Maintenance Supervisor for Vivienne Westwood

Background

Vivienne Westwood is one of the world's most iconic fashion brands, known for its creativity, innovation and influence on global fashion culture. The organisation operates across a portfolio of corporate, retail and logistics facilities, and relies on well-run workplace and property infrastructure to support its people, operations and continued growth.

To support the management of its London estate, Vivienne Westwood asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Maintenance Supervisor to oversee maintenance operations across three key locations: the Elcho Street headquarters, Merton Warehouse, and the Conduit Street office and boutique. The role was critical to operational continuity, statutory compliance and the long-term performance of the organisation's building assets, while supporting the move towards a more strategic and technology-enabled maintenance function.

The Challenge

Vivienne Westwood needed a versatile Maintenance Supervisor who could balance hands-on maintenance delivery with contractor management, compliance oversight and long-term maintenance planning. The successful candidate would support a diverse portfolio of sites, each with distinct operational requirements and stakeholder needs. Key areas of responsibility included:

• Multi-site maintenance management
• Planned and reactive maintenance delivery
• Building fabric and engineering services support
• Health, safety and statutory compliance
• Contractor and supplier management
• Asset maintenance planning
• Minor works and refurbishment coordination
• Maintenance reporting and documentation
• CMMS implementation and optimisation
• Preventative maintenance development
• Emergency response and operational support

Three things made this harder than a standard supervisor-level hire:

• Three very different buildings. A headquarters, a warehouse and a retail boutique place different demands on maintenance. Logistics sites prioritise uptime and safe operation, a boutique prioritises finish and discretion, and an office sits somewhere between. One supervisor had to move between all three and hold a consistent standard at each.
• Hands-on delivery plus systems thinking. The role needed strong technical knowledge and practical maintenance expertise, but the organisation also wanted to move towards a more proactive, data-driven maintenance model. Experience with maintenance systems and asset management processes was therefore highly desirable. Practical supervisors who are also comfortable building CMMS data and reporting are a small group.
• Working independently across locations. Supervisors covering dispersed sites spend much of the week without a manager on hand, so the ability to manage competing priorities without close supervision was essential.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens worked closely with Vivienne Westwood to understand the operational challenges and future objectives attached to the role. The successful candidate would need strong hands-on maintenance experience while also supporting the development of more structured maintenance processes and reporting systems. We treated both as core requirements rather than one as a nice-to-have.

Search

Drawing on our Facilities Management and Maintenance network, we ran a targeted search focused on candidates with experience across multi-site facilities maintenance, building fabric maintenance, mechanical and electrical services, workplace and commercial environments, health & safety compliance, contractor management, planned preventative maintenance, asset management, and Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS).

Particular emphasis went on candidates who could operate independently, manage competing priorities and contribute to long-term maintenance improvements, rather than those whose experience was limited to closing reactive tickets.

Assessment

Candidates were assessed against a range of technical and behavioural competencies:

• Practical maintenance and repair experience
• Health, safety and compliance knowledge
• Contractor supervision and coordination
• Maintenance planning and scheduling
• Asset management awareness
• Problem-solving and fault diagnosis
• Communication and stakeholder management
• Organisational capability and attention to detail

The assessment focused on securing someone who could provide immediate operational support while contributing to the organisation's wider facilities strategy.

The Outcome

Maxwell Stephens appointed an experienced Maintenance Supervisor who closely matched both the operational requirements and the long-term objectives of the organisation. The successful candidate brought extensive practical maintenance experience, strong compliance knowledge and a proactive approach to facilities management. Their key strengths included:

• Multi-site maintenance management experience
• Strong building fabric and technical maintenance knowledge
• Proven contractor management capability
• Health, safety and compliance expertise
• Experience supporting planned preventative maintenance programmes
• Strong organisational and reporting skills
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach to operational problems

Following their appointment, the Maintenance Supervisor took responsibility for maintenance operations across all three sites, helping to improve maintenance performance, operational reliability and service consistency. The benefits reported across Vivienne Westwood's London estate included:

• Closer management of planned and reactive maintenance
• Improved contractor performance and oversight
• Stronger compliance with health, safety and statutory obligations
• Greater focus on preventative maintenance planning
• Better maintenance reporting and asset visibility
• Support for the implementation and optimisation of a CMMS platform
• Reduced reliance on reactive maintenance interventions
• Improved operational efficiency across multiple locations

The placement gave Vivienne Westwood a maintenance professional able to support both day-to-day operational needs and the ongoing transformation of its maintenance and facilities management function.

Candidate Testimonial

Excellent agency! Beth Forshaw was incredibly helpful and responsive, and she helped me find a job quickly. I’m very grateful for her support throughout the entire process and would definitely recommend this agency.

Etrit Lutfiu
Maintenance Supervisor, Vivienne Westwood

Why This Placement Worked

Organisations moving from reactive to planned maintenance often recruit the person who can fix things today and hope they will grow into the systems side later. It rarely happens, because the reactive workload never leaves enough room. This search screened for both capabilities from the start, which is why the appointee could support the CMMS rollout while keeping three sites running.

Maxwell Stephens supports corporate occupiers, retailers, property owners and commercial organisations with recruitment across maintenance management, facilities management, technical services, building maintenance, hard services operations, compliance and health & safety, and asset and maintenance planning. If you are recruiting a maintenance lead for a multi-site estate, get in touch with our team.