Foundation Recruitment goes further afield

As we begin 2014, there seems to be a strong air of optimism across the industry for the coming 12 months and beyond. Many centres experienced strong Christmas periods followed by a busy sales season and from our side, Foundation Recruitment are starting to see employers expand their teams to prepare for further growth.

The start of this year also represents an exciting time for Foundation Recruitment and me personally as I transition into the International Mall Management sector of our business. This is a new area for Foundation Recruitment and represents the next stage into our integration into the global shopping centre management arena.

As much as I love the U.K sector and the people who operate within it, there were a number of factors which attracted me to this opportunity. As a knowledge based business, we pride ourselves on the integration of each consultant into their chosen sector and having the ability to offer consultative advice, based on real, relevant and up to date experience of their markets. I personally find the shopping centre management sector fascinating and I was very keen to expand the knowledge and experience that I have built up within the U.K sector and build upon it further in an environment which encompasses numerous different geographical regions, cultures and types of people.

Secondly, a point which many of you will relate to; it is often a key desire of shopping centre management professionals to be involved in the launch of a new scheme. To join a project at the early stages and hopefully as part of a team, help steer it through to success. There was certainly an element of that attraction to this role.

As part of Foundation Recruitment’s International expansion, you may have seen on other parts of this newsletter that we have built a strong connection with the International Council of Shopping Centres and I have taken great pleasure in becoming part of the ICSC Next Gen Europe team. This is a group dedicated to the development and growth of the younger generation of shopping centre management professionals. Last year saw some fantastic events across Europe which offered real value to many individuals. I would be interested to hear from anyone that would like more information on Next Gen Europe or wishes to become more involved in this group.

There will be many individuals within the U.K sector to whom this new sector will not be applicable. I would like to re-assure those people that our U.K activities within the shopping centre management industry will remain of the utmost importance and we will continue to work with many large landlords and managing agents on fantastic opportunities across the country.

It has been a real pleasure for me to work in this incredible industry within the U.K and I feel privileged to have met and worked with many of the brilliant people who are at the coalface of U.K shopping centre management. That said, I will continue to have an active involvement in certain aspects of our U.K activities and look forward to working with you over what looks to be an exciting 2014.

For those that might harbour ambitions to leave the U.K in search of sunnier climbs, I would certainly be keen to have a conversation with you. Please e-mail your details (and details of any language you may speak) to tim.forbes@foundationrecruitment.com