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Account Director - park maintenance, cleaning and security
Cofely Workplace Ltd

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	Adam M– Cofely Workplace
00:00	My name is Adam, I work for Cofely Workplace Limited and my job title’s Account Direct.
00:05	I look after a contract, the maintenance and cleansing and security of the Olympic Park. Cofely provide a range of jobs across the facilities management industry, so you can have the entry level jobs such as cleaning or, in this case litter picking or basic horticultural, you can then step up to another level which is for instance an electrician or mechanical engineer and then you get into the supervisory realm which is supervisory of sections of the business or management across a range, so I look after a range of sectors such as mechanical engineering, horticulture, cleaning, health and safety and security.
00:45	Within the park as an example we’ve got approximately 270, 280 people working on the park as it stands at the moment. Some of those are what we call entry level jobs, so the cleaners and some of the horticultural people, people who are doing litter picking across the park and things like that as well, but then obviously as you move up the chain into supervisory specialisms in arboriculture, specialism’s in security then the roles become slightly more complex, possibly more qualifications required and then you get into the management level.
01:16	I always find that work experience is a fantastic thing to do and we’d be happy to take work experience people on this park, because they’ll see it in a totally different light than what the Joe public do as well. But, it’s more about personality in my mind at that age, people who want to learn, who want to listen and have the motivation to actually get out there and get dirty and if they’ve got that enthusiasm and they’ve got the personality then they generally will find, I think, that we can be very receptive, we can give them opportunities in a whole range of different spheres and they’ll probably end up choosing one that they perform in best.
01:56	I personally think it’s more about personality and the willingness to get involved and if they’ve got that then we can go in sorts of different directions.
02:03	Outside of the education sphere it’s what they do outside of it. So if they do have any work experience or Duke of Edinburgh awards or something like that, so they’re not just this is my CV this is my education or I’ve done a job in retail or something like that, I would look at the bit below that as to what else they’ve done. So I did some charity work when I was younger, and I think if somebody’s got the experience outside of the education sphere they’ll have more life experience when they go into the work place in my mind.
02:37	A lot of people fall into the facilities management industry. I was a sporty person and therefore did a sports science degree and went into the leisure industry from there. From my career perspective you know I started off in hotels, into leisure, into facilities management, into security, back into facilities management again so you can move around in your career in facilities management I’ve seen and worked in places that you know I never envisaged that I would do, so Downing Street, the Cabinet Office, I’ve seen underground in Whitehall I’ve seen Alexandra Palace and the ancient studios that are in there. I’ve worked at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, I’ve practiced how to blow up shopping centres in my life you know so you get to experience different places and you get to go different places as well that, behind the scenes stuff that people won’t necessarily see.
03:29	End of Adam M

Adam oversees the contract for maintenance, cleaning and security of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. He would encourage young people to have enthusiasm, personality and a willingness to get involved if they want to go into facilities management. Adam went into the industry after completing a degree in sports science. He started off working in the hotel and leisure industry and feels there is much flexibility in this sector.

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£44,720

average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

58% male

42% female

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description

? Job holders within this unit group manage shopping centres, residential areas and private estates, and arrange for the sale, purchase, rental and leasing of property on behalf of clients and employers.

Qualifications

There are no formal academic requirements, although entrants usually possess a BTEC/SQA award, a degree or equivalent qualification. Apprenticeships are available in some areas. Many employers expect the attainment of membership to a relevant professional body.

Tasks

Determines staffing, financial, material and other short- and long-term requirements;
Manages general upkeep, maintenance and security of the estate’s amenities;
Makes sure that the amenities meet health and safety standards and legal requirements;
Advises on energy efficiency;
Discusses client’s requirements and may advise client on the purchase of property and land for investment and other purposes;
Conducts or arranges for structural surveys of properties and undertakes any necessary valuations of property or agricultural land, and deals with grant and subsidy applications;
Negotiates land or property purchases and sales or leases and tenancy agreements and arranges legal formalities with solicitors, building societies and other parties;
Maintains or arranges for the maintenance of estate accounts and records and produces financial forecasts;
Acts as arbiter in disputes between landlord and tenant and ensures that both fulfil their legal obligations;
Examines and assesses housing applications, advises on rent levels, investigates complaints and liaises with tenants’ association and social workers to resolve any family problems.