturing in 2006 as a forecast analyst. I spent ten years in the industry itself, not looking at it from the outside.

Ten years inside the industry

I joined food manufacturing in 2006 as a forecast analyst. I spent ten years in the industry itself, not looking at it from the outside.

Built a food desk from nothing

In 2016 an agency with forty years in automotive recruitment wanted to break into food. I built their food desk from nothing and worked up to Group Business Development Manager.

Built a food desk from nothing

In 2016 an agency with forty years in automotive recruitment wanted to break into food. I built their food desk from nothing and worked up to Group Business Development Manager.

My own firm since 2020

I launched Williams Recruitment in September 2020, focused on the industry I actually came from. Since January 2026 my focus has been the United States.

My own firm since 2020

I launched Williams Recruitment in September 2020, focused on the industry I actually came from. Since January 2026 my focus has been the United States.

What I will not do

Where I draw the line

I said yes too easily in my early years, to work outside my industry and to demands I should have pushed back on. It built nothing. These are the lines I hold now.

No padded shortlist

If I am confident in two people, you meet two people. I will not send a longer list to look busy.

Nothing outside the sector

I will not take a search outside food and beverage manufacturing, however good the business is.

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No selling the wrong candidate

I will not tell you a candidate is right when I think they are wrong, even when placing them would pay me.

No quiet spec

If the spec is wrong you hear it at the briefing, not three months in. If the right answer is promoting someone you already have, I will say so.

No padded shortlist

If I am confident in two people, you meet two people. I will not send a longer list to look busy.

Nothing outside the sector

I will not take a search outside food and beverage manufacturing, however good the business is.

Image

No selling the wrong candidate

I will not tell you a candidate is right when I think they are wrong, even when placing them would pay me.

No quiet spec

If the spec is wrong you hear it at the briefing, not three months in. If the right answer is promoting someone you already have, I will say so.

No padded shortlist

If I am confident in two people, you meet two people. I will not send a longer list to look busy.

Nothing outside the sector

I will not take a search outside food and beverage manufacturing, however good the business is.

Image

No selling the wrong candidate

I will not tell you a candidate is right when I think they are wrong, even when placing them would pay me.

No quiet spec

If the spec is wrong you hear it at the briefing, not three months in. If the right answer is promoting someone you already have, I will say so.

Who you deal with

The one person running your search

The one person running your search

Scott Williams

Founder

Scott Williams

Founder

Scott Williams

Founder

My family

Why I put my name on every search

My family

Why I put my name on every search

My family

Why I put my name on every search

What I believe

Recruitment is a shark business and I am not interested in that version of it

Recruitment is a shark business and I am not interested in that version of it

The volume model

Place people, make as much money as possible, move on. That is the model most of this market still runs.

Paid to close, not to be right

The candidate who can be placed, not the one who should be

Ten mandates, a shortlist barely met

Gone once the invoice clears

Speed sold as the answer to risk

How I work

Boards now ask what happens if this goes wrong. My answer is to act as a partner and focus on whether the leader stays, not on whether I get paid.

Fit before availability

Two people if I believe in two

Every conversation had by me

Accountable a year after the offer

Trust that brings the next search

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In food manufacturing since

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In food manufacturing since

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Founded

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Founded

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Focused on the United States since

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Focused on the United States since

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Director-level conversations a week

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Director-level conversations a week

My story

In this industry since 2006, ten of those years inside it

My own firm since September 2020, the American market since January 2026, food manufacturing since 2006. All three are true at once and I will not blur them to sound more established than I am.

Inside the industry

Recruiting into food

My own firm

Inside the industry

I joined food manufacturing in 2006 as a forecast analyst and spent ten years in the industry itself. That is why I do not need the sector explained.

Inside the industry

I joined food manufacturing in 2006 as a forecast analyst and spent ten years in the industry itself. That is why I do not need the sector explained.

meat with vegetables and sliced tomatoes in black bowl

Recruiting into food

Made redundant in 2016, I joined an agency that wanted to break into food, built their food desk from nothing and worked up to Group Business Development Manager.

meat with vegetables and sliced tomatoes in black bowl

Recruiting into food

Made redundant in 2016, I joined an agency that wanted to break into food, built their food desk from nothing and worked up to Group Business Development Manager.

My own firm

In January 2020, in the middle of Covid, I asked to be made redundant and launched Williams Recruitment that September. Five years in the UK, then the United States from January 2026.

My own firm

In January 2020, in the middle of Covid, I asked to be made redundant and launched Williams Recruitment that September. Five years in the UK, then the United States from January 2026.

FAQs

Questions about me

Something I have not answered? Book a call

Why do you work alone?

Because the person who takes your brief should be the person who runs the search and answers for it a year later. It limits how many searches I run at once. It is also why the work is any good.

How long have you worked in the US?

What did you do before recruitment?

What have you got wrong?

What do you do all day?

Where are you based?