Background
The Premier League is one of the world's most recognised and commercially successful sporting organisations. Broadcast to more than 1 billion homes across 189 countries, it represents the pinnacle of professional football and operates from a modern headquarters that supports a fast-paced, high-profile and continually evolving organisation.
With a commitment to operational excellence and an exceptional workplace experience, the Premier League required an experienced Interim Head of Facilities to lead its Office Services function during a 12-month maternity cover.
Recognising the importance of this appointment, the Premier League appointed Maxwell Stephens on an exclusive basis to identify an exceptional Facilities Management leader capable of maintaining the outstanding standards expected within one of the world's leading sporting organisations.
The Challenge
The successful candidate would assume responsibility for the operational management of the Premier League's headquarters, leading a well-established Office Services team responsible for delivering an exceptional working environment for employees, visitors and senior stakeholders.
This was far more than a traditional facilities management role. It required an experienced operational leader capable of balancing strategic oversight with hands-on leadership across multiple workplace services.
Key responsibilities included:
- Leading the day-to-day operation of the Premier League headquarters.
- Managing Reception, Front of House, Post Room and Catering teams.
- Overseeing workplace operations and office services.
- Managing facilities-related projects and workplace improvements.
- Building strong relationships with landlords, contractors and key stakeholders.
- Managing supplier performance and service contracts.
- Ensuring exceptional workplace presentation and employee experience.
- Supporting a flexible, collaborative and high-performing workplace culture.
The ideal candidate needed to possess significant leadership experience within corporate Facilities Management together with exceptional communication skills, commercial awareness and the confidence to operate within a high-profile organisation.
Cultural fit was equally important. The Premier League sought someone who was proactive, collaborative, adaptable and capable of building strong relationships with colleagues at every level of the business.
Our Executive Search Approach
Given the prestige of the organisation and the quality of the opportunity, we anticipated exceptionally strong market interest.
As expected, the campaign generated significant demand from experienced Facilities Management professionals across London and the wider UK.
To ensure only the strongest candidates progressed, Maxwell Stephens implemented a comprehensive executive search and assessment process.
Our recruitment strategy included:
- Extensive executive search and targeted headhunting.
- Market mapping across the corporate Facilities Management sector.
- Initial screening interviews with more than 70 applicants.
- Detailed competency-based interviews.
- Assessment of leadership capability, stakeholder management and cultural fit.
- Comprehensive candidate referencing and shortlist preparation.
Although technical Facilities Management expertise was essential, our assessment process focused equally on leadership style, emotional intelligence and the ability to thrive within a dynamic, high-profile workplace.
Following extensive evaluation, we presented the Premier League with a carefully selected shortlist of three exceptional candidates, each closely aligned to the organisation's requirements.
All three candidates progressed to interview, with two advancing to the final stage before the successful appointment was made.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens successfully recruited an outstanding Interim Head of Facilities who brought extensive experience leading workplace and facilities operations within demanding corporate environments.
The successful candidate demonstrated:
- Strong strategic and operational Facilities Management leadership.
- Extensive experience managing multidisciplinary workplace teams.
- Outstanding stakeholder management and communication skills.
- A proactive and collaborative leadership style.
- Excellent supplier and contract management capability.
- A commitment to delivering exceptional workplace experiences.
Following their appointment, the new Interim Head of Facilities quickly integrated into the organisation, ensuring continuity across all workplace services while maintaining the exceptionally high operational standards expected at the Premier League.
Supporting World-Class Organisations Through Specialist Recruitment
Recruiting senior Facilities Management professionals for internationally recognised organisations requires far more than identifying technically competent candidates.
Success depends on understanding organisational culture, leadership capability and the ability to identify professionals who can thrive in demanding, high-profile environments.
Through our specialist Facilities Management expertise, rigorous executive search methodology and detailed assessment process, Maxwell Stephens successfully delivered an outstanding Interim Head of Facilities who ensured the Premier League's headquarters continued to operate at the highest possible standard throughout the assignment.
Feedback
Peter is one of those dependable professionals who carries with him considerable depth of experience and knowledge of his sector garnered over many years. Coupled with his expertise, is an innate understanding of the needs of his recruiting clients and the qualities and abilities of his pool of candidates at any given time. The combination uniquely positions him to quickly and effectively find strong potential matches.
I have benefited (both as a candidate and recruiter) from Maxwell Stephens' assistance over the years, and I would strongly recommend Peter and his team.