Student Accommodation - Case Studies

Student Accommodation - Case Studies

Student Accommodation

Case Studies

The Management Recruitment Group Student Accommodation Practice

44% of Student

53% of Student

46% of the Higher Education consultants at MRG are female.

82% of students living in private PBSA or university-run halls were the most satisfied with their accommodation. *

93% of students overall said value for money was important to them in deciding where to live. *

46% of students thought signposting to support services (e.g. Student Minds, or university managed services)

Accommodation placements with MRG were from out-of-sector.

Accommodation placements with MRG have been female.

is important in supporting students’ wellbeing. *

* Bowen, M. (2021) Knight Frank & UCAS Student Accommodation Survey Report- https://content. knightfrank.com/research/1663/documents/en/knight-frank-ucas-student-accommodation-survey- report-2021-7707.pdf

Director of Residential Services

Head of Accommodation Services

MRG were mandated to find a Head of Accommodation Services for University of Lincoln, a critical role to transition the accommodation back under university management and launch the new state of the art waterside accommodation. The search was highly focused on those operating within the student accommodation sector. The shortlist of 6 candidates all had previous sector experience and brought a wealth of knowledge. The successful candidate had experience of operating at senior level within the university and private sector; including mobilising several buildings and implementing a new revenue management platform.

MRG have worked with the University of Birmingham across several executive appointments. Having successfully delivered across these, they were then mandated to find the new Director of Residential Services, which would play a key part delivering their vision of providing world class facilities. The key for this appointment was finding an individual who had demonstrable experience of managing a similar size of portfolio to that at the university, with extensive experience in leadership and change management. Conducting a nationwide search across student accommodation, hotels and residential, the candidates were interviewed and assessed against the agreed matrix, resulting in a strong shortlist of 9. MRG guided the candidates through the interview processes and offer stage, with the successful individual being appointed from a private provider with a comparable portfolio.

Building Operational Teams University College London (UCL) is a globally recognised Institution and one of the UK’s most successful Universities with over 12,000 staff and 38,000 students. Their residences department is extensive, with currently over 7,000 beds across their direct and partner halls. The university set out an ambitious new vision of ‘becoming the leading provider of accommodation in the HEI sector’, which meant looking at the overall picture; undertaking a restructure and implementing new processes and procedures to ensure an exceptional student experience across the department. The MRG Student Accommodation team were appointed to recruit key hires within the residences department as part of the university’s restructure. For each role, the candidates were provided with detailed briefs, before being assessed against agreed criteria. A background and understanding of each role is detailed below:

Director of Accommodation

MRG were mandated by UCL to conduct a search for the Director of Accommodation Services, a critical leadership appointment, to play a key role in the development and realisation of UCL’s student experience and accommodation strategy. This nationwide search took place across a myriad of sectors, starting with other higher education institutions, purpose built student accommodation providers and hotels. After presenting a shortlist of 8 candidates, 6 were interviewed and the role was offered to a Director of Operations from Unite Students. Business Standards Manager The Business Standards Manager was a new role created in the Residences team as a strategic point between the 21 internal residences and their external delivery partners. The university wanted someone with skills in developing and implementing processes, and extensive experience in auditing sites, who could join the team and build good foundations across the department. For this role, the university were open to someone coming from another sector, and a nationwide search was conducted due to the niche nature of the role. In total 7 people were shortlisted, with varying experience from within sector to hospitality, serviced offices and facilities providers. The successful candidate was experienced in Quality Assurance for a large construction company, with experience both on their construction side and facilities services.

As part of the restructure, two new Deputy Head of Operations roles were set up to support the Head of Operations. One was filled by an incumbent Area Manager and MRG were tasked with finding the second Deputy. We were briefed to find a candidate with strong sector experience, who could support the Head of Operations through a time of change. A matrix was agreed and a shortlist presented against this, including candidates from the hotel sector, accommodation providers, other universities, and language schools. The appointed candidate had extensive experience working for a large hotel brand, before working for a private provider within accommodation. They were able to hit the ground running, having worked with large companies in times of change. Deputy Head of Operations (Accommodation)

Accommodation Advisors Campaign

The restructure at UCL brought in a lot of movement at the Accommodation Advisor level, and MRG were tasked with managing all vacancies at this level, bringing in new talent to drive customer service across site level. This was a large campaign, and several consultants at MRG worked together on the project to recruit Accommodation Advisors, across Grades 3 and 5, to start with the university at the earliest opportunity. The focus was on candidates with strong customer service skills and facilities management experience. The team were successful in placing c.35 candidates from a variety of backgrounds, including PBSA, BtR, retail, hospitality, and serviced offices. Business Development Manager Alongside the restructure, it was decided to appoint a Business Development Manager to grow and develop the summer business across the residences. MRG were given the brief to find an individual with a strong sales background who could hit the ground running with the university. During the process, an interim was appointed by MRG to get started on the business development strategy, while the appointment for a permanent individual took place. Headhunting candidates from similar sectors with a strong sales focus, such as hotels, venues and international languages schools, resulted in a shortlist of 8 candidates, with 3 appointable candidates after the interview stage.

The successful candidate coming from the hotel sector, with experience of managing sales over multiple sites.

Assistant Director (Residence Life and Accommodation Office)

Revenue and Allocations System Manager KCL approached MRG to find a Revenue and Allocations System Manager, who could oversee a 10 month project to review and improve the processes and operations across the allocations team, ensuring a more streamlined and efficient process. The university required the candidate to have specific knowledge in managing allocation systems, ideally RMS. MRG were able to provide a shortlist of candidates with experience in student residences, social housing and hotels, which resulted in 6 interviews. The successful candidate worked for a university and had been involved in managing their RMS allocations system. They were then successful in securing a permanent position with the university.

University of Leeds mandated MRG to search for an Assistant Director (Residence Life and Accommodation Office), a new role focused on improving the student experience. The University of Leeds is home to around 9,000 students and the department were looking to appoint an individual who could deliver a strategy to provide high quality service across their residences. This would be focussed on everything from marketing, allocations, communications, and student welfare, to developing a Residence Life Programme. A nationwide search was conducted, focussing on the universities and student accommodation providers to ensure that all of the candidates shortlisted were highly experienced in the student accommodation sector, with a key focus on residential life. A shortlist of 8 was presented, resulting in 5 interviews, with the chosen candidate coming from a large private provider, where they had previous experience of delivering a residence life programme.

Quality & Systems Manager

The University of Leeds is unique in being one of the few universities with the ISO:9001 accreditation across their residences. After the implementation of this system, the university appointed MRG to find a Quality and Systems Manager to take charge of this and ensure its successful management. This search was focussed on finding candidates with previous quality management and auditing experience, and the successful candidate had worked for another university residence department in quality and performance management.

Our Story The Management Recruitment Group are industry leading search and selection consultancy focusing on a specialised sectors including Higher Education, Local Government, Healthcare Trusts, and Corporate Real Estate. Since our establishment in 2007, MRG have managed over 700 retained campaigns across our primary sector specialism in Higher Education. MRG provide a robust and inclusive search and selection process which has outreach into various useful sectors which provides diverse shortlists for our clients. It is this wide-reaching network that makes our service attractive to our long term partners and sees them use us on a regular basis for mandates in various disciplines. MRG’s Student Accommodation Team, work alongside universities and purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) providers. They work in long- term partnerships and are fully retained by every client they work alongside, offering a truly bespoke search solution. The team have a proven track record working alongside organisations including University College London, University of Leeds, University of Birmingham, Queen Mary University London, University of Exeter and Kings College London. The team have also provided consultancy services for leading private sector organisations like Student Roost, Unite Students and UPP.

Our Team

Hannah Searle - Recruitment Consultant

Hannah joined MRG in 2020 having previously worked in Property Recruitment and the Hospitality sector. Hannah personally specialises in Student Accommodation working across Higher Education and PBSA and has successfully delivered a number of campaigns across the sectors. Hannah is responsible for interim and permanent campaigns for mid to senior-level management across student accommodation. Including roles within Operations, Maintenance & Engineering, Student Experience, and Facilities Management. Some of Hannah’s most recent appointments include Senior Residence Manager at the University of Leeds, Senior Operations Manager at Student Roost, Regional Maintenance Manager at Student Roost, Residence Operations Manager at the University of Warwick, Residence Manager at the University of Arts, Out of Hours Manager at University College London and Residence Manager at Queen Mary University of London. Hannah is passionate about working in a partnership with organisations to help secure talented managers across all departments.

Hayley Mintern - Business Sector Commercial Services MRG’s Living Assets and Commercial Education practices, led by Hayley Mintern specialises in the appointment of mid-senior leaders.

We have a specialist team, who solely facilitate appointments within Higher education commercial services and hospitality, Purpose Built Student Accommodation PBSA, Build to Rent and Senior Living. Hayley personally delivers Senior Management level campaigns across all aspects of Commercial Education and PBSA. Hayley has been with MRG for six years, as part of her earlier career with MRG Hayley worked with the facilities management team working on senior interim assignments across Higher Education. Before joining MRG Hayley worked with the Rugby Football Union delivering high profile events and educational management programmes.

For more information about out PBSA Practice, please get in touch with either Hannah or Hayley. [email protected] 07966 827 413

[email protected] 07530 680 184