Fit-out contractor Morris & Spottiswood has set its sights on facilities management contracts across the UK after appointing a new operations director.

John Murphy has joined the firm as divisional director of maintenance with a key mission to target the facilities management sector. The former Carillion, EMCOR, Balfour Beatty and COEFLY UK manager brings formidable skills and expertise managing nationwide mobile engineering teams.

Morris & Spottiswood UK group managing director Jon Dunwell said Mr Murphy’s role will involve ramping up the firm’s ‘soft facilities management’ offering including cleaning, security and health & safety.

“A key aim for the last two quarters in 2016 and beyond is to target facilities management, maintenance and technical services contracts,” said Mr Dunwell.

“Morris & Spottiswood has developed a strong reputation for delivering ‘hard facilities management’ work covering areas such as building fabric, mechanical and electrical services.

“However, we see great potential to increase delivery of softer services such as grounds upkeep, pest control, helpdesk, reception and janitorial services. We have brought in John Murphy to lead on this specific initiative due to his considerable knowledge and experience. John has coordinated facilities management contracts across the UK, including Public Private Partnerships (PPP), across many sectors including retail, healthcare, education, defence and manufacturing. He is used to managing large teams of up to 100 support services and technical staff around the clock in a variety of environments. In particular John brings exceptional experience within the healthcare sector.”

Morris & Spottiswood, which has offices in Warrington, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow, recently reported rapid growth with turnover increasing from £74 million to £88m between 2014 and 2016 with sales in the North of England rising sharply from £10m in 2012 to £44m in 2015. The firm’s employment figures have also grown positively from 329 in 2015 to 375, including 24 apprentices.

Mr Murphy’s appointment comes shortly after Morris & Spottiswood launched a specialist team targeting national framework agreements while reinforcing its M&E (Mechanical and Electrical) flooring and maintenance divisions.

In his most recent position as general manager for COELFY, Mr Murphy delivered facilities management projects across 28 PPP sites including three hospitals, a forensic psychiatric unit, three business centres and 24 schools. He took responsibility for contractual delivery and reported to the project company, local authority and NHS boards.

During his time at Balfour Beatty, Mr Murphy acted as Concession General Manager for a 540-bed acute hospital which provided 24/7 services including A&E, renal, maternity and special care baby unit for the NHS. Mr Murphy led spectrum property care and facilities management services overseeing the integrity of buildings in terms of maintenance, operational functionality and specialist cleaning.

“It’s an excellent time to be joining Morris & Spottiswood - a firm which thoroughly understands its markets and is growing with purpose and intent,” said Mr Murphy.

“It’s a family business with strong traditions but also has a progressive and dynamic outlook. I have observed that one of Morris & Spottiswood’s greatest strengths is its ability to combine a national delivery model with highly skilled local service providers. This ensures clients get a consistent and reliable service from local tradesmen who can provide tailor made solutions and draw on their local connections as well as a national network.

“Due to this model we can offer something unique to the market – a complete fit-out solution at great value. We can plan jobs efficiently and we can react fast to clients’ needs.”