FACILITIES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL JOBS
FM CAREERS - CAREER LADDER
FM is known to be a career that people fall into
from other sectors. In this regular column, FMJ
chats to a facilities professional about how they
got into the sector and takes a look at their
career path. This month we talk to Spencer Rock,
Chief Operating Offi cer, Tivoli Group Limited.
Name: Spencer Rock
Current role:
Chief Operating Offi cer,
Tivoli Group Limited
Lives: Cheshire
What first attracted you to
working in FM, did you have much
awareness of the profession?
I initially trained as an accountant and
was looking to relocate to the North
West in 2000 when a position came
up for a Finance Manager working
for a company called Parkman. They
subsequently merged with Mouchel and
then became part of Kier.
How did you progress through
the profession to your current role?
Parkman was an interesting proving
ground! Although I was mostly in
Finance, the company went through
a lot of change in the three or four
years I was there – a management
buy out, flotation, an acquisition and
then ultimately the merger between
themselves and Mouchel. I then joined
Mitie as their Head of Finance for the
Northern Cleaning division.
Following three years, I was o ered
the position of Finance Director for the
cleaning division on an interim basis
working largely in Bristol, becoming
Commercial Director for the division,
and then taking on the responsibility for
all of the relationship management of
the large national accounts, along with
the transport, retail, waste, pest and
landscaping sectors. That is where I truly
started to understand what good FM
businesses could deliver, and the pitfalls
of what can go wrong.
A« er half a decade in that position,
I moved into a group role working for
Suzanne Baxter, the Mitie CFO at the time
who used my experience in finance and
operations to solve business “problems”.
It was all very interesting, but ultimately
I wanted direct ownership/control of
a business which is why, when the
opportunity at Tivoli came along, it really
resonated with what I wanted to do.
What have you found the most
challenging experiences working in
FM?
I would say it’s the unravelling of what
can be termed “onerous contracts”
and making them commercially viable.
There is never a ‘one size fits all’ solution,
but invariably the resolution comes
from a mix of restructuring resources,
commercial negotiations, and common
sense from both parties. Generally, this
gets things back on track. However
there have a been a few occasions when
all of the above just doesn’t work, so
finding a way to exit a contract without
impacting the client and probably more
importantly, the sta who work on the
ground, can be challenging.
What have you found most
satisfying about working in the
sector?
For me it’s seeing progress and resolving
problems. Back in 2012, Mitie had a
large financial services contract that
was on the brink of going out to tender.
The client needed savings, so I and
the dedicated team met with them on
a weekly basis to come up with some
ideas and changes that would save them
around 6-7 per cent on the contract.
Are you a member of any FM
association or body and if so what
benefits do you think they provide?
Tivoli is a member of the British
Association of Landscaping Industries
(BALI). Sharing ideas, experiences
and best practice is invaluable.
I still personally retain my ACMA
qualifications, which I’ve found
invaluable and has allowed me to
bridge the gap between “financial” and
“operational” camps.
What qualities do you think are
most needed for a successful career
in FM?
A couple of things really – anyone who
wants to be a success needs to be
“bombproof” and have an ability to
juggle multiple things at once. Secondly,
there’s always days when everything
seems to go wrong and you want to go
home and hide away, but you need to
have the gumption to get up the next
day, dust yourself down and start again.
What has changed about your
job role since the COVID-19 crisis?
E.g. home working, furloughed,
redeployed?
The most important part of my
job has become the frequency of
communication with my direct team,
and ensuring they stay safe and that
they aren’t su ering from “study fatigue”.
I can’t stress enough the importance of
staying aware of the changing nature of
challenges for all employees, whether
that’s childcare/shielding issues, finding
places to work at home, or just the
simple lack of face-to-face contact. All
of those issues have come up this year,
which to be honest weren’t significant
considerations this time last year.
What is your organisation
doing to ensure the wellbeing of
sta – whether working at home or
returning to the workplace?
Apart from the obvious stu , we’ve come
up with some creative solutions such
as buying cheap cars to follow mobile
teams around where we couldn’t socially
distance in crew cab vans. On top of this,
we’ve put in place a range of support
resources for those who are struggling
with the things I mentioned earlier,
which is done on a confidential basis via
outsourced professional providers. We’re
a sector that’s associated with being a bit
“gritty” and “tough”, but even the most
resilient workers su er from lows so it’s
important that our people have access
to this kind of support to get them
through these tough times.
Do you believe the pandemic has
highlighted the important role of the
FM sector and what areas do you see
as most key?
I’m bound to focus on green spaces of
course! Throughout the pandemic our
teams on the ground have certainly seen
the parks and green spaces we service
being occupied to a far greater extent
than ever before. We’ve received some
fantastic feedback about our work, so I’d
hope in small part we’ve helped to make
the lockdowns a little more bearable for
the general public.
What advice would you give to
someone coming into the profession
now?
Jump into it - especially if you want
variety in your working life and are
prepared to do the “hard yards”. I’ve
seen some of the most amazing places
around the UK, presented awards with
Jack Whitehall, and met some genuinely
humbling people in doing so. The
commitment of people in FM never fails
to impress me day in day out.
Which of your achievements
are you most proud of during your
career?
It’s fair to say, my role at Tivoli and seeing
the business develop over the past two
years has been amazing. The team we
have here has grown so much over that
time - both in terms of knowledge and
the way they conduct themselves and
operate. I’m genuinely staggered by
the progress we have made so far, and
am looking forward to welcoming our
colleagues from Sodexo HS into the fold
in February 2021 following our recent
acquisition.
What do you predict could be the
main changes to the FM sector post
pandemic?
We’re a resilient bunch in FM – our raison
d’etre is to solve problems on a daily
basis, but I’m sure none of us would
have expected what we’re going through
now. The major change I see is there will
be many di erent ways of working, with
more emphasis put on sta ’s work/life
balance where possible - I believe that’s
one of the few positives to have come
out of the pandemic. Let’s hope 2021
sees the end of it, and we can get back
to normal.
Would you, or someone you know, like to be featured in our career ladder column? If you’re an operational
FM with more than 10 years’ experience in the sector, then email sara.bean@kpmmedia.co.uk
54 FEBRUARY 2021
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