CAREER PATHS PROFILES
SAM KESTEVEN
“I like the way the FM sector is moving and the recognition it’s gaining from companies realising the core support that FM provides to the infrastructure of their business”
Room at the top THE FM
Martin O’Connor WORKS AS: Chief engineer/FM at Intercontinental Hotels Group FM TYPE: In-house
WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALISE THAT FM WAS THE CAREER FOR YOU?
I have worked for most of my career within the hospitality industry, and hotels in particular. At a networking event I was amazed how similar the role of the FM, and the position I held within the hotel, had in common. I realised I’d been involved in FM for many years, just under a different job title. WHAT DO YOU DO?
I head a department with a very committed and engaged team of 14 members of staff. I am entrusted with the largest Holiday Inn in the world, the Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum.
My job is to maintain the grounds and hotel structure, organising planned preventative maintenance programmes for the 906 guest bedrooms, 25 floors of guest bedroom corridors, meeting rooms, public areas, restaurants, bars and back-of-house staff areas. I maintain the supply of utilities, check that we’re meeting all our legal and statutory requirements, plan our energy saving programmes for gas, water and electricity, and represent the facilities team at departmental budget and contractor induction meetings.
for two of the world’s top hotel groups, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Hilton, and both at their flagship hotels. Some of the more challenging projects have included fitting a swimming pool into a basement function room, replacing a basement boiler house containing three commercial steam boilers with more efficient gas boilers on a 10th floor roof. There have been numerous refurbishments, the installation of 400 bathroom pods into guest rooms, and dealing with the damage caused by the flooding of three sub basements by a burst street ring main. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
You never quite know the issues you’ll face when you walk through the doors. When the hotel is at full occupancy we can have upwards of 1,800 guests staying per night, and that’s a lot of potential requests.
WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE?
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR CAREER TO DEVELOP?
I’ve held my current position
I’d like to stay within IHG, but I’ve
also been working with an FM training company conducting ‘back of house’ show rounds for their delegates. This gives me a great opportunity to pass my knowledge on to new starters in FM. It would be interesting to look into some sort of teaching or lecturing position in the future. I was also very fortunate to be invited on to a pilot mentoring programme sponsored by BIFM and Larch Consulting. One of my goals was to apply for full member status with the BIFM, and my mentor helped me achieve that. I attended a three day BIFM training course ‘Understanding Facilities Management’, which also gives you the opportunity through further studies and assessments to obtain an Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) qualification in FM. I got my MBIFM status ahead of target and I have almost completed my ILM qualification. WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE FM SECTOR?
I like the way the FM sector is moving and the recognition it’s gaining from companies realising the core support that FM provides to the infrastructure of their business. It’s exciting to see the rate at which technology is advancing and what that means for the future of FM.
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