Managing Director – Estates
Grounds Maintenance | Arboriculture | Winter Services
£100,000 – £150,000 + Bonus + Benefits South East based, national remit
Reporting to the C
EOLet’s be clear about one thing up front: this is not a surveying or building estates rol
e.“Estates” here means the green and external side grounds maintenance, arboriculture and winter services. Crews, plant, fleet and depots. If your background is building surveying, hard FM, M&E or property asset management, this isn’t the o
ne.If you have built and grown a commercial grounds, arb or winter services business, keep read
ing.The bus
inessOur client is a PE-backed national provider of external property services, operating across thousands of sites in the UK. The group has a clear, funded plan to double in size organically and through acquisi
tion.The Estates Division is the largest part of that business, bringing together grounds maintenance, arboriculture and winter services under one leadership. It is an established, profitable operation with directly employed teams, and it now needs someone to take it to the next
stage.Th
e roleYou will own the division outright full P&L, strategy, operations and people reporting directly to the CEO and sitting on the group senior leadershi
p team.The mandate is growth. Not car
- etaking.Own and grow the divisional P&L, improving both revenue an
- d EBITDABuild the operating model and leadership team capable of supporting a business twice
- the sizeWin new work in competitive markets and deepen existing client relat
- ionshipsDrive productivity across a dispersed, seasonal, plant-and-fleet o
- perationSupport acquisitions — identification, diligence and int
- egrationChampion the technology and data that make service delivery
smarterWho we are lo
oking forYou are running, or have run, a commercial contracting business in grounds maintenance, landscaping, arboriculture, forestry, vegetation management or winter services or a divisio
n of one.You w
- ill bring:Full P&L ownership of a business or division, ideally in the £10m–
- £40m rangeA genuine growth record — revenue and margin you have moved, in competitive markets, with the numbers t
- o prove itSelf-delivery experience — directly employed crews, plant, vehicles and depots, not just contract
- managementNational or multi-region operational leadership, with the seasonality that comes with t
- his sectorCommercial credibility with major clients, frameworks a
- nd tendersComfort in a PE-backed environment, ideally with acquisition
- experienceAn appetite for technology — route optimisation, telematics, asset systems, operat
ional dataSector knowledge matters here. So does the ability to build a business. We are looking
for both.This is probably not
- for you ifYour background is building surveying, chartered surveying or building estates
- managementYou have come through hard FM, M&E, building fabric or technic
- al servicesYou have managed grounds or arb contracts client-side, in-house or for a local authority, rather than delivering them c
- ommerciallyYour growth has come from renewals and captive customers rather than compe
- titive winsYou are looking for a steady divisional management role — this
is a buildWhat
is on offerA genuinely autonomous divisional MD role in a well-backed business with an exit horizon, a supportive executive team and a market position worth building on. Competitive base, bonus and benefits, with the total package structured for someone who will be measured on what the divis
ion becomes.Interested? Apply here, or contact Peter Forshaw at Maxwell Stephens directly for a confidential
conversation.Maxwell Stephens is the UK’s leading specialist facilities and property services recruitmen
t consultancy….