The winner of the Leader of the Year Award has played a key role in delivering cutting edge, dynamic solutions via its successful, valued and inspired teams and is already a recognised ambassador for the FM profession: notable career successes have been acknowledged by peers and support and commitment to the wider FM profession is clear. This individual has had a significant positive impact upon the whole profession and is a respected, valued leader and champion.
WINNER
> Andrew Smart
An instantly recognisable figure in FM, Andrew Smart has worked in leadership roles across some of the most prominent companies for more than 15 years and within the facilities management industry as a whole for more than 30 years.
Andrew has been active in both the FM profession and also as part of BIFM, and has been a prominent industry speaker and a BIFM Awards judge three times.
Andrew began his career working as a labourer back in 1983, and has always sought to upskill himself within the FM field to increase his knowledge, leadership skills and specialisms – leading him to the leadership roles he is best known for, such as working as Managing Director for Sodexo, as a key leader for CBRE and as a leader of the EMEA team for Cushman & Wakefield.
The depth, breadth and diversity of Andrew’s experience in FM has enabled him to become an innovative and inspired leader – from helping deliver fully-functional businesses from nothing to contributing to the great success of London 2012.
As a leader, Andrew has raised awareness of people – working under the firm belief that FM is a people-driven business. He has built up his own team over time, and still maintains an 85% retention rate for his staff. Andrew has also helped businesses to grow economically, increase their efficiency and in raising brand awareness.
Andrew never stops growing, not only for the businesses he works for but also for himself, and has plans to take a more active role in BIFM as a leader, to develop a web-based FM think tank and to continue engaging with other FM professionals through speaking, panel discussions and judging.
> Read more about Andew Smart, BIFM Awards Leader of the Year 2017