Group Maintenance Manager

Group Maintenance Manager, Gateshead Vertu Motors plc is one of the UK's largest motor retailers, generating annual revenues in excess of £5 billion across a network of 200 dealerships, supported by a property portfolio valued at over £300 million. We are now seeking a Group Maintenance Manager to join our expanding Property team.

The Vertu Motors Property Team manages our portfolio largely in-house, covering Real Estate, Property Development and Property Maintenance. Guided by our mission, "To deliver an outstanding customer motoring experience through honesty and trust", we are selective about who we welcome into our team. We are seeking an experienced maintenance professional who not only brings strong technical expertise and leadership capability but also demonstrates our core values of Passion, Respect, Integrity, Professionalism and Recognition.

About the Role This is a senior, hands-on role within the Property Team, leading our Reactive Maintenance and Planned Preventative Maintenance functions. You will be responsible for ensuring our dealership buildings and facilities remain safe, compliant, operational and customer-ready. Combining technical expertise, commercial awareness and people leadership, you will play a key role in delivering a responsive, cost-effective maintenance service across our national property portfolio.

You will report into the senior Property leadership team.  Whilst the role is office-based, there may be occasional travel across the dealership network and participation in an out-of-hours on-call rota for urgent incidents and emergencies.

Key elements of the role are:

Lead, support and develop the established Reactive Maintenance and Planned Preventative Maintenance teams.

Take ownership of the end-to-end maintenance service, from triage and contractor instruction through to completion, communication and final sign-off.

Provide technical guidance across commercial building maintenance, including HVAC systems, building fabric and associated services.

Assess reported faults, challenge proposed solutions and promote a right-first-time approach to repairs.

Manage contractor performance, supplier relationships, quotations, tender activity and cost negotiations.

Monitor expenditure against approved budgets and ensure robust financial control through accurate invoice scrutiny and cost management.

Ensure compliance with relevant health and safety requirements and safe contractor management procedures.

Produce management information relating to maintenance performance, budgets, supplier performance and service levels.

Use maintenance data to identify recurring issues, improve service delivery and drive continuous improvement initiatives.

Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders, dealerships and suppliers, providing clear and professional communication throughout.

About You We are looking for a highly professional, motivated and self-managed maintenance professional who can confidently balance operational priorities with sound technical and commercial decision-making. You will be an effective people leader, capable of developing teams, challenging suppliers and building strong working relationships across a large and diverse organisation.

You will bring significant experience within commercial property maintenance, facilities management, construction or the wider built environment. You will have experience managing reactive and planned maintenance activities across multiple sites and be comfortable operating within a fast-paced environment where customer service, safety and cost control are equally important.

With responsibility for a substantial national property portfolio, you will play an instrumental role in maintaining high operational standards, managing…