Ardent4, a new recruitment company specialising in facilities management and construction recruitment, officially launches this month with a new office and team in Birmingham. Ardent4 is supported by Cordant Recruitment, the second-largest privately owned recruitment company in the UK.
The UK facilities management sector is thriving. It currently employs approximately 10 per cent of the UK working population and is estimated to be worth £111 billion a year, according to the latest report from the British Institute of Facilities Management.
Ardent4 will be recruiting for a variety of permanent and contract positions in the facilities management sector nationwide, incorporating technical and soft services. Roles in technical services include HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) engineers, commercial gas engineers, critical engineers, hard services managers, energy managers, business development managers and technical directors. Soft service roles (encompassing security, cleaning and catering sectors) will include positions such as contracts managers, business development managers, housekeeping supervisors, cleaning managers and site managers.
The launch of Ardent4 comes in response to the growth in the facilities management market and the resurgence of the UK construction industry. Alex Sutherland, managing director at Ardent4 has been recruiting within the facilities management and construction industry for over 10 years and provided consultancy services to some of the leading facilities management providers, including executive search assignments, succession planning and merger & acquisition strategy. He joins Ardent4 from The FM Network, a leading FM recruiter where he was a founding member. Alex comments “The facilities management market has been through a period of consolidation. Over the past two years it has been extremely acquisitive, with many of the larger companies acquiring competitors or merging. This is creating a gap between SME’s and the bigger corporates, with clients struggling to receive the quality of service they demand. This has created a huge opportunity for the SME’s to gain market share in areas previously thought impossible. This is an opportunity for Ardent4 to offer a business partnership to these SME’s that is based on versatile consultancy, sharing our knowledge, expertise and experience on a national level.We believe that a skilled workforce is the key to a competitive edge within FM and the built environment and we offer the candidate network and resources to help our clients achieve this.”
Ardent4 are taking a modern approach when it comes to the business working hours. Alex continues “We have introduced a completely flexible working culture at Ardent4 that is reflective of modern day society and technology. 9-5 is no longer the norm, some people work better in different environments and at different times of day, and we want to support that as a visionary employer. All of our employees have the latest smartphones and laptops and are fully operational wherever they are. We want our team to be the best they can be; the environment we have created is about maximum output. We have taken inspiration from other leading companies within other industries such as Technology. We want to revolutionise how recruitment companies work behind the scenes."
Alex is supported by an experienced team of specialist recruiters, including Patrick Farrelly, who has three years’ experience in senior management and sales recruitment within the cleaning sector, working with the UK’s leading cleaning companies, and Joe Madden, a specialist in maintenance engineering recruitment. The Birmingham team are looking to grow to a total of nine consultants by the end of 2016.
The new Ardent4 Birmingham office is situated in New Street, 100 yards from the train station. Future plans for the company include expansion into building, civil engineering & infrastructure recruitment and further regional offices, including London later in 2016, Manchester in 2017 and longer term global expansion.