Get to know Richard Bostelmann, Account Manager at Anabas, as he goes under the spotlight…

Tell us more about your role at Anabas and your journey with the company so far? 

Many facilities managers will tell you that they fell into facilities management. My relationship started in much the same way. Eight years ago, I worked in association with Anabas on a successful contract for a global corporate HQ in London. My tenure wasn’t long-term but the values I found working with Anabas and my own, I believe, have maintained synergy.

My reunion with the Anabas family casts me as the account manager at a prestigious landmark building delivering TFM for a FTSE100 client. My experience and development since our last encounter have allowed me to return in a new capacity and with a true sense of working at a company engrained with integrity and a first class offering in the FM arena.

Can you tell us a little bit about your career history? 

I am a mechanical engineer by trade, and now I have a career of more than 20 years in FM, working across the education, retail and corporate sectors for both public and private clients. I am a fierce advocate of outsourced services; I believe that the best FM partner relationship should strongly align with client values as well as giving that much needed comfort and certainty through their expertise in service delivery and driving compliance.

What are the main challenges you face in your role?

The biggest challenge, and also our biggest strength, is to deliver services with seamless ingenuity. When it is done right, it works brilliantly! The psychology behind the workplace gives me my greatest pleasure. Positively affecting a colleague’s mindset by the use of words can singlehandedly generate client buy-in. Wouldn’t it be incredible if everyone removed the negative connotations when delivering a message? “Can I ask for a small investment to ensure our asset exceeds its life expectancy and delivers more efficiently” instead of “that’s going to get expensive soon”.  This approach increases confidence, develops budget planning and delivers a more efficient asset.

What do you like most about your role and working in FM?

I have developed a passion for FM. Despite not being industry “money makers”, I believe we are the enablers for business and industry to thrive. The global pandemic highlighted just how, more often than not, FMs are the unsung heroes of an office, using the role to develop exceptional experiences for the workspace user, empowering excellence, creativity and enabling opportunity for our clients.

What’s been your biggest highlight whilst working at Anabas?

Developing an exceptional client relationship into a genuine partnership, and onwards to advocacy.  There are such great synergies with my personal values and Anabas’s own that I can readily commit to, strive for and exceed, or maintain the expectations of my client, knowing that Anabas wants the same thing. Our approach is transparent, invested and versatile and in turn that allows me to run a contract with honesty, autonomy and integrity.

What advice would you give someone who is interested in working in FM?

Develop your own knowledge and that of your teams. It is far more important to have FM ambassadors that are subject matter experts than a large budget.

What do you see as the main challenges and opportunities for the future of FM? 

The pandemic is a prime example of the FM industry’s adaptability to changing circumstances. It has always done so and in recent years has become more adept in adopting technology that will service the industry better. That said, FM as an arena thrives on inspirational people working within it.

In respect to commercial and economic pressures, there will be a need to extend FM outside of the physical workspace, to become more involved and engaged with how we travel to work, how we work from home and how a better balance can be adopted by developing and promoting the tools needed to do so.

Tell us how Anabas is brilliantly different?

Plenty of companies claim to be boutique. Anabas genuinely meets this standard. We tailor each contract to each client. We don’t have an “out of the box” solution that we can parachute in. Our service delivery is based on the often difficult basics of legislation and compliance served with flair, personality and a continuous drive for innovation and improvement. We ensure that we partner with likeminded clients equally invested to deliver inspirational workplaces. None of Anabas’ contracts stand still for long, we’re always looking to evolve and improve.

To me good customer service is… (finish the sentence)

…delivering innovation and making a valuable difference before the request to change or improve comes in.

What’s on your bucket list?

Personally, to explore Antarctica… I have a fascination of this extraordinary barren landscape. 

Emotionally, to ensure that my daughter has opportunities, and she has high integrity as well as self-belief. 

Professionally, to play my part in the strategy of Anabas as a company.