Background
The London Institute of Banking & Finance is a specialist education and professional development organisation with a long-established reputation for supporting the financial services sector through qualifications, training and learning programmes.
Operating across sites in London and Canterbury, the organisation needed a senior facilities leader to oversee premises management, venue operations, health and safety, procurement and service delivery across a multi-site estate. To support its evolving operational needs, The London Institute of Banking & Finance asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Head of Premises and Facilities Management who could provide both day-to-day leadership and long-term strategic direction.
The Challenge
The role had to balance operational facilities delivery with strategic planning across two locations. The appointee would be responsible for keeping every site safe, efficient and well run while making sure facilities services continued to support staff, learners, visitors and the wider organisation. Key areas of responsibility included:
- Multi-site premises and facilities management
- Venue operations and service delivery
- Health, safety and statutory compliance
- Contractor and supplier management
- Procurement and contract negotiation
- Budget management and financial control
- Project management and workplace improvements
- Office relocations and refurbishment programmes
- Sustainability and environmental initiatives
- Team leadership and staff development
- Customer service and user experience
- Strategic facilities planning
What made the appointment demanding was the combination rather than any single item on that list:
- Competing priorities across a dispersed estate. Multi-site leadership means being accountable for standards in buildings you are not in most days. The role needed someone who could set consistent processes across locations while supporting the organisation through periods of change.
- Venues as well as offices. An education provider's estate is used by learners and visitors, not just employees. Venue operations carry a service expectation closer to hospitality than to a conventional corporate workplace, and compliance failures are visible to a much wider audience.
- Cultural fit in a values-led organisation. Strong leadership, compliance expertise and commercial awareness were essential, but so was the ability to work collaboratively in an organisation focused on adaptability, innovation and continuous improvement.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens worked closely with The London Institute of Banking & Finance to understand the operational requirements, strategic priorities and cultural expectations attached to the role. The successful candidate would need strong facilities and venue management expertise, together with the leadership capability to manage teams and influence senior stakeholders. Both halves of that brief carried equal weight in the search.
Search
Drawing on our Facilities Management network, we ran a targeted search focused on candidates with experience across multi-site facilities management, premises management, venue operations, education and professional services environments, health & safety compliance, contractor and supplier management, procurement and budget management, refurbishment and relocation projects, and sustainability and service improvement.
Particular emphasis went on candidates with proven experience leading facilities teams, managing complex projects and delivering good service across multiple locations. Project delivery is easy to claim and hard to verify from a CV, so we probed for relocations and refurbishments each candidate had personally run.
Assessment
Candidates were assessed against a range of technical, operational and leadership competencies:
- Facilities and premises management expertise
- Venue management and operational delivery
- Health, safety and compliance knowledge
- Project and change management capability
- Procurement and contract management experience
- Budget management and financial oversight
- Team leadership and people development
- Stakeholder engagement and communication
- Sustainability and continuous improvement focus
The assessment focused on finding someone who could add operational value immediately while supporting the organisation's future premises strategy.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens appointed an experienced Head of Premises and Facilities Management with more than 10 years' experience across multi-site facilities operations. The successful candidate brought strong operational leadership, project management expertise and a proactive approach to service improvement. Their key strengths included:
- Extensive multi-site facilities management experience
- Strong health, safety and compliance expertise
- Proven leadership of permanent and temporary facilities teams
- Experience delivering office relocations and refurbishment projects
- Strong procurement and contractor negotiation capability
- Effective budget management and cost control
- Commitment to sustainability and operational innovation
- Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills
Following their appointment, the Head of Premises and Facilities Management took responsibility for facilities operations across London and Canterbury, helping to strengthen service delivery, compliance and strategic planning. The benefits reported across the estate included:
- More consistent facilities operations across multiple sites
- Streamlined premises management processes
- Closer health, safety and compliance oversight
- Stronger contractor relationships and value-driven procurement
- Improved financial control across facilities services
- Better planning for workplace improvement projects
- A more capable facilities team, through training and development
- Greater focus on sustainability and operational efficiency
The placement gave the organisation a senior facilities leader able to support both day-to-day operational performance and long-term estate planning.
Why This Placement Worked
Head of Facilities appointments often go wrong in one of two ways: the organisation hires a strong operator who cannot plan beyond the next quarter, or a strategist who is uncomfortable with the daily reality of a multi-site estate. This brief was explicit that it needed both, and the search and assessment were built around that from the start.
Maxwell Stephens supports education providers, professional bodies, corporate occupiers and membership organisations with recruitment across facilities, premises and workplace management, including Head of Facilities appointments, multi-site leadership, venue operations, health & safety compliance, contractor and supplier management, and workplace projects and relocations. If you are recruiting a senior facilities leader for a multi-site or learner-facing estate, get in touch with our team.