Background
As part of a multi-million pound programme to improve council services, Greenwich Council decided to relocate eight existing buildings in preparation for the construction of the new Woolwich Centre. The new building was planned to bring together a library, offices for 2,000 staff and a business centre.
At the design stage the council did not have the facilities management expertise it needed in-house, and it retained Maxwell Stephens to find a consultant for the nine-month design phase.
The Woolwich Centre, on Wellington Street, now houses the council's main offices and the Woolwich Centre Library.
The Challenge
Bringing facilities management thinking into a building at design stage, rather than after handover, shapes how the building will run for decades: space planning, services, maintenance access and how staff move in from eight separate sites. The council needed someone who could contribute to those decisions quickly and credibly for a fixed-term engagement.
The Market for This Role
Facilities consultants who can contribute at design stage are a small group. Most FM experience is gained running buildings after handover, and far fewer people have sat in design meetings arguing for maintenance access, sensible plant locations and realistic running costs.
The value of bringing them in early is that those decisions are still open, when changing them costs least.
Our Approach
- We produced a concise job and person specification for the role, including the selection criteria.
- Candidates were sourced through referrals and advertising.
- Every candidate was fully assessed against the selection criteria and reference checked.
- We presented a shortlist to the council's selection panel, with notes from structured interviews and full CVs.
The Outcome
Our knowledge of the facilities management market helped Greenwich quickly establish the type of person it needed. The council appointed the candidate with the most suitable experience, skills and competencies for the role, and the appointment allowed it to make significant headway during the design phase.
Why It Worked
The brief was short and specific: FM expertise for a defined design period. Agreeing the selection criteria first and assessing every candidate against them meant the panel was choosing between people who could all do the job, and could focus on who would contribute most to the project.
If you are planning a facilities, estates or workplace appointment, talk to Maxwell Stephens about how we would run the search.
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