Women in FM: 5 mins with… Rebecca Bridgement

What is your role at Churchill and what does it involve day to day?

I am the managing director of Radish All Good, Churchill’s hospitality and catering division. Every day is different – I might be meeting with clients, meeting with my team, overseeing projects, setting strategies, working on sales bids, attending presentations, monitoring finances, visiting sites or speaking with my catering teams.

How did you find your way into FM? (Tell us a bit about your background)

 Good food is in my blood. I’m a farmer’s daughter, so I’ve been surrounded by great produce all my life, and my mother worked in a traditional bakery, as well as running her own events business. From a very young age I worked with her on events and I loved the buzz you get from making someone happy from food. After building a successful career in contract catering and support services company Elior I came to Radish as managing director. I have been in the industry for nearly 30 years.

What is your favourite thing about your job/the industry?

I’m a very curious person and I like to understand how things work, or how things are the way they are. So having a job that offers a wide range of opportunities, varied work and challenging projects is really enjoyable. My favourite part of my role is interacting with different people every day, from my team to our clients and customers.

As a woman in FM, what are your biggest frustrations?

Breaking into a male-dominated space like facilities management can be difficult for women but things are steadily changing and I am lucky to be working for a company where there is equality between genders across the whole business at every level.  My advice to all my female counterparts who may be struggling, is to stay strong, be assertive and hold teammates accountable for their responsibilities. It’s vital to create a culture where everyone feels included and valued in today’s workplace, regardless of gender.

What are your key predictions for/the biggest issues facing the FM market over the next year?

The process of Integrating back to some kind of normal, or perhaps a new normal, after the COVID-19 pandemic will have a huge impact across the whole FM industry. We will need to be agile and adapt to more change and those that are able to do this will succeed. Within workspace catering we will see more direct-to-consumer approach, with the goal of delivering healthy, locally sourced meals direct to workers, no matter where they’re physically working. The world has also become a lot more conscious of sustainable practices. Businesses are responding to this and will need to make sustainability one of their main focus areas.