Background
Tower Transit is one of London's leading public transport operators, delivering bus services on behalf of Transport for London (TfL). Since its launch in 2013, the company has grown rapidly, operating hundreds of buses across the capital while employing more than 2,000 people in support of London's transport network.
To support its expanding operations, Tower Transit appointed Maxwell Stephens exclusively to recruit a Facilities Manager with responsibility for multiple operational sites, including its major depots in Notting Hill and Walthamstow.
This was a business-critical appointment, requiring a Facilities professional capable of maintaining operational continuity across a demanding, safety-critical transport environment.
The Challenge
The Facilities Manager would take responsibility for the management of the company's buildings, engineering infrastructure, plant, equipment and property assets, ensuring every location remained safe, compliant and fully operational.
Working across multiple sites, the successful candidate needed to balance day-to-day operational demands with longer-term maintenance planning, capital projects and environmental improvements.
Key responsibilities included:
- Managing Facilities Management across multiple operational depots.
- Overseeing planned and reactive maintenance programmes.
- Managing property, plant and engineering assets.
- Leading contractor procurement and performance management.
- Delivering facilities and property improvement projects.
- Managing Facilities and property budgets.
- Advising on capital expenditure and investment planning.
- Developing Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programmes.
- Ensuring full compliance with Health & Safety, Fire Safety and environmental legislation.
- Supporting operational managers with technical property advice.
- Driving environmental performance and sustainability initiatives.
- Managing emergency response and out-of-hours incidents.
- Building strong relationships across operational and engineering teams.
Given the operational nature of the transport industry, the role required exceptional organisational skills, technical knowledge and the ability to make sound decisions in a fast-moving environment.
Our Approach
Working closely with Tower Transit's leadership team, we developed a detailed understanding of both the technical requirements and operational culture of the business.
Our executive search targeted experienced Facilities professionals with proven success managing multi-site property portfolios within operationally demanding sectors such as transport, logistics, infrastructure and industrial environments.
We focused on candidates who demonstrated:
- Extensive multi-site Facilities Management experience.
- Strong knowledge of building services and engineering infrastructure.
- Property project and capital works management.
- Contractor procurement and supplier management expertise.
- Health & Safety and statutory compliance leadership.
- Environmental and sustainability management.
- Budget planning and financial management.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
- Strong project management capability.
- Flexibility to support operational requirements outside normal working hours.
Throughout the recruitment process, we placed particular emphasis on identifying candidates who combined technical competence with commercial awareness, leadership capability and a practical, solutions-focused approach.
The Outcome
Following a comprehensive executive search and rigorous assessment process, Maxwell Stephens successfully appointed an experienced Facilities Manager who possessed the operational expertise and leadership qualities required for the role.
The successful candidate quickly established themselves as a key member of Tower Transit's operational leadership team, taking ownership of Facilities Management across multiple sites while supporting the continued reliability of the company's transport infrastructure.
Since joining the organisation, they have successfully:
- Strengthened Facilities Management across operational depots.
- Improved contractor performance and maintenance delivery.
- Enhanced Health & Safety and statutory compliance.
- Delivered planned maintenance and capital improvement projects.
- Improved budget control and property planning.
- Supported environmental performance initiatives.
- Built strong working relationships across operational and engineering teams.
- Ensured critical facilities remained safe, reliable and operational.
The appointment provided Tower Transit with a Facilities leader capable of supporting one of London's busiest transport operators while delivering high standards of operational performance and regulatory compliance.
Recruiting Facilities Leaders for Critical Infrastructure
Facilities Management within transport and infrastructure environments demands technical expertise, commercial awareness and operational resilience.
Maxwell Stephens' specialist knowledge of Facilities Management recruitment enabled Tower Transit to secure an experienced professional capable of supporting complex multi-site operations and maintaining the safe, efficient performance of essential transport facilities.
Candidate Testimonial
"I was very impressed with the guidance and attention to detail throughout the recruitment process. Maxwell Stephens took the time to understand where I wanted my career to go and only discussed opportunities that genuinely matched my aspirations. The whole experience felt natural, professional and incredibly well managed. It was a pleasure to secure my new role through Maxwell Stephens."