Transitioning into facilities management: Mark Reay’s story

CASE STUDY

Final Rank: Communications systems operator in the Royal Corps of Signals
Years Served: 24 years

Transitioning from a military service role into a civilian one is not always easy. To support this change, organisations can join the Armed Forces Covenant to ensure that they provide the additional support needed. Churchill Group is a facilities management provider that offers a range of soft services to clients across numerous sectors. As a member of the covenant, it ensures that it treats ex-military employees fairly. The facilities management industry is suited for ex-military personnel due to the strategic discipline, maintenance, and adaptability it requires of employees. Churchill became a Defence Employer Recognition Scheme gold award winner in 2022 and has many ex-service personnel among its ranks.

Mark Reay is one of Churchill’s employee relations managers. Before this, he was a communications systems operator in the Royal Corps of Signals and spent 24 years in the Armed Forces before leaving in 2017.

Churchill wasn’t his first role after completing his full service. He joined Manpower Group as a service delivery manager where he managed 250 agency employees before joining Churchill.

Mark had an easier transition than some. Unlike many service leaders, he did not struggle with accommodation due to having family settled in the Northeast, a home to return to, and a wife with her own successful career.

He found that within his Churchill role, there were many skills he developed during his service that transitioned well. He completed a Charted Institute of Personal and Development qualification during this transition, thus further defining the managerial abilities garnered through military service and giving him the foundations of the HR skillset he would need to pursue his chosen career.

Integrity, reliability, honesty, and time keeping are all invaluable skills for the facilities management industry, and ones that Mark developed and honed during his service. The industry requires adaptability and perseverance in a fast-paced environment, qualities instilled during time in the Armed Forces.

For Mark, his collaborative nature adapted well to his operational lead role in Churchill. His work requires empathy and intuition, further skills ex-service personnel are known for. The ability to support and uplift others makes him a highly regarded member of Churchill’s team.

Phil Matis, operations director for Scotland and the North and veteran strategy lead at Churchill, said: “Mark’s story highlights how long-term military service can not only transition successfully into civilian roles, but how the facilities management industry needs people like him, and welcomes such skilled personnel with open arms.”