Facilities Management Recruitment for the Financial Times

Background

Founded in 1888 and now part of Nikkei Inc., the Financial Times (FT) is one of the world's most respected business news organisations, known for the authority, integrity and insight of its journalism. The FT serves millions of readers worldwide through its print, digital and events businesses, operating from its London headquarters with an international presence across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Maxwell Stephens already had a working relationship with the FT's Global Head of Facilities Management, having previously delivered recruitment assignments at another organisation. On the strength of that track record, we were appointed to recruit two members of the Workplace & Facilities team:

• Facilities Manager
• Assistant Facilities Manager

The Challenge

The Financial Times needed two experienced facilities professionals to support a fast-paced, high-profile corporate headquarters, where service standards, customer care and business continuity all carry real weight. Both roles sat at the centre of day-to-day workplace services, making sure employees, visitors and stakeholders found a safe, efficient and welcoming environment every day.

Between them, the two posts covered:

• Delivery of all facilities management services across the office.
• Relationships with internal stakeholders and business leaders.
• Contractor and supplier performance, and the operational budgets behind them.
• Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) service delivery.
• Reception, front of house and security operations.
• Planned and reactive maintenance.
• CAT B fit-out and workplace refurbishment projects.
• Health & Safety compliance, including risk and DSE assessments.
• Consistently high workplace standards throughout the building.

The Facilities Manager post also carried leadership responsibilities: managing the team, running performance reviews and driving continuous improvement across several service lines at once.

In a headquarters of this profile, the bar is higher than the job titles suggest. Senior stakeholders and visitors notice quickly when standards slip, and a facilities team that is technically sound but purely reactive tends to struggle. The search had to find people who anticipate problems rather than simply respond to them.

Our Approach

Building on the existing relationship, Maxwell Stephens ran a targeted executive search for facilities professionals with experience of premium corporate environments. Technical capability was only part of the assessment. The Financial Times wanted people who combined operational expertise with strong customer service, leadership capability and the ability to build trusted relationships across a fast-moving organisation.

The search focused on candidates with:

• Corporate facilities management experience.
• Office fit-out and workplace project experience.
• Contractor and supplier management expertise.
• Strong Health & Safety knowledge.
• Experience of managing front of house, security and workplace services.
• A technical understanding of building services and MEP operations.
• Leadership and people management capability.
• Clear communication and stakeholder management skills.
• A proactive, solutions-focused mindset.

Each candidate was assessed against both the technical requirements of the roles and the collaborative culture of the Financial Times. Where two posts in the same team are recruited together, it also pays to consider how the appointments will work alongside one another, rather than assessing each in isolation.

The Outcome

Following a thorough campaign, Maxwell Stephens appointed both a Facilities Manager and an Assistant Facilities Manager: two professionals who closely matched the Financial Times' operational and cultural requirements. Both brought substantial experience of managing workplace environments, along with the professionalism, initiative and customer focus needed to support one of the world's leading media organisations.

Since joining the Financial Times, they have contributed by:

• Maintaining high workplace standards across the London headquarters.
• Strengthening contractor and supplier performance.
• Supporting office refurbishment and workplace improvement projects.
• Delivering a consistently good service to employees and visitors.
• Managing Health & Safety compliance and workplace risk.
• Supporting business continuity and operational resilience.
• Building strong relationships across the wider business.

The appointments reinforced the long-standing relationship between Maxwell Stephens and the Financial Times, and showed the value of specialist facilities recruitment built on trust and continuity.

Why Long-Term Partnerships Deliver Better Results

Many clients return to Maxwell Stephens because we take the time to understand their organisation, its culture and its longer-term objectives. Our previous work with the FT's Global Head of Facilities Management meant we already understood how that team operates and what a good appointment looks like to it. That allowed us to move quickly, identify the right individuals and deliver two appointments who continue to support the smooth running of one of the world's most respected media organisations.

If you are recruiting facilities leadership for a high-profile corporate headquarters — whether a single post or a pair of complementary roles — Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach the candidates who fit it. Get in touch with our team.