Background
British Land is one of the UK's largest and most respected property companies, owning, developing and managing some of the country's best-known retail destinations, campuses and mixed-use developments. With a portfolio valued in the billions of pounds, the business is recognised for creating high-quality places where people want to work, shop and spend time.
To support the continued performance of its retail portfolio, British Land partnered with Maxwell Stephens to recruit a Regional Facilities Manager responsible for operational delivery across multiple retail assets.
The Challenge
British Land required an experienced Regional Facilities Manager capable of overseeing the delivery of both hard and soft Facilities Management services across a diverse portfolio of retail properties. The successful candidate would be responsible for maintaining high operational standards while ensuring compliance, improving the occupier experience and protecting the long-term value of the assets.
Key responsibilities included:
- Managing multi-site Facilities Management operations across a regional retail portfolio.
- Leading both hard and soft FM service delivery.
- Managing contractors and outsourced service providers.
- Building strong relationships with occupiers, managing agents and stakeholders.
- Overseeing Health & Safety, statutory compliance and risk management.
- Managing planned preventative maintenance (PPM) programmes.
- Monitoring service performance through KPIs and SLAs.
- Managing operational and service charge budgets.
- Supporting sustainability and environmental initiatives.
- Leading emergency response planning and business continuity activities.
- Driving continuous improvement across operational performance and customer service.
The role required a capable facilities professional with strong leadership skills, commercial awareness and the ability to manage multiple high-profile assets simultaneously. 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.
Our Approach
Working closely with British Land's operational leadership team, Maxwell Stephens developed a detailed understanding of the technical requirements, portfolio structure and performance expectations for the role. Using our specialist Facilities Management network, we conducted a targeted executive search focused on professionals with experience managing large retail and commercial property portfolios.
Our search prioritised candidates who demonstrated:
- Significant multi-site Facilities Management experience.
- Strong technical knowledge of hard and soft FM services.
- Retail, commercial property or mixed-use estate experience.
- Contractor and supplier management expertise.
- Health & Safety and statutory compliance leadership.
- Service charge and operational budget management.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and occupier relationship skills.
- Professional qualifications such as IWFM (formerly BIFM), IOSH and NEBOSH.
Every shortlisted candidate went through a comprehensive assessment to confirm both technical competence and cultural alignment with British Land.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens appointed an experienced Regional Facilities Manager who brought extensive expertise in retail property management, contractor performance and operational leadership. The successful candidate quickly established themselves within the regional property team, providing strong operational oversight while maintaining British Land's standards across its portfolio. Their contribution has covered:
- Multi-site facilities management. Coordinating facilities operations across multiple retail assets and ensuring consistently high standards of service delivery.
- Occupier experience. Strong stakeholder engagement and proactive communication strengthened relationships with occupiers, contractors and managing agents, improving customer satisfaction across the portfolio.
- Compliance and risk management. Health & Safety governance, statutory compliance and operational risk management were further strengthened, ensuring safe, legally compliant environments across all sites.
- Operational and financial performance. Effective contractor management, budget control and service monitoring delivered improved operational efficiency while maintaining value for money.
- Sustainability and continuous improvement. The successful candidate supported British Land's sustainability objectives through efficient building management, improved maintenance planning and ongoing operational enhancements.
The appointment strengthened British Land's regional Facilities Management capability by providing experienced leadership across a complex portfolio of retail assets. By combining technical expertise, commercial awareness and strong stakeholder management, the successful candidate helped maintain the operational standards that underpin British Land's reputation as one of the UK's leading commercial property owners.
Why This Placement Worked
Regional FM roles for a landlord are recruited well when the search starts from the portfolio rather than the job title: the mix of assets, the occupier relationships and the service charge accountability define who will succeed. Building the brief around those factors, and testing candidates against them, is what produced a shortlist that fitted the role as it actually operates.
This assignment reflects Maxwell Stephens' experience recruiting senior Facilities Management professionals for major property owners, investment companies and commercial real estate organisations. If you are appointing a regional or portfolio facilities lead, get in touch with our team to discuss your brief.