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 Brett Ennals, Managing
Director, Cento.
Name: Brett Ennals
Employer:
Cento
Current role:
Managing Director
What first attracted you to
working in FM, did you have much
awareness of the profession?
When I was younger I didn’t really know
what I wanted to do, I knew I was quite
a practical person and a’ er completing
an engineering and manufacturing
apprenticeship with the MOD I went
onto a service engineering role – which
is where I got a real taste of the Building
Services and FM industry.
How did you progress through
the profession to your current role?
As mentioned I started out with the
MOD in 1989. This then led me to a
service engineer for Abel. I found myself
always striving to know and learn more,
which led me to a senior site-based
engineer role for Gent, I loved this role
and the challenges every day meant
there was never a boring day at work.
In 1997 I moved onto a service manager
role with FSE. Then given all my
product experience it seemed a natural
next step into sales. I had varying roles
with Siemens and Honeywell on both
the products and services sides of
Building Services.
In 2003 I became a senior sales
manager for Honeywell, which was
great but I soon realised the biggest
challenge to them, like many others
in our sector was finding the right
resource. So in 2005 I took the leap to
start Cento recruitment.
Now established over 15 years I’ve
never looked back, our role in industry
has changed over time from traditional
recruitment, to using our industry
knowledge and experience with our
clients to become more strategic
resourcing partners to achieve their
goals.
What have you found the most
challenging experiences working in
FM?
Talent has always been a challenge
in the FM/Building Services Industry
– hence the birth of Cento. Over the
years it has become apparent more
so at the engineer level – there is a
lack of new emerging talent which
has made it highly competitive and
being the lower end of the salary range
companies don’t want to invest as
much in recruiting as they would say
a national sales director. This led to
us establishing our sister brands Fire
and Security Jobs (FSJ) and Li’ and
Escalator jobs (LSJ) to specifically
service this market. This has allowed
Cento to continue to be more of a
strategic partner for executive hires and
or strategic team development.
What have you found most
satisfying about working in the
sector?
Being in industry for over 30 years the
things I love are still the same - The
busyness of the industry, the fact that
no two days are ever the same. But also
that the sector is always challenging,
vibrant and dynamic.
Personally having worked both sides,
the most satisfying thing for me now is
working at that strategic level with our
clients to deliver resourcing to meet
their business goals. For me matching
the right talent that delivers business
results is key. Some people I have
placed over the years are still in their
companies and have risen in the ranks
delivering real ROI for our customers
investing in their resourcing.
Are you a member of any FM
association or body and if so what
benefits do you think they provide?
I think it's important to keep an
industry presence so we regularly
attend and exhibit at varying sector
events during the year (obviously
not as many this year!). I am also a
member of the Worshipful Company
of Security Professionals, The Security
Institute and BSIA. The benefits for me
as mentioned is keeping up to date
with industry trends and news, but
also definitely around the educational
elements such as courses and over the
past year podcasts, round tables and
more and obviously when allowed the
industry networking is key.
What qualities do you think are
most needed for a successful career
in FM?
Having made my way through the
industry both product and services
side I definitely think that resilience
and an ability to work under pressure
is needed. You need to be able to
problem solve and think on your feet to
deliver a resolution for your customers
no matter the challenge.
What has changed about your
job role since the COVID-19 crisis?
E.g. home working, furloughed,
redeployed?
Personally the biggest change was
working from home having come
from a sales background I was used
to a busy oΠice with lots of buzz
and excitement. Going from that to
working from home for me and all the
team was a big culture shock. We did
our best to combat with daily zoom
meetings to all keep abreast of industry
updates, workloads etc. We also tried
to ensure some of the fun elements,
so had weekly bingo and fun activities
arranged and did a monthly cake run
for all our team where we delivered a
small token to keep spirits up.
Moving forward we have seen a huge
change across the board in industry.
Roles that were never thought to
be possible remote are now being
oΠered in hybrid working conditions,
technology advances have been
focused around giving more flexibility
to the industry and we only see this as
a plus as it will open the industry up to
more talent as we move forward.
What is your organisation
doing to ensure the wellbeing of
sta – whether working at home or
returning to the workplace?
Like all companies in industry our
staΠs' wellbeing was paramount. We
initially oΠered working from home and
then as the oΠices opened we oΠered
PPE to all staΠ, introduced a rota to
ensure less staΠmembers were in the
building with strict 2m spacings in
the workplace, COVID procedures and
training was given, we installed screens
between desks, and continued with
additional cleaning. Mental wellbeing
was also key for us and something we
pride ourselves on taking seriously.
We continued with our monthly spirit
li’ ing activities and also increased
management one to ones with staŒ
to ensure any issues or need for
additional support were identified as
quickly as possible. We also introduced
a workplace mindfulness app which
included meditation and breathing
exercises and allowed all team
members time in their day to partake.
Do you believe the pandemic has
highlighted the important role of
the FM sector and what areas do you
see as most key?
Yes, not only has the pandemic
highlighted the importance of the
workers in our industry from an
outside perspective, but the really
great thing is that companies are
recognising the importance and
value of their staΠwho have kept the
country going over the past 18 months.
Another great thing has been the
advancement of technologies such as
remotely monitored systems and the
investment we are now seeing in these
technologies could revolutionise the
industry.
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
58 NOVEMBER 2021
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