Supporting Babylon Health Through a Complex Workplace Relocation

Background

Babylon Health was a pioneering digital healthcare organisation focused on using technology to improve access to healthcare services. As a fast-growing, innovation-led business, it needed workplace and facilities support that could keep pace with a period of significant change.

That change came in the form of a major relocation and restack programme across its Head Office locations. Babylon Health approached Maxwell Stephens for an experienced Interim Facilities Manager who could provide immediate operational leadership while the workplace transformation was delivered.

The Challenge

The assignment called for someone who could step into a fast-paced environment and take ownership of facilities operations during a critical relocation period — balancing day-to-day service delivery with the demands of a large-scale move and restack, and keeping disruption to employees and business operations to a minimum.

The remit covered:

• Managing facilities operations across multiple Head Office locations
• Supporting the delivery of relocation and restack projects, including workplace moves and space reconfiguration
• Managing contractors, suppliers and service providers
• Maintaining planned and reactive maintenance activity
• Ensuring health, safety and compliance standards were upheld
• Supporting business continuity and stakeholder communications throughout the relocation
• Keeping workplace services responsive and the employee experience at a high standard during the transition

Interim relocation roles of this kind are demanding in a way that permanent facilities roles are not. There is no settling-in period: the person has to understand the sites, the contractors and the move programme almost immediately, and hold the day job together while the estate changes around them. Babylon Health needed someone highly organised, commercially aware and comfortable operating in a high-growth, technology-led healthcare environment.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens worked closely with Babylon Health to understand the scale, urgency and operational complexity of the relocation programme before going to market. The search then ran in three stages:

• Defining the profile. We focused on interim facilities managers with workplace relocation and restack project expertise, multi-site operations experience, contractor and supplier management capability, strong health & safety and compliance knowledge, and a track record in fast-paced or high-growth organisations. Stakeholder communication and project coordination skills were treated as essential rather than desirable.
• A targeted search. Drawing on our specialist facilities management and workplace transformation network, we approached interim professionals who could deliver immediate impact — prioritising those with proven experience of complex office moves, strong operational facilities capability, calm and confident leadership under pressure, the ability to manage competing priorities, and a proactive, solutions-focused approach.
• Assessment on both fronts. Candidates were assessed against technical and behavioural requirements alike, so that whoever was appointed had the experience, pace and adaptability a demanding interim assignment requires.

The Outcome

We appointed a highly experienced Interim Facilities Manager who integrated quickly into Babylon Health and took responsibility for both facilities operations and the relocation programme. The candidate brought extensive experience of managing workplace moves, restack projects and facilities services across complex office environments.

Over the course of the assignment, the appointment delivered on each of the areas the brief had identified:

• Relocation support. The Interim Facilities Manager played a key role in coordinating the relocation and restack programme, with activities delivered with minimal disruption to the business.
• Operational continuity. Day-to-day facilities services were maintained throughout the transition, so employees continued to receive reliable workplace support.
• Contractor management. Contractors, suppliers and internal stakeholders were coordinated effectively, keeping workstreams aligned and resolving issues quickly.
• Workplace coordination. Clear communication and structured planning supported a smoother transition across Head Office locations.
• Compliance and risk management. Health, safety and compliance standards were maintained throughout the relocation, reducing operational risk during a period of significant change.

The net effect was that Babylon Health had the interim facilities leadership it needed to manage a critical workplace transition while keeping operations stable, with stronger coordination of change activity and improved operational efficiency during the move.

Why This Placement Worked

Relocation and restack programmes tend to go wrong when the facilities function is treated as a support act to the project rather than part of it. Appointing an interim who had run this kind of programme before, and assessing for pace and composure as much as technical knowledge, meant the operational and project sides were held by one person from the outset.

If you are planning a move, restack or consolidation and need interim facilities leadership to carry it through, Maxwell Stephens can help you find someone who has done it before. Get in touch with our team.