Property Manager for Ambassador Theatre Group's Northern Portfolio

Background

Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is one of the world's leading live entertainment organisations, owning and operating an extensive portfolio of theatres, cinemas, conference venues and performance spaces across the UK, the United States and Australia. Its estate combines historic theatres, modern entertainment venues and high-profile cultural destinations, and the audience experience depends on all of them being well run.

To support the continued performance and development of its Northern portfolio, ATG asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Property Manager capable of overseeing operational performance, capital investment programmes, statutory compliance and facilities management activity across multiple venues.

The Challenge

This was a specialised property and facilities management role. The person appointed would need to balance day-to-day operational delivery with long-term asset management and estate improvement, across a portfolio of live venues where buildings must remain safe, compliant, commercially effective and capable of delivering a high standard of customer experience.

Key responsibilities included:

• Managing day-to-day property and facilities operations across multiple venues.
• Overseeing planned and reactive maintenance programmes.
• Managing building fabric and engineering infrastructure.
• Delivering capital works and refurbishment projects.
• Managing maintenance budgets and procurement activities.
• Ensuring statutory compliance and health & safety standards.
• Supporting lease, licence and landlord obligations.
• Driving operational improvements and asset performance.
• Working closely with technical, operational and commercial stakeholders.

The role therefore called for strong property management expertise, commercial awareness, project management capability and a detailed understanding of facilities management in complex operational environments. Heritage venues add a further layer: older building fabric, constraints on how and when works can be carried out, and a performance schedule that leaves little room for disruption.

Our Approach

Understanding the estate

We worked closely with ATG to build a thorough understanding of the role, the estate portfolio and the strategic objectives behind the appointment. That shaped the search: particular emphasis went on candidates with experience of multi-site property and facilities management, heritage and operational buildings, capital projects and lifecycle asset management, building services and engineering infrastructure, budget management and procurement, compliance and risk management, and stakeholder and contractor management.

Targeted search

Drawing on our facilities management and property network, Maxwell Stephens ran a targeted search for experienced property professionals with a track record of managing complex estates and delivering operational improvements. We prioritised candidates who demonstrated:

• Strong technical and operational FM knowledge, not just property administration.
• Experience managing large maintenance programmes across several sites.
• Commercial and financial management capability, including procurement.
• Project delivery expertise from minor works upwards.
• Leadership and stakeholder management skills across technical and commercial teams.
• Experience in customer-facing environments, where building failures are visible immediately.

Candidate assessment

Shortlisted candidates were assessed across property and facilities management experience, capital project delivery, compliance and health & safety management, contractor and supplier management, budgetary control, and strategic planning and operational leadership. The aim was to test each candidate against the estate as it actually operates rather than against a generic property management profile.

The Outcome

We placed an experienced Property Manager who quickly took responsibility for the Northern portfolio and added value across the estate from the outset. The successful candidate brought extensive experience in property management, facilities operations, capital works delivery and stakeholder engagement, and proved a strong fit for the organisation.

The role covered building services and maintenance across the Northern venues, capital projects, budgets and procurement, statutory compliance, and the wider rollout of CAFM.

Why This Placement Worked

Multi-venue property roles in customer-facing estates reward candidates who understand both the building services and the business they serve. This search set out to find that combination from the start, weighting heritage experience, capital delivery and commercial control equally rather than settling for depth in one and hoping for the rest.

If you are recruiting a senior property or facilities management professional for a complex, customer-facing estate — landmark venues included — Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach the candidates who can deliver it. Get in touch with our team.