In the UK, workforce demand in priority sectors is set to grow by approximately 24 per cent over the next decade, equivalent to 1.8 million workers. At the same time, the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) has risen by 3 per cent to 981,000. These figures stand as the backdrop to the UK skills gap, which is the difference between the skills a company needs for roles and the skills a candidate can bring to the role.
In the facilities management industry, that gap has become a recruitment problem. As of 2025, roughly three-quarters of employers are struggling to source workers for building operation and maintenance roles, and 55 per cent are struggling to recruit in support service positions. People are available to work, and employers need new people, so the solution should be simple.
When it comes to attracting talent, we believe that the problem lies with visibility. My team works with specialist partners to identify, train and support people who might not be aware that long-term careers exist in FM. We nurture people into roles with long-term growth opportunities once they arrive.
People deserve to build their confidence and take that next step into work. Our schemes help them do just that.
Embedding social recruitment structures
Churchill is transforming how we hire, making social recruitment an accessible practice for our specialist business units and routing hiring managers first to charity partners such as Maximus, PeoplePlus and Shaw Trust to fill vacancies with carefully selected candidates. These include NEETs, care leavers, veterans and people who have been long-term unemployed.
To make this easier for hiring managers, we created a central vacancy list that helps our charity partners navigate all of Churchill’s roles, so opportunities reach the right candidates faster. We also developed internal line manager guides covering how to support colleagues from diverse backgrounds. We also spend time with hiring managers, understanding their recruitment challenges and needs, so we can build talent pipelines tailored to each part of the business.
Our work with Principle, Churchill’s high-end, London-centric cleaning service, is one example. Since January 2026, national and then local partnerships with Maximus, PeoplePlus and Prospects have helped us hire 23 candidates who were long-term unemployed, short-term unemployed or NEETs.
Seeing our numbers grow
When our partnerships are embraced internally, by our partners, and by our candidates, the results are clear. We have worked with Reed in Partnership for over five years. When we have a vacancy, we share the details with Reed in Partnership, who identify suitable candidates based on accessibility and long-term sustainability.
Our partnership with them has helped 96 people into Churchill roles across the UK over the past two years. At a recent recruitment day in Reed in Partnership’s Cambridge office, all eight of our cleaning vacancies were filled within a single day, a direct result of the relationship our operational teams have built with Reed in Partnership.
Group-wide, our social recruitment through charity partnerships has grown from 52 people in 2024/25 to 265 in 2025/26, equivalent to 71 full-time roles.
Nurturing talent for the long term
Filling vacancies solves only half the problem. Keeping people in the industry, and helping them build a career path, matters just as much. Our Pathways to Potential programme offers tailored approaches for different demographics to help remove any unnecessary barriers they might face. It includes employability sessions and covers soft skills like communication style and presenting confidently. Since June 2026, we have been working with Maximus to deliver its bespoke sessions to NEET 18-30-year-olds, reaching 26 young people, with that number only set to grow.
This year, we launched a six-week programme with a group of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students. The programme follows the Pathways to Potential sessions and is tailored to SEND students, with topics ranging from the World of FM to communication and behaviours.
Sessions like these open up the FM industry, and our training initiatives help people grow further. Our Own Your Future programme is a 12-week course intended for frontline managers and senior leaders. The skills-based curriculum covers leadership, communication, commercial awareness and problem-solving. As of 2026, our programme has upskilled 146 participants across 13 cohorts, with more underway.
Beyond training, it is our colleagues who make our specialist businesses so successful, and they deserve a say in the future of our organisation. That is why we transitioned to an Employee Ownership Model in 2023, under which our shares transferred to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), which holds shares for the benefit of the employees of the business. As an EOT, our colleagues are not just being challenged, learning and growing with us; they are also the beneficiaries of our future success.
I’m also proud to share that our work has led to me being shortlisted for the Rising Star Award at this year’s Social Value Awards, run by Social Value Portal. The award recognises professionals who are driving social value forward by embedding it at the heart of their organisations. This shortlisting reflects the commitment of my team, our colleagues, and charity partners as much as my own, and I’m looking forward to the winner announcement on 2 December.
Learn more about our specialist services and career opportunities, or contact us today.