Kashif’s Q&A

How did your career lead you to Macro Group?

I was working as a mechanical contractor on a project at Jumeirah Beach Residence, a hotel resort and residential development in Dubai, when I was given the opportunity to work as a mechanical engineer on another project in the region. It gave me the chance to work as a consultant and on the project management side of FM.

What opportunities have you had to progress your career?

I joined the FM business in 2009 as an assistant technical manager and now head our Technical Services Division, working across lots of different sites in the Middle East, during 2022, the Technical Services Division was sold during 2022 and I now oversee a portfolio which includes six major client portfolios, a large team as well as our supply chain.

To support my development, I’ve completed external courses at the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, as well as various in-house training courses, including management training, safety courses, awareness, quality, enhancing negotiation skills and so on. Overall, it’s enhanced my knowledge, so that I can deliver better and safer results on site and in the workplace – as well as equipping my career development.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

I love the feeling of winning new projects. It gives me a real boost and improves morale among the team. When we’re actually working on a project I like teamwork and the satisfaction of overcoming challenges together.  

I get a real sense of achievement in making clients happy by delivering their projects successfully in terms of time, cost and quality and by helping to save energy and carbon. At one project, we managed to help the client save around £100k on energy through improving their understanding of their building and its usage – savings which benefit the planet too.

What is your proudest achievement at Macro Group?

Whilst a part of Mace, we were working on a large residential development but the project didn’t have an MEP manager. The client decided we needed one, but by the time I was brought in there were lots of uncertainties around the mechanical and electrical services.

Working with partners and the client, I undertook a value engineering exercise on site and ensured that the development had a clear, cost-efficient services solution. The client benefited from lower operational costs, better value and on time deliveries for long lead items, and the project was delivered on time. I feel proud that I achieved this and ensured all parties were satisfied.

As I’ve moved into a more senior role, I’m also increasingly proud of the organic growth that we achieve with existing contracts – whether that’s multiplying the value of a contract from the original terms of the business relationship started, or where we’ve moved from single-site to multiple site relationships on the basis of excellent performance and building trust.

What do you see as the value of facilities management for companies?

More and more companies know that having a good FM company in their portfolio will help them achieve their long-term goals. Overall, good FM reduces the failures and risks to the business, which eventually results in savings.  

Increasingly delivering FM services is really FM+. Since the global pandemic, the focus has gone beyond simply making a building asset run well to looking at FM as being an enabler for addressing a broader range of priorities.  

Whether it’s supporting carbon neutrality goals, plastic reduction, building community, keeping people healthy, safe and secure or how businesses spend with time clients – we’re not just maintaining buildings but actively managing the daily human experience.  

What might someone be surprised to know about you?

I’m a very good table tennis player but only play occasionally at the moment. I also enjoy riding my motorbike when I get some free time for ‘me’ time – it’s a cruiser and so I like to take a ride around the city for a while. It gives me time to think about things, or simply live in the moment and enjoy my surroundings.