A BIT ABOUT YOU / VIEW POINT
Walking through the building and bumping into artistes can be slightly surreal But most of my time is spent making sure my teams are OK and have what they need to do their job properly.
Would you describe your role as predominantly operational or strategic?
BE HIND THE JOB
Nathan Hunt What do you do? I’m an FM for Warner Music Groups UK estate. I manage soft service teams / contracts, plus HS&E.
What attracted you to FM, and how did you get into the industry? I just stumbled into the industry. My manager at the time explained how interconnected facilities are with the business and that pretty much hooked me.
How long have you been in your current role? I joined in April 2020 – so I was a pandemic joiner!
Operational and strategic in a way. My teams are all operational, but I manage a lot of HS&E items as well which allows me to assist from a strategic standpoint.
How many people are there in your FM team, and to whom does the FM team ultimately report? Including contractors, which are an extension of our team, we have about 40 staff. We report to the VP of international real estate and facilities.
My top perk at work is… I get to work at a top-tier music company and get to meet some fascinating people in the industry. We also have an
amazing restaurant on-site that I manage, so plenty of perks come from that alone!
What has been your biggest career challenge to date? I think it would be silly not to mention Covid-19; like most people we have been preparing and changing plans based on the government’s guidance. Trying to get that right has certainly been a task!
If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? I would change people’’s opinion about facilities staff. We’re involved in every part of an organisation and make sure the business can effectively and safely run!
Any interesting tales to tell? None from Warner Music, unfortunately. I did, however, work for a large shopping centre in the UK and every day there was a completely different battle! We once had all the smoke vents open in the torrential rain, which pretty much flooded the centre. Nightmare!
If I wasn’t in facilities management, I’d probably be… In the military/ emergency services. Most people in the industry would agree that we are people-
NATHAN HUNT is an FM for Warner Music Groups UK estate
pleasers and like helping when we can.
Which ‘FM/Workplace myth’ would you most like to put an end to? That we have a magical way of making one desk freezing and the desk right next to it super-warm! It’s not how the systems work!
What single piece of advice would you give to a young facilities/workplace manager starting out? Become a knowledge sponge. Learn anything you can! Get on courses, find people that know more than you and ask them questions! Too many people in the industry think they’re stuck in their role, but a course would open up so many doors for them!
What was the weirdest day you’ve had in the office? Because I started during the lockdown, I’m still not really used to the music industry yet, but walking through the building and bumping into artists can be slightly surreal.
What FM job in the world would you love more than anything? I think I’d like to work for the NHS; I think managing such a stressful location like a hospital would give a strong sense of satisfaction when you get to go home, and you know the NHS staff can do their job properly.
And where would FM be an absolute nightmare? Retail FM is horrendous! There’s not enough downtime sometimes to get work done.
Do you see yourself predominantly as a task or a people manager? I think
Your life outside FM mostly involves… I’m a bit
I’m more of a people manager; I have specific items that I manage myself, like contractor management and reviews.
of a gaming geek, so I tend to spend a lot of my time doing that or watching TV / chilling out with my partner.
FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M
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