Client Overview
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) is one of the UK's largest integrated mental health, learning disability and community healthcare providers, delivering vital services to hundreds of thousands of patients across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and the surrounding region.
Managing a complex healthcare estate requires exceptional leadership to ensure facilities remain safe, compliant, operationally resilient and capable of supporting outstanding patient care. During a significant period of estate transformation, the Trust partnered with Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Estates Manager capable of leading strategic estates initiatives, capital investment programmes and operational improvements across the organisation.
The Challenge
The Estates Manager role was a critical leadership appointment, responsible for ensuring the Trust's estate remained fully compliant while supporting major investment programmes and long-term service transformation.
Operating within a highly regulated NHS environment, the successful candidate would need to combine technical estates expertise with strong commercial, financial and project management capability.
The role included responsibility for:
- Supporting the delivery of the Trust's long-term Estates Strategy.
- Providing strategic estates advice to the Trust's Turnaround Team and senior leadership.
- Managing a major capital investment programme valued at approximately £12 million.
- Identifying opportunities to improve value and reduce unnecessary capital expenditure.
- Leading complex refurbishment and infrastructure projects.
- Managing outsourced Estates and Facilities Management contracts.
- Ensuring compliance with Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirements.
- Managing statutory Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programmes.
- Developing new Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and contractor performance frameworks.
- Acting as the Trust's Fire Safety Manager.
- Ensuring compliance with NHS technical guidance, Health & Safety legislation and statutory regulations.
- Driving continuous improvement across estates governance, quality assurance and operational performance.
The successful candidate needed to provide both strategic leadership and hands-on operational expertise within one of the UK's most demanding estates environments.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens worked closely with the Trust's senior leadership team to gain a detailed understanding of both the operational challenges facing the estate and the strategic objectives of the organisation.
Recognising the complexity of the appointment, we undertook a targeted executive search focused on experienced Estates professionals from across:
- NHS Trusts
- Acute Healthcare
- Mental Health Estates
- Community Healthcare
- Higher Education
- Public Sector Estates
- Complex Multi-Site Property Portfolios
Every shortlisted candidate underwent a comprehensive assessment covering:
- NHS Estates leadership
- Capital project delivery
- Healthcare compliance
- CQC standards
- Health & Safety governance
- Contractor and supplier management
- Financial management
- Strategic estates planning
- Leadership capability
Our focus was identifying a leader capable of improving operational performance while supporting the Trust's wider transformation programme.
The Outcome
Following an extensive executive search, Maxwell Stephens successfully appointed an experienced Estates Manager with an exceptional background in NHS estates management, capital project delivery and healthcare compliance.
The successful candidate quickly became a key member of the Estates leadership team, delivering significant operational improvements while supporting the Trust's long-term strategic objectives.
Results Delivered
Strategic Estates Leadership
The appointment strengthened the delivery of the Trust's Estates Strategy by providing expert technical advice to senior leadership while supporting wider organisational transformation.
Significant Capital Investment Management
The successful candidate assumed responsibility for managing a capital investment programme worth approximately £12 million, ensuring projects were delivered efficiently while maintaining full regulatory compliance.
Through careful review and rationalisation of planned works, savings of more than £500,000 were identified without compromising operational performance or patient safety.
Successful Project Delivery
Several complex and previously underperforming capital projects were successfully recovered and delivered, supported by the introduction of improved project governance and management processes.
Improved Estates Governance
New project management procedures, contractor approval processes and supplier frameworks strengthened governance across the Estates function while improving consistency and accountability.
Enhanced Compliance
Health & Safety, Fire Safety, statutory maintenance and Care Quality Commission (CQC) compliance were strengthened across the estate, ensuring healthcare facilities remained safe, compliant and fully operational.
Better Contract Management
The successful candidate introduced improved Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and strengthened contractor performance management, helping improve service quality while ensuring value for money.
Supporting Better Patient Care
By ensuring buildings remained safe, reliable and fully compliant, the Estates function continued to provide an environment that supported excellent clinical services and positive patient outcomes.
The Impact
The appointment provided Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust with experienced Estates leadership capable of delivering strategic change while maintaining operational excellence across a complex healthcare estate.
Through effective capital investment, stronger governance, improved compliance and exceptional project delivery, the successful candidate helped strengthen the Trust's infrastructure and create facilities capable of supporting high-quality healthcare services for years to come.
This assignment demonstrates Maxwell Stephens' expertise in recruiting senior Estates professionals for NHS organisations where strategic leadership, compliance, capital investment and operational resilience are fundamental to delivering outstanding patient care.