Background
Livingstone Consulting was building a Managing Agent team to service a nationwide UK retailer with ambitious growth plans. The contract covers around 1,000 sites and, with a start planned for early summer, it asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit for several roles in the team, including a Regional FM Manager for the South.
The Challenge
The Regional FM Manager (South) visits sites to meet, audit and troubleshoot the FM suppliers and the work they carry out. The post is largely remote, travelling across a region rather than sitting in one building. That demands people who can arrive at a site, assess it quickly and address performance with confidence.
The contract is technically broad. It covers mechanical, electrical and refrigeration services as well as trading assets such as ovens, so the post holder needs to be credible with engineers and suppliers in specialist disciplines, not only on generalist soft services. The role works within a team that includes technical specialists, supply chain and account management, and so must communicate clearly and share findings.
Livingstone described a new contract and wanted innovative, ambitious candidates. That meant looking for people who would enjoy shaping how a managing agent model is run from the beginning, as well as keeping standards up across a large estate.
The scale adds its own pressure. With roughly a thousand sites in scope and a contract due to begin within weeks of the enquiry, regional managers would have to establish their routines, supplier relationships and audit standards quickly, with little time for a gradual handover. We therefore paid particular attention to candidates who had already worked across large, dispersed estates and who could show how they had raised supplier standards without a permanent base to work from.
Our Approach
- We took the brief on the contract, the number of sites and how the regional managers would operate.
- We searched for multi-site FM managers and contract managers with retail, M&E and refrigeration exposure who were comfortable travelling in the South.
- We screened for supplier audit experience, technical credibility and independence in remote working.
- We shortlisted with full CVs and interview notes, then supported the process to offer.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens made the appointment.
If you are mobilising a new multi-site contract and need regional leadership, talk to Maxwell Stephens about how we would approach the search.
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