About British Land
British Land is one of the UK's largest property development and investment companies, owning, developing and managing a portfolio of office, retail, campus and mixed-use destinations valued in the billions of pounds. Its City of London assets include Paternoster Square, next to St Paul's Cathedral, and One Angel Court, and it owns retail destinations managed as a regional portfolio. Across all of them, the standard of operational management, occupier experience, compliance and sustainability reflects directly on the owner.
Our work with British Land
Maxwell Stephens has recruited property and facilities management professionals for British Land across its City estates and its retail portfolio. The appointments covered here are:
- Property Manager, One Angel Court
- Regional Facilities Manager, retail portfolio
Property Manager, One Angel Court
One Angel Court is a landmark Grade A office development in the City of London, home to a number of high-profile corporate occupiers. The occupiers are demanding, the building is visible, and the standard set on site reflects directly on the owner. British Land needed a Property Manager to lead all operational aspects of the building: the annual service charge budget and financial reporting, hard and soft FM contracts, statutory compliance, acting as Responsible Person for Health & Safety and Fire Safety, sustainability initiatives, fit-outs and occupier alterations, KPIs and SLAs, procurement and contract negotiation, lifecycle planning and the on-site management team.
In our experience, the pool of Property Managers who can hold the technical, the commercial and the front-of-house at once is far smaller than the number of people carrying the title. We ran a targeted search among property owners, managing agents and real estate consultancies, assessing every shortlisted candidate on commercial property management, technical building knowledge, Health & Safety leadership, budget management, contractor management, stakeholder engagement, leadership and cultural alignment with British Land. Maxwell Stephens placed a Property Manager with the technical expertise, commercial awareness and leadership the building required, covering the occupier experience, building operations, financial management and contractor performance.
Regional Facilities Manager, retail portfolio
British Land needed a Regional Facilities Manager to oversee hard and soft FM across a portfolio of retail properties: multi-site operations, contractors and outsourced providers, occupier and managing agent relationships, Health & Safety and statutory compliance, planned preventative maintenance, KPIs and SLAs, operational and service charge budgets, sustainability, emergency response and business continuity.
Retail portfolios add a layer that corporate FM does not. The occupiers are paying tenants whose trading depends on the asset running well, service charge spend is scrutinised line by line, and a compliance failure at one site reflects on the landlord's whole estate. Candidates from single-site or in-house backgrounds often have the technical knowledge but not the commercial and occupier-facing habits the role depends on.
Working with British Land's operational leadership team, we searched for multi-site FM professionals with retail, commercial or mixed-use estate experience, strong contractor and compliance records, service charge management and qualifications such as IWFM (formerly BIFM), IOSH and NEBOSH. Maxwell Stephens placed a Regional Facilities Manager with extensive experience in retail property management, contractor performance and operational leadership, who quickly established themselves within the regional property team.
Why it worked
Each search started from the asset rather than the job title. A flagship building was recruited on commercial judgement, stakeholder handling and cultural fit as well as technical knowledge, and a regional FM role was defined by the mix of assets, the occupier relationships and the service charge accountability. Testing candidates against the role as it actually operates is what produced shortlists that fitted.
If you are recruiting a property, estate or facilities manager for a landmark building or a regional portfolio, get in touch with our team.
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