BIFM AWARDS 2015
Award sponsored by
THE WINNERS
New Facilities Manager of the Year Alan Russell (centre) receives his award from Screwfix’s Andrew Ashby, flanked by comedian Simon Evans and BIFM chairman Julie Kortens
THE JUDGES SAID:
Alan Russell of Heathrow Airport believes that the best FM strategy is one aligned to driving service and value for money – a credo that has won him this top prize THE WINNER: ALAN RUSSELL – HEATHROW AIRPORT
HIGHLY COMMENDED: DIANE THORPE – HEARST MAGAZINES UK
Heathrow Terminal 5’s Alan Russell took the event’s coveted individual award of 2015 Facilities Manager of the Year. The former engineering apprentice has responsibility for all of the engineering and facilities services, hard and soft, on Heathrow’s Terminal 5 campus. His responsibility covers all aspects of service delivery including compliance, contract and asset management. Russell has accountability for core operational expenditure on cleaning, maintenance and energy, controlling a budget in excess of £27m. Russell directly manages a team of 120 and has indirect responsibility for 500. He and his team service the 90,000 passengers and staff who use T5 each day, and he counts among the facilities in his charge Europe’s busiest track transit system. Russell’s award recognises the overall success of the Terminal 5 project, voted the world’s best airport terminal two years in a row – “a testament to the service culture created within the facilities team,” says Russell, who’s heading several work streams designed to drive additional value across all facilities activities. We’ll have an interview with Russell in our next edition.
In a perfect example of how slight the margins are between the best FM practitioners in the country, Diane Thorpe was richly deserving of her highly commended accolade. Thorpe is responsible for FM at Hearst Magazines UK, a company of around 900 people occupying two buildings in London’s Soho. She’s described by colleagues as the archetypal ‘go to’ person, having overseen the publisher’s project to become carbon neutral by the end of 2013 and masterminded the relocation of the Good Housekeeping Institute. Aside from these major complex projects, Thorpe has also set up an internal magazine to improve awareness of both the role and achievements of the company’s facilities department and projectmanaged procurement across several group businesses to save £650K on business travel, energy, telephones and stationery in one year alone. It’s an impressive series of initiatives, all of which have led to important benefits to Hearst’s wider operations. Ultimately, says Susy Smith, editor-in-chief of Hearst’s Country Living Magazine, Thorpe “gets everything done on time and within budget”.
22 | 22 OCTOBER 2015 | FM WORLD
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CHRISTIAN TRAMPENAU
FACILITIES MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Alan Russell (winner) demonstrated: ● “An unassuming blend of experience and commitment, team leadership and professionalism” ● “An ability to focus upon the tasks in hand and balance this with community support projects” ● “A clear recognition of the need to deliver sustainable operational outcomes” Diane Thorpe (highly commended) showed: ● “The strength of character, focus on objectives, leadership and attention to detail that the Highly Commended accolade deserves.”
www.fm-world.co.uk
15/10/2015 17:57