Background
The United Reformed Church (URC) appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Facilities Manager for Church House, 86 Tavistock Place, London, its central administrative office.
Church House supports approximately 60 members of staff and provides meeting and event space for internal and external users. The property also incorporates areas leased to commercial and residential tenants, which creates a varied facilities management environment with several stakeholder groups and competing operational requirements.
URC needed a dedicated Facilities Manager to take responsibility for the appearance, maintenance, safety, services and effective use of Church House, while keeping the building compliant and providing a professional environment for employees, visitors and tenants. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the successful candidate would also lead an operational team made up of a Caretaker, Cleaners and a Receptionist.
The Challenge
Church House presented a broad and multifaceted facilities management requirement. The successful candidate would have to balance the everyday demands of a busy administrative workplace against the requirements of meeting-room users, commercial and residential tenants, contractors, committees and volunteers. Key responsibilities included:
- Building and facilities management. Overall responsibility for the day-to-day operation, appearance and performance of Church House.
- Building services and maintenance. Managing planned and reactive maintenance, and keeping building systems and services safe, functional and appropriately maintained.
- Health and safety compliance. Running the property in line with relevant health and safety requirements and maintaining appropriate procedures and controls.
- Safety and security. Managing the arrangements that protect employees, tenants, visitors and the wider property.
- Team leadership. Clear leadership of the Caretaker, cleaning team and Receptionist, so that responsibilities were coordinated and service standards held.
- Tenant management. Building productive relationships with commercial and residential tenants and responding professionally to property and facilities requirements.
- Third-party facilities management. Managing external contractors and service providers, and holding outsourced services to the organisation's expectations.
- Meeting and hospitality services. Supporting the effective use of meeting rooms and other facilities by internal teams and external visitors.
- Space utilisation. Making sure available space was used effectively across administrative, meeting, commercial and residential requirements.
- Environmental and sustainability initiatives. Supporting environmental improvements across the building and contributing to URC's net zero by 2030 aspiration.
- Committee and volunteer engagement. Working constructively with committees, groups and volunteers, and providing informed advice on property and facilities matters.
Mixed-use buildings of this kind are demanding out of proportion to their size. A commercial tenant's expectations are contractual, a residential tenant's are statutory and a colleague's are cultural, and the same manager has to meet all three from one budget. Where decisions are also made by committee rather than by a single budget holder, the post needs someone who can carry authority without holding much formal power.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens worked closely with the United Reformed Church to understand the operational requirements of Church House and the personal qualities its new Facilities Manager would need.
The appointment called for broad facilities management experience and the confidence to operate across building operations, compliance, people management, tenant relations and stakeholder engagement. Our assessment focused on candidates with experience in:
- facilities and building management
- planned and reactive maintenance
- health and safety
- safety and security management
- team leadership
- contractor and supplier management
- commercial and residential tenant relations
- space and letting management
- hospitality and meeting-room operations
- environmental initiatives
- working with committees and volunteers
Particular emphasis was placed on finding a professional who could combine operational expertise with patience, communication skills and a collaborative approach suited to the distinctive environment of the United Reformed Church. In organisations of this type, a facilities manager who arrives determined to impose a corporate operating model tends to spend the first year losing arguments; one who explains the reasoning and brings people with them gets further.
Following a detailed search and assessment process, Maxwell Stephens placed a well-qualified Facilities Manager at Church House.
The Outcome
The appointment strengthened the management of Church House across several areas:
- Building management. Dedicated oversight of building services, maintenance, security and day-to-day operational requirements, supporting a safe and functional environment for staff and visitors.
- Tenant relations. Closer coordination of commercial and residential tenant requirements, with more responsive communication and better handling of property issues.
- Facilities operations. Dedicated facilities leadership improved the coordination of services across Church House and supported more effective use of the building.
- Health and safety compliance. Greater structure around safety and compliance activity, with relevant responsibilities managed consistently.
- Sustainability. Support for environmental initiatives across Church House, contributing to the organisation's wider net zero by 2030 ambition.
- Team leadership. Clear management of the Caretaker, Cleaners and Receptionist, strengthening coordination and holding service standards steady across the building.
- Committee engagement. Productive relationships with committees and internal groups, providing informed facilities input and supporting better decision-making about the property.
In short, the placement gave the United Reformed Church a Facilities Manager able to combine building operations, maintenance, compliance, tenant management, sustainability and team leadership within a diverse central London property.
Why This Placement Worked
Briefs like this are often written as technical specifications, because the technical content is the part that is easy to write down. What decided this appointment was the other half: the ability to work with committees, tenants and volunteers whose interests in the same building do not align, and to keep the operational detail moving while that conversation continues.
Assessing for both from the outset produced a shortlist that fitted the organisation rather than only the job description — the kind of appointment Maxwell Stephens is asked for where technical expertise has to be matched by interpersonal judgement.
If you are recruiting a Facilities Manager for a complex workplace, a mixed-use property or an organisational headquarters, get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.