Senior Facilities Manager for RHS Wisley

Background

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is one of the UK's best-known horticultural organisations, dedicated to promoting excellence in gardening, horticulture and plant conservation.

RHS Garden Wisley, one of the organisation's flagship gardens, combines an internationally recognised visitor destination with a complex and diverse property estate. The site encompasses historic buildings, offices, retail facilities and other operational spaces, all of which require careful management to maintain high standards for employees, volunteers and visitors.

RHS appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Senior Facilities Manager capable of providing strategic leadership across this varied estate while ensuring the effective delivery of maintenance, compliance, contractor management and customer-focused Facilities services.

The Challenge

Managing Facilities at RHS Wisley required a professional who could balance the demands of a high-profile visitor destination with the technical, operational and compliance requirements of a diverse property portfolio. Estates of this kind rarely behave like a single building: the maintenance regime for a historic property, a retail unit and an office block differ, and the visitor season sets limits on when disruptive work can happen at all.

The successful candidate needed to integrate effectively into the existing management team while providing clear leadership to the Facilities function. Key requirements included:

• Strategic Facilities leadership. Providing direction for Facilities Management across RHS Wisley and developing a structured approach to the long-term maintenance and improvement of the estate.
• Diverse property management. Overseeing Facilities requirements across a broad range of buildings and environments, including historic properties, offices and retail spaces.
• Planned and reactive maintenance. Ensuring maintenance activity was effectively prioritised and coordinated to protect building condition and minimise disruption to operations and visitors.
• Health and safety leadership. Maintaining a strong culture of health and safety across the site, with appropriate systems, procedures and accountability.
• Contractor management. Managing external contractors and agencies, monitoring performance and ensuring services were delivered safely, efficiently and cost-effectively.
• Facilities systems. Using Facilities Management systems effectively to support maintenance planning, reporting, compliance and operational control.
• Project management. Leading and supporting Facilities projects designed to maintain, improve and develop the Wisley estate.
• Customer and visitor experience. Ensuring Facilities services contributed positively to the experience of staff, volunteers and the large number of visitors using the site.

Given the complexity of the environment, RHS required a professional with strong technical credentials and proven Facilities leadership experience: a recognised Facilities Management qualification at IWFM Level 4 or above, substantial health and safety knowledge supported by NEBOSH/IOSH expertise, experience using Facilities Management systems, strong project-management capability, contractor and supplier-management experience, excellent leadership and communication skills and a strong customer-service focus.

Equally important was the ability to operate effectively within a distinctive organisation and understand the balance between commercial, operational, heritage and visitor requirements.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens worked closely with RHS Wisley to develop a detailed understanding of the position, the estate and the qualities required from the successful candidate.

We conducted an extensive search focused on experienced Facilities professionals capable of leading within a complex, multi-building environment. Candidates were assessed against both technical and leadership criteria, including:

• strategic Facilities Management
• planned and reactive maintenance
• health and safety
• contractor management
• FM systems
• property and maintenance planning
• project delivery
• team leadership
• stakeholder management
• customer and visitor experience

Following a rigorous search and selection process, Maxwell Stephens identified and placed a candidate with the qualifications, experience and leadership capability required by RHS Wisley.

The Outcome

Since joining RHS Wisley, the Senior Facilities Manager has strengthened the strategic and operational management of the estate.

• Development of a five-year FM plan. A major contribution was the development and implementation of a comprehensive five-year Facilities Management plan, establishing a clearer long-term approach to maintenance and estate performance. This gave RHS Wisley greater structure around future Facilities priorities and investment requirements.
• Stronger maintenance planning. The candidate introduced a more strategic approach to maintenance across the diverse property portfolio, helping ensure Facilities activity was planned and prioritised effectively.
• Improved contractor management and cost control. Proactive oversight of external contractors and agencies strengthened service delivery while maintaining close control over expenditure, supporting more efficient services without compromising required standards.
• Enhanced health and safety culture. The candidate's health and safety expertise helped reinforce a culture of compliance, responsibility and accountability across the site, supporting the wellbeing of employees, volunteers and visitors while strengthening overall Facilities governance.
• Stronger customer experience. Effective Facilities Management helped ensure the buildings and operational environments at RHS Wisley continued to support the high standards expected of a major visitor destination.

The placement gave RHS Wisley a Senior Facilities Manager capable of combining strategic estate planning, maintenance management, health and safety, contractor performance and customer-focused service delivery.

Why This Placement Worked

The development of a five-year FM plan demonstrated the value of recruiting a Facilities leader capable of looking beyond immediate operational requirements and establishing a clear strategy for the future. Visitor estates in particular tend to run on reactive maintenance because the operational calendar never pauses; a senior appointment who can impose a planned regime on top of that is the difference between an estate that is kept going and one that is improved.

The assignment demonstrates Maxwell Stephens' ability to recruit senior Facilities professionals for complex, high-profile estates where operational performance, compliance and visitor experience must work together.

If you are looking for an experienced Senior Facilities Manager to lead a complex estate or visitor destination, Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach candidates with the right blend of technical and leadership credentials. Get in touch with our team.