Recruiting a Facilities Manager for Tenpin Ltd

Background

Tenpin Ltd is one of the UK's leading leisure and entertainment operators, with bowling and family entertainment venues located across the country. With a nationwide estate supporting thousands of customers every week, the business needed a Facilities Manager capable of keeping its venues safe, compliant, well maintained and operationally efficient.

Based at the company's head office in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, the role was central to Tenpin's repairs and maintenance programme across a growing property portfolio. Tenpin approached Maxwell Stephens to run the search.

The Challenge

The brief was for a Facilities Manager who could take ownership of maintenance coordination, contractor management and facilities support across the national estate. The successful candidate needed to combine strong operational experience with excellent communication skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced leisure environment.

Key requirements included:

• Experience managing repairs and maintenance programmes across multiple sites
• Strong contractor and supplier management skills
• The ability to support operational teams across a nationwide estate
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail
• Strong MS Office capability and reporting skills
• A proactive, service-focused approach
• The ability to build positive relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners

Two things make a role like this harder than the title suggests. First, the estate is customer-facing: leisure venues trade when their customers are off work, and a facilities issue left unresolved is visible to the public and costs trade. Second, the role sits at head office while the issues arise at venues across the country, so the job depends on coordinating contractors and venue teams at a distance, prioritising well and closing issues quickly. Tenpin needed someone who understood the importance of minimising disruption, maintaining high standards and making sure facilities issues were resolved quickly and effectively.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens ran a focused recruitment campaign, targeting facilities management professionals with relevant experience in leisure, retail, hospitality and multi-site operational environments. These are the sectors where a facilities manager learns to keep trading sites open, and where contractor management is a daily discipline rather than an occasional task. Our process included:

• A detailed review of the requirement. We worked through Tenpin's brief and estate profile so that the search was scoped against the estate as it actually operates.
• Targeted sourcing. Candidates were identified through our specialist FM network rather than through advertising response alone.
• Screening for the right experience. We screened specifically for multi-site maintenance experience and contractor management capability.
• Assessment beyond the CV. We assessed communication style, stakeholder management and cultural fit, since these determine whether someone can work effectively with venue teams and suppliers they rarely see in person.
• A shortlist built for immediate value. We presented a shortlist of candidates able to deliver operational value from the outset.

The Outcome

Maxwell Stephens placed a capable Facilities Manager who closely matched Tenpin's operational and cultural requirements. The appointed candidate brought strong experience in facilities management, maintenance coordination and supplier management, enabling Tenpin to strengthen the delivery of repairs and maintenance across its estate.

Their appointment supported:

• Improved coordination of maintenance activity across venues
• Stronger contractor and supplier management
• Better operational efficiency
• Continued compliance and safety across the estate
• Better support for venue teams and customers nationwide

Why This Placement Worked

Multi-site facilities roles in leisure and hospitality are often filled from a single-site or corporate office background, and the appointment then struggles with the pace and the geography. This search targeted people who had already managed maintenance across dispersed, customer-facing estates, and assessed them on the communication and organisational skills that a head-office role supporting venues nationwide depends on. The result was an appointment that fitted the job as it is actually done.

If you are recruiting a facilities manager for a multi-site or customer-facing estate, Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach the candidates who can deliver practical, operational impact. Get in touch with our team.