Salaries and Costs
Manufacturing pay in Bury tracks the wider Greater Manchester job market, with machine operators and assemblers often on £11 to £14 per hour, CNC setters and programmers from £14 to £18 per hour, and maintenance engineers in the £40,000 to £50,000 bracket, production supervisors commonly sit between £30,000 and £40,000. Temp agencies quote hourly charge rates that include pay, holiday accrual, NI and margin, recruitment fees for permanent hires in Bury usually sit around 15% to 20% of starting salary, agency costs vary by role scarcity, shifts, and compliance needs.
Qualifications
Local recruiters will ask for solid shop floor credentials, FLT counterbalance or reach licences for warehouse and production moves, basic food hygiene and HACCP awareness for food plants, IOSH Working Safely for safety conscious sites, and NVQ Level 2 to 3 in Performing Manufacturing Operations, for precision roles, CNC candidates with Fanuc, Heidenhain, or Siemens experience tend to move quickest, lean tools like 5S and Kaizen add weight at interview.
Local Hiring Challenges
Bury draws staff from Radcliffe, Tottington, Ramsbottom and Prestwich, yet commuter ties into Manchester mean competition for candidates at peak times, shifts on the M66 corridor can clash with logistics and e commerce peaks, making attendance and retention a talking point, recruitment consultants often suggest staggered start times, uplifted pay rates on nights, or travel allowances to secure reliability.
Key Sectors and Employers In The Area
The borough mixes food manufacture, chemicals, engineering and electronics, with activity around Pilsworth Industrial Estate, Chamberhall Business Park, J2 Business Park and Warth Industrial Estate, food production is a known anchor with Bury Market heritage supporting brands in the town, engineering, hydraulics and fabrication firms supply North West customers, tea and packaging outfits and janitorial producers add breadth, staffing agencies in Bury keep shortlists ready for these plants and workshops.
Regional Or Geographic Variations
Sites close to the M66 and A56 can hire faster thanks to straightforward links into the M60, the Bury Interchange and Metrolink give candidates tram access from North Manchester, for factories deeper into Heap Bridge or Bradley Fold, recruiters often screen for car ownership or set up shared transport, some estates are being refreshed, which helps attract applicants, where units are older, employers sometimes offset with training or higher pay rates.
Industry Specific Training Or Licences
Food sites want allergen control basics, HACCP awareness, and GMP habits, engineering shops favour City and Guilds, time served apprenticeships, and upskilling on metrology, CMM and reading technical drawings, warehouse linked production likes FLT and occasionally MEWP training for maintenance tasks, first aid at work and manual handling refreshers help with day to day compliance, employment firms can arrange short courses for fast starts.
Common Job Roles Agencies Recruit For
Manufacturing recruitment agencies in Bury place machine operators, assemblers, packers and quality inspectors for temporary, permanent and contract work, they handle FLT drivers tied to production, CNC turners and millers, fabrication welders, maintenance fitters, electronics assemblers, and production team leaders, at office level you will see planners, estimators, and purchasing assistants who know MRP.
Hard To Fill Positions
Skilled maintenance remains the toughest ask, multi skilled electricians with PLC fault finding float at a premium, CNC programmers who can take a job from drawing to prove out are scarce, night shift quality technicians with ISO 9001 exposure get multiple offers, to find employees for these roles, recruiters lean on referral networks, salary benchmarking, and paid trials, local employers who register with an agency early in the planning cycle avoid last minute scrambles.
Seasonal Trends Or Themes
Food and drink producers in Bury ramp up for winter retail peaks, packaging and labelling follow suit, summer brings maintenance shutdowns and contract work for engineers, temp agencies manage overtime waves by pre booking returners and holding skills passports, staffing agencies advise building a pipeline two to three weeks ahead for smooth coverage.
Salaries, Pay Rates And Fees, A Quick Recap
For entry production temps, expect £11 to £13 per hour in Bury with uplifts for nights, for skilled shop floor, £14 to £18 per hour is common, permanent recruitment fees sit near 15% to 20%, some recruitment agencies offer staged payments or rebates, discuss agency costs up front and ask for clarity on margins for full transparency.
Quick Facts And FAQs
Do Bury recruiters supply temps for short runs and shutdowns,
Yes, temp agencies cover single day call offs through to multi week projects.
Can local employers hire on try before you buy terms,
Yes, temp to perm routes are popular for production and warehouse linked roles.
Do candidates need a car for most factory sites,
Not always, sites near Pilsworth and Chamberhall benefit from bus and tram links, but early starts often suit drivers.
Can jobseekers upskill quickly for shop floor work,
Yes, short courses in FLT, basic food hygiene, or CNC upskilling help unlock interviews.
How fast can we fill a night shift vacancy,
With a live pool of registered candidates, recruiters can place same day, harder roles may need a few days.
How Recruitment Agencies Help Employers And Candidates
Local employers use recruitment agencies, recruiters and staffing agencies to hire staff at pace, manufacturing recruitment agencies know the labour market and workforce across Bury, they talk pay rates, recruitment fees and agency costs in plain terms, and help with retention through staggered shifts and training, candidates and jobseekers get honest briefings on shifts, overtime, and progression in factories and workshops, employment firms match people to roles across temporary, permanent and contract work, with the commuter links and business parks in mind, if you are ready to find employees or you are set to register with an agency, the Bury market has the capacity to support your next step.