Facilities Management

Name: Dave Stones

Rank on Exit: Sergeant

Years of Service: 23 Years

Qualifications Gained: Safety Advisor and Facilities Manage

Drum Major, Sergeant, Dave Stones served for 23 years, leaving CA MUS in 2006, having specialised as a Musician/Medic/Safety Advisor and Facilities Manager, CRC Worthy Down. Now working as Head of Facilities Management and Safety Advisor for Ultra Electronics Ltd & Safety Advisor, he says that the training/experience he gained during his Service career that he now finds useful in civilian life includes ‘the ability to work in a team and under pressure. In fact, all the skills that we take for granted in the military have set me in good stead for civilian life and I use them every day.’ During his Service career he also gained an array of civilian qualifications, including the following:

MBIFM – Member of the British Institute of Facilities Management
TECH IOSH – Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
MInstLM – Member of the Institute of Leadership & Management
LCGI – Licentiate of the City & Guilds Institute of London
NEBOSH General Certificate
Certificate for Safety Managers
Level 2 Certificate in Risk Assessment
All Arms Safety Advisor
Certificate for Noise Assessors
IEMA Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management
Certificate in Manual Handling (Training and Assessing)
Certificate in Pollution Prevention & Spill Response
Fire Risk Assessor Training
Combat Medical Technician Class 3 Army Medical Services.

He found his first job on leaving the Forces – as a Building and Facilities Manager for the Roundhouse Trust – right after taking his NEBOSH and IEMA Certificates through NEBOSH/IEMA and Salisbury College. He says, ‘I populated my CV with various recruiting agencies specialising in facilities and health & safety. For my current job I was head-hunted via a facilities management recruiting agency – my qualifications and experience, plus being ex-military, made me a firm candidate for interview and I was successful!’

His current job involves: ‘As a senior manager, responsibility for the facilities maintenance contract and team; multi–site FM – hard and soft services; responsible for and continuously improving the health and safety/environmental system across the sites; compliance with HSG65, ISO 9001, 18001 and 14001; responsible for the processes and their being approved to the required standards.’

He would like to give the following advice to fellow Service leavers: ‘You have a multitude of core transferable skills that civilian employers are looking for. These come from military training and the Service ethos and way of life. You need to evaluate your “worth”, be it in salary or skill concepts, then set targets for roles you would like to explore for civilian employment; for Service leavers retiring on a full pension do not use this to offset potential salaries – you have earned your pension, and your skills, knowledge and experience is the “worth” I mentioned. If you are not successful straight away, do not give up: re-evaluate your CV and send it to as many recruiting agencies as you can. Use the internet to job search but, most importantly, gain membership of professional institutes by transferring your current skills into civilian “speak”. There are a multitude of business that are crying out for ex-military personnel.’

Published October 2011

Name: Gordon Hitchen

Rank on Exit: Warrant Officer

Years of Service: 22 Years

Qualifications Gained: BIFM qualification

In 1997, Warrant Officer Class 2 Gordon Hitchen came to an end of a 22-year engagement in the Royal Signals. Now aged 50, the combat lineman and driver specialist had spent his career in the UK, Germany and Cyprus, and had been Mentioned in Despatches for Northern Ireland service. He now rates experience in management (of people, organisations, programmes and projects, health and safety, and logistics) as important in his new career.

A Career Transition Workshop ’opened my eyes to opportunities’, and he also took an ‘excellent British Institute of Facilities Management course at the Aldershot Resettlement Centre. This provided background and insight into the industry, and led to a BIFM qualification.’

It took Hitchen nine months of sending out CVs to find his first job as a £10-perhour temporary health and safety adviser for Transco. A few months later he joined Johnson Controls and, six promotions later, he is well into his current role as Business Improvement Director on a BBC contract, ‘providing value for money services and risk mitigation to ensure a safe and sustainable environment to work in’. This involves the management of all catering, cleaning, maintenance and security, and to remove all risk for the customer in their business critical environments.

‘I like all aspects of my role; it is different every day and you meet a variety of people. I enjoy the customer engagement and staff development, helping others achieve their potential. I have almost tripled my salary in the last ten years.’

Published October 09

Facilities Management - Case Studies