FMJ.CO.UK INTERVIEW FOCUS
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2020 37
board had gone through the Alchemist
leadership programme at Servest, and Daniel
asked me to come in on this role.”
Being mixed race, Chapman says he
“originally struggled with the lack of overall
diversity in the FM sector, and Daniel
was telling me he’d address it as he was
essentially creating a new ‘cabinet’ and
wanted me to be a part of it, so the move
back was essentially a no-brainer. That,
alongside the merger with Atalian, meant
there is a whole new era of culture and
change.”
The new role comes with a position on
the UK board as well as a merge of two
functions, group sales and marketing.
“We also identified that corporate social
responsibility needed to be at board
level,” says Chapman, “as although we
had a CSR manager there wasn’t any
board representation. It’s something I’m
passionate about as I completed a course
at the University of Cambridge on business
sustainability management, so that now is
an additional responsibility too.”
Chapman has rejoined a very di erent
company from the one he le . He says there
has been a period of transition as the new
CEO focused on keeping business on track
financially, while ensuring the strong skills of
its leadership team were embedded into the
new culture.
“We know what Atalian expect of us,” says
Chapman. “We’ve listened to our people
and what they loved about the previous
era, and now it’s about bringing the two
together. When I first joined in 2011 the
annual turnover was around £40 million, and
now in the UK we will be finishing over £700
million – and the Atalian group turnover is
over €3 billion. But because the majority of
the board were here when it was Servest and
grew up in that era, whatever the size of the
organisation we appreciate that the best
way forward is to ensure that all of the teams
have the same culture and ethos, and aim to
achieve the same common goals.”
SUSTAINABILITY
Chapman is a passionate advocate
of sustainability in its broadest form,
describing it as having three main elements:
• Environmental – the most recognisable
sort of sustainability, that includes green
buildings and managing waste
• Fiscal sustainability, particularly pricing,
where it’s acceptable for suppliers to make
a profit while still meeting their clients’
objectives
• People’s sustainability.
He explains: “These elements all go into
our commitment in supporting Atalian
Servest’s colleagues at all levels. The aim
is about building a sustainable business
and building future-fit partnerships. For
instance, if a contract is not designed
sustainably that means more fiscal pressure,
which is when we can see an increase in
mental health issues, stress, depression
and people getting to breaking point. From
a business perspective this may also result
in unsustainable contracts, which fail as
people leave or go sick. That’s why for me
people, environment and financial stability
all represent sustainability in FM.”
So how can the industry reduce risk and
prevent a race to the bottom? According
to Chapman, a lot of risk in the industry
stems from not knowing enough about the
client. He says Atalian Servest has carefully
identified its core sectors as construction,
corporate, distribution and logistics,
education, leisure and tourism, rail, retail,
public sector and manufacturing.
“You might think that’s nearly all of them,
but it’s not – it is where we can reference
where we best perform, and if a potential
client wants to work with us we’ll show them
what we do within their sector. If it’s not in
kilter with what they want, or we cannot
provide a solution, we’ll mutually walk away.
My advice is to be transparent and give the full
details up front, which is why there needs to
be better provision of information by clients
and suppliers; and why, before agreeing a
contract, the provider should ideally visit
every one of their sites first, and having done
so amend the contract accordingly.”
DIVERSITY IN FM
Another big passion for Chapman is
diversity within the FM sector. According
to the 2017 McGregor-Smith Review