11 October 2016 | Martin Read

Female facilities managers took the top individual honours – either by winning or being highly commended – at last night’s BIFM Awards ceremony in London.

The annual event saw the introduction of three individual categories – Newcomer of the Year, Manager of the Year and Leader of the Year – to replace the single ‘Facilities Manager of the Year’ title.

Pleun van Deurssen, facilities manager with Incentive FM, took the Newcomer award with Sodexo’s Charlotte Miller highly commended.

The first recipient of the Manager of the Year award was Suzanne Beck, facilities general manager for Carillion’s Barts NHS Trust contract. Highly commended in the same category was Cova Montes, contract manager for the National Theatre with Emprise Services.

Finally, Skanska’s managing director Katy Dowding was awarded the inaugural Leader of the Year title.

In the lifetime achievement category, ISS operations director Keith Glenister was recognised for his many achievements spanning forty years in the profession. Glenister is set to retire at the end of this year.