The company
Our client was founded by its Chief Executive, built its reputation in winter gritting, and is now a national outdoor estate maintenance contractor serving more than 11,000 sites across retail, logistics, healthcare, education, the public sector and critical infrastructure. It delivers winter services, grounds maintenance and arboriculture, and reactive works (hard surfaces, drainage, exterior and building fabric, fencing and access control, minor civils, specialist cleaning and surveys) through directly employed crews, its own fleet and plant, and its own technology platform. Backed by new private equity investment since 2025, it is growing organically and by acquisition, with three businesses acquired last year and more in progress. Group turnover is around £35m with strong and rising EBITDA.
It is a hands-on, seasonal, margin-driven operation. The executive team is small, direct and close to the work. The people who succeed here know their numbers, know their crews and enjoy the unglamorous end of the business.
The role
Reporting to the Chief Executive and sitting on the executive team, you will own the operating P&L across winter, grounds and reactive services. The mandate is to build, not to maintain: grow EBITDA materially through organic growth and acquisition, put process, accountability and a number on every operation, integrate acquired businesses without losing their people or their customers, grow repeat income from the existing client base, and lead the Operations Directors and the Director of Asset & Fabric. You will take the day-to-day operational and client load off the Chief Executive so that he can concentrate on strategy and deals.
What you will be doing
• Own the budget, forecast and EBITDA for the operating business, and know what drives every number
• Lead winter, grounds and reactive operations through the Operations Directors, and own winter mobilisation and delivery each season
• Drive field productivity: route density, jobs completed on travelling routes, van stock, utilisation of labour and plant
• Grow repeat income from the existing 11,000 sites, with pipeline and conversion measured monthly
• Contribute to acquisition targeting and diligence, and lead post-completion integration
• Run the operation on the company's technology platform and make productivity, compliance and customer experience visible to the executive team
• Lead, develop and hold to account the regional leadership, and set a culture of accountability, pace, common sense and straight talking
What we are looking for
• You have run, or been the operational number two running, a contractor-side outdoor services business: grounds maintenance, winter services, landscaping, fencing, reactive or external estate maintenance, delivered by directly employed crews, plant and fleet
• You have owned a P&L and can show EBITDA and margin movement with base and end figures, and explain what drove it to a Chief Financial Officer
• You have grown a business organically and by acquisition, and have integrated acquired small businesses without losing their people or customers
• You know the economics of vans, routes, crews and depots from experience, not from a dashboard
• You have won and grown work with property managers, FM providers or national multi-site clients
• A stable career; a founder-led, plain-speaking, hands-on culture suits you
• Private equity experience, winter services, fencing or reactive fabric works, and public-sector frameworks are all an advantage
This is not a role for corporate FM or account directors who have delivered inside someone else's P&L, for consultants or interims without a recent operating record, or for anyone who cannot talk EBITDA under questioning.
Location and package
Location: Reading, Berkshire, with national travel to depots and client sites.
Package: £120,000 to £130,000 base, plus bonus, car or allowance and benefits, with an equity element intended.
Process
Interview and assessment with Maxwell Stephens, including your own P&L record. First stage with the Chief Executive and Chief People Officer. Second stage with the Chief Financial Officer on the numbers. Final stage presenting your plan for the operating business to the executive team. Decisions within 48 hours of each stage.
To apply
Send your CV with a short note on the P&L you have owned and what you did with it.
For a confidential discussion and further information, please apply directly or contact us in confidence on 0207 118 4848, or send your CV to cv@maxwellstephens.com.
Interested in this role?
Apply in a couple of minutes with your CV. If your experience is a match, we will be in touch to talk it through in confidence.
