Kelham Partners

Kelham Partners is a global executive search firm that specialises in recruitment for businesses operating in the speciality chemicals and ingredients sectors. The company works on a retained basis to deliver executive, commercial, and operational talent across a range of chemical specialisations, from CASE and advanced materials to personal care, food and nutraceuticals. Kelham Partners serves chemical manufacturers, distributors, contract manufacturers, and CDMOs, understanding the nuanced requirements of regulated and technical industries with over 10 years of exclusive recruiting experience in these sectors.

The firm's core recruitment specialisations span speciality chemicals including CASE, polymers and plastics, electronics and advanced materials, industrial and performance chemicals, construction chemicals, and water treatment and environmental solutions. Within ingredients, Kelham Partners recruits across personal care and cosmetics, household and industrial cleaning, nutraceuticals and functional ingredients, food and beverage ingredients, flavours and fragrances, animal health and nutrition, and pharmaceutical ingredients. The company also specialises in chemical manufacturing and distribution roles encompassing site leadership, production, and supply chain positions, as well as commercial and operational build-outs for CDMOs and contract manufacturing organisations.

Based in Manchester, Kelham Partners operates as a truly global recruitment partner, delivering searches across EMEA, North America, APAC and the Middle East. The company differentiates itself through deep sector expertise, partnership-led engagement where it operates as an extension of the client's team, and scalable search capabilities ranging from single leadership hires to full commercial team builds. Clients choose Kelham Partners for its understanding of the chemical and ingredients landscape and its ability to identify talent capable of thriving in complex, regulated environments.