Zone 01
Scope
We build a competence matrix with you — qualifications, registrations and lived project evidence — before anyone is approached.
Day 0–2
Fire · Life safety · Building compliance — UK-wide
CompetentNon-negotiable people for safer buildings.
Brunel & Co is a specialist search partner for fire engineering, fire risk and building-safety leadership. One consultant, one conversation, no CV scatter — just shortlists of people who can evidence their competence.
Taking new mandates for Q3 2026
400+
Safety-critical placements
14 days
Average brief to shortlist
93%
Still in post at 12 months
The problem
Safety hiring is broken in familiar ways.
Generalist agencies match keywords, not competence. In this market that isn’t just lazy — it puts residents, registrations and reputations at risk.
- CV scattergunsVolume ≠ value
- Keyword matchingTitles lie
- Contingency churnSpeed over rigour
- Unverified claimsNo evidence trail
Since Grenfell, competence isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a legal duty. We treat every search like the safety-critical decision it is: registrations checked, accreditations verified, references taken before you ever see a name.
Live register — selected mandates
BC–241
Senior Fire Engineer (CEng)
London · £85–95k
Interviewing
BC–238
Building Safety Manager
Manchester · £62–70k
Shortlisted
BC–236
Principal Fire Risk Assessor
Bristol · £58–66k
Mapping
BC–233
Passive Fire Contracts Manager
Birmingham · £60–68k
Shortlisted
BC–229
Suppression Design Engineer
Leeds · £55–63k
Interviewing
Confidential mandates not shown. Ask for the full register.
Request the full registerMarket intelligence
Know the market before you brief it.
Salary bands, demand pressure and realistic timelines for the roles we work — drawn from the searches we run, not scraped adverts. Use it to set a budget your FD will sign off and a timeline your board will believe.
Updated quarterly from live mandate data
Role
Region
Fire Engineer
London & South East
£0k — £0k
Median £0k
—
Specialisms
One discipline. Every seniority.
Fire strategy, performance-based design, CFD and evacuation modelling, Gateway submissions. From graduate engineers to the technical directors who sign the strategy. We know who trained under whom — and who’s genuinely ready for chartership sign-off.
Fire risk assessors and fire safety consultants across residential, healthcare and commercial portfolios — Type 1 through Type 4, external wall assessment, and the consultancy leads who manage assessor teams.
Compartmentation surveyors, firestopping specialists, technical managers and contracts leads — the people who make sure what’s drawn is what’s installed, and can evidence it.
Building safety managers, compliance leads and heads of building safety for registered providers, managing agents and developers — the roles the Building Safety Act made mission-critical and the market made scarce.
Principal designers, CDM advisors and safety advisors who sit where design risk meets regulation — including the new principal designer duties under the Building Regulations.
How a search runs
Four zones. No surprises.
Every mandate moves through the same sequence, and you can see where yours sits at any point. Most reach shortlist inside fourteen days.
Zone 02
Map
We already know this market. We map every credible candidate, including the ones who aren’t looking — usually the ones you want.
Day 2–7
Zone 03
Shortlist
Up to five people, each with verified registrations, referenced work and a written note on where they sit against your matrix.
Day 10–14
Zone 04
Offer & land
We manage offer, notice and counter-offer, then stay close through the first year. If a placement fails inside twelve months, we re-run the search.
Day 14 →
For employers
Hiring for a safety-critical role?
Retained or exclusive search for fire, life-safety and building-compliance positions across the UK.
- Registrations and third-party accreditations verified before shortlist
- Salary benchmarking from live mandate data, not job boards
- Twelve-month replacement commitment on every placement
For candidates
Thinking about your next move?
One consultant who understands your discipline, and nothing sent anywhere without your say-so.
- Confidential first — your CV never leaves us without consent
- Honest steers on salary, chartership and career routes
- Access to retained roles that never reach the open market
Track record
Claims are cheap. Here’s the register.
Case file — BC–0114
National consultancy
Principal Fire Engineer, London
“The role had been open seven months with two agencies. Brunel & Co introduced three people in a fortnight — all credible, none on the market. The one we hired is now leading the team.”
7 mo
Open before we were briefed
32 days
Brief to accepted offer
18 mo+
In post and promoted
Placement coverage
UK wide
Fees & terms
Nothing to read twice.
A transparent permanent-recruitment model, priced for the responsibility of safety-critical hiring. Simple terms, agreed before we start.
RetainersNone
Discount gamesNone
Inflated promisesNone
Rebate periodIn writing
Fee basisAgreed upfront
Just clear terms, agreed before the search begins — and delivery measured on outcomes, not activity.
In case of vacancy
Break glass. Start a search.
A measured conversation grounded in market insight — what the role should pay, how long it should take, and whether we’re the right people to run it. No pitch deck. No pressure.
Replies personally, well within one working day.