Background
Slaughter and May is one of the world's leading international law firms, renowned for advising many of the world's most prominent organisations, financial institutions and governments. Headquartered in the City of London, the firm is recognised for its exceptional standards, attention to detail and uncompromising commitment to excellence.
Supporting such a prestigious professional services environment requires world-class facilities management. The firm's London headquarters must operate flawlessly every day, providing an outstanding workplace for partners, employees and clients while ensuring complete compliance, resilience and operational efficiency.
To support this objective, Slaughter and May appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an exceptional Senior Premises Manager.
The Challenge
This was far more than a traditional facilities management appointment. The successful individual would be responsible for leading the operational management of one of London's premier legal headquarters, ensuring the building continued to deliver the highest possible standards across every aspect of facilities management.
The role required a highly experienced facilities professional capable of balancing strategic leadership with operational excellence across a broad range of responsibilities, including:
- Leading all building services and engineering operations.
- Managing planned and reactive maintenance programmes.
- Overseeing space management and workplace utilisation.
- Ensuring exceptional housekeeping and presentation standards.
- Driving energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives.
- Managing third-party contractors and specialist suppliers.
- Maintaining full statutory and regulatory compliance.
- Leading capital works, refurbishment and improvement projects.
- Working closely with senior stakeholders across the partnership.
Finding a candidate with the right technical expertise was only part of the challenge. Equally important was identifying an individual with the professionalism, discretion and leadership capability expected within one of the world's most respected law firms.
Our Approach
Drawing upon nearly two decades of specialist Facilities Management recruitment experience, Maxwell Stephens conducted a targeted executive search focused on senior professionals with experience managing prestigious corporate headquarters and complex professional services environments.
Our recruitment process included:
- A detailed consultation to fully understand Slaughter and May's operational requirements and organisational culture.
- Comprehensive market mapping and executive search across the professional services, legal and corporate real estate sectors.
- Extensive competency-based interviews and technical assessment.
- Detailed evaluation of leadership style, stakeholder management capability and cultural fit.
- Presentation of a carefully selected shortlist of exceptional candidates.
We focused on individuals who demonstrated:
- Degree-level or equivalent qualifications in Building Services or Facilities Management.
- IOSH Managing Safely and relevant professional memberships.
- Extensive experience managing high-profile corporate buildings.
- Strong leadership and people management capability.
- Proven project and contract management experience.
- Commercial awareness alongside exceptional operational standards.
- A commitment to continuous improvement, compliance and customer service excellence.
The Outcome
Following a rigorous recruitment process, Maxwell Stephens successfully placed an outstanding Senior Premises Manager who closely matched Slaughter and May's demanding requirements.
The successful candidate brought significant experience managing complex corporate facilities within professional services environments and demonstrated an exceptional ability to lead multidisciplinary teams while maintaining the highest operational standards.
Since joining the firm, they have successfully:
- Enhanced the management of building services and engineering operations.
- Delivered improvements to operational efficiency and service delivery.
- Strengthened contractor performance and supplier management.
- Led facilities improvement and refurbishment initiatives.
- Continued to drive compliance across all statutory and health & safety obligations.
- Supported workplace optimisation and space management strategies.
- Introduced continuous improvement initiatives focused on operational resilience and sustainability.
- Built strong working relationships with partners, employees, contractors and senior stakeholders.
Delivering Leadership for One of London's Leading Law Firms
Appointments of this nature require far more than simply matching qualifications to a job description. They demand an in-depth understanding of organisational culture, leadership capability and the unique operational requirements of prestigious corporate environments.
By combining specialist Facilities Management expertise with a thorough executive search process, Maxwell Stephens successfully delivered a Senior Premises Manager capable of supporting one of the UK's most respected legal institutions and ensuring its facilities continue to operate to the exceptionally high standards for which Slaughter and May is recognised.