Background
Clarion Events is one of the largest exhibition and conference organisers in the world. The company has offices globally and is headquartered in London, where it occupies 30,000 sq. ft. of office space spread over 5 floors. The building is multi-tenanted, and Clarion Events is its largest tenant.
That last detail matters more than it sounds. The largest occupier in a multi-let building tends to carry the most weight with the landlord's management team when decisions are made about shared services and building systems. A facilities professional in that seat has to run the company's own floors well and also represent the business within the wider building.
The Challenge
Maxwell Stephens was brought in on an exclusive basis to recruit a proactive facilities professional with experience of delivering a customer-focused, safety-conscious approach to facilities management. The client's preference was for someone IOSH trained with a working knowledge of M&E and fire systems.
Beyond that technical baseline, Clarion Events had a clear picture of the person they wanted:
- A strong communicator, both written and verbal, and calm under pressure
- Current and aware on inclusivity in the workplace
- Environmentally and sustainability aware
- Used to managing budgets across a number of areas
- Comfortable planning small-scale refurbishment projects
- Meticulous attention to detail
- A self-starter who enjoys autonomy and needs very little supervision
That combination is demanding at any level. Candidates who are technically sound on M&E and fire systems are not always the natural communicators a customer-facing office environment needs, and the degree of autonomy required rules out people who are used to working within a larger facilities team.
Our Approach
Working on an exclusive basis allowed Maxwell Stephens to run a single, coordinated campaign rather than compete for the same candidates alongside other agencies. We combined an advertised search with direct headhunting and met over fifty prospective candidates for the position. Numerous individuals went through preliminary interviews with us, after which we presented three well-qualified candidates who demonstrably matched the specification set out by the client.
The Outcome
All three candidates were interviewed by Clarion Events, two advanced to a second-stage interview, and the process resulted in a successful appointment to the role.
We caught up with the successful candidate a year later, and they were enjoying both the role and the environment.
Candidate Feedback
Peter has been really helpful, professional and very friendly within my process of looking for a job. Him and his team have been really responsive and supportive during the time of my interviews. Thanks to Peter I have found a suitable job and had a quick and easy process from the beginning to the end. I really appreciate the follow up calls that I had from him, making sure that I was happy with my job. I am definitely recommending this company and Peter to all my friends and colleagues.
Why This Placement Worked
An exclusive brief, a clearly defined person specification and a search that combined advertising with direct approaches gave the client a shortlist of three genuinely comparable candidates rather than a long list to sift. It also meant every candidate had a single, consistent point of contact throughout the process, which the feedback above reflects.
If you are recruiting a facilities professional for a large office occupation — particularly where you are the principal tenant in a shared building — Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and find the right person. Get in touch with our team.