Ask Clare Firth what she does at Kirkstall Precision, and the answer will never fit on a neat job title. Officially, she’s the Quality Assurance Manager. In reality? She’s the person who makes sure everything that leaves the building meets the toughest standards in med-tech manufacturing, because patients’ lives depend on it.
Quality that touches every part of the business
“This isn’t just paperwork and process,” Clare says. “This is about people. Every component, every screw, every instrument that goes out that door, it has to be right.”
Clare’s world covers everything from customer complaints to international regulatory frameworks, from traceability checks to equipment validation, from site safety to internal audits. It’s a role that stretches across the entire business, and touches every team.
“We’re not just talking about ISO 13485 or ISO 9001,” she explains. “We’ve got FDA regulations to meet, material specifications to manage, and very technical quality agreements with each customer. Sometimes what a customer expects goes beyond the standard, and we have to deliver on that too.”
In practice, that means Clare’s days are wildly varied. One hour she might be investigating a part non-conformance or uploading documentation to a customer portal. The next, she’s reviewing the impact of new machinery on process validation. Or she’s inducting new employees and embedding a quality mindset from day one.
“You can plan a day,” she says with a smile. “But the job sometimes never follows that plan.”
From theory to traceability, and everything in between
What sets Clare apart is her ability to zoom in and out, to deal with the micro-details of quality control while never losing sight of the bigger picture.
“Sometimes it’s about figuring out exactly what’s happened to a part, tracing it through the entire timeline of interactions across the site,” she says. “Other times it’s working with the team on new equipment, making sure it’s properly validated and that our processes are still robust.”
Clare often finds herself running supplementary checks, not because she has to, but because she knows what’s at stake.
“I’m not a QC inspector, but if something needs checking or verifying to protect the end user, I’ll do it. That’s just part of the job.”
Why quality starts with people
For Clare, quality isn’t just a department. It’s a mindset, and one that everyone at Kirkstall needs to adopt.
“If you haven’t got quality embedded from the start,” she says, “you’re never going to get where you need to be.”
That’s why she’s so focused on induction, refresher training, and helping every team member understand not just the process, but the why behind it.
“We talk a lot about what our parts actually do,” she explains. “Because when someone sees they’re machining something that could end up in a spinal implant or a hip replacement, it changes their perspective. That part could end up helping someone walk again. It could be used on someone’s child.” She’s even used real-world examples, global device recalls, safety alerts, press coverage, to bring home what can happen when quality fails. “We’re not just protecting the business,” she says. “We’re protecting patients.”s that plan.”
Change, challenge and continuous improvement
Since joining Kirkstall, Clare’s seen big changes. The Kaleidex acquisition, new senior leadership, and an influx of new projects and machines have brought fresh energy, and new pressures.
“Quality’s never been more under the microscope,” she says. “But that’s not a bad thing. We’re growing, expectations are higher, and it pushes all of us to keep improving.”
With her background in more corporate environments, Clare brings structure, but also a deep belief that you can’t drive quality from a distance.
“My approach was always to understand how the whole business fits together before changing anything,” she says. “You’ve got to see the personalities, the dynamics, how things actually work on the ground.”
Only then, she believes, can you make improvements that last.
More than compliance. It’s care.
Clare doesn’t mince her words. She knows the work is serious. She knows the pressure is high. And she knows why it matters.
