4 June 2015 | Lewis English
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Lewis English and I am the new Marketing and Communications Manager at the BIFM.
One of my big passions in life is comic books. A few weeks ago I went to see one of the biggest movies this summer - Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The main character in the film is the billionaire playboy Tony Stark. As well as being the superhero Iron Man, he is also head of the multinational corporation, Stark Industries.
As I watched the film one thing became clear: it appears Tony Stark is the only person who works for his company. He has a massive tower in the middle of New York and has facilities around the world with the latest technology, and needing the strictest security, but you never see a single facilities management employee.
An organisation that spans the globe should have thousands of facilities management staff, but the only thing we see are robot arms and artificial intelligences. This might be because most people only notice facilities management once something has gone wrong and if FMs do their job, then their work goes unnoticed.
Unlike movies, in real life facilities management is everywhere and in everything. It is an integral part of our economy, yet is under-represented and sometimes misrepresented. I am excited to take this position and hopefully do my part in bringing facilities management to the forefront of the workplace agenda. With better representation we can create real change but I will need your help.
I need your stories, knowledge, expertise and training. I believe that if we tell the story of facilities management through the hard work and innovation of our members, to detail the amazing things that our sector can do, then we can get the recognition and influence we deserve.
If we do this then the sky is the limit. These are not hollow words. I hereby give you an email address. [email protected]
If you have a project or a colleague you think the world needs to know about, then let me know. If you have an idea or an issue you think needs to be highlighted, then get in touch. I will promise to work with you to get it the recognition it deserves. I want to bring FM front and centre - where it belongs. We need champions for our industry and I look forward to working with you to grow the profession.
I work in marketing and 20 years ago it would've been unheard of for a marketing professional to become a CEO or a head of an organisation. Now these opportunities are available. I think that the increase in importance and scope of facilities management means that we are not too far away from having our first FM CEO.
Lewis English is Marketing and Communications Manager at BIFM