10 QUESTIONS
10 QUESTIONS WITH... JO LARDENT
10 Questions, this month we spoke to... Jo Lardent, Group Commercial Director at Vertas Group Limited
Q1 Q2
Q3
Q4 Q5
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB? I was very fortunate to secure a place on the
Gardner Merchant ‘Exec Trainee’ (graduate programme) after completing my degree.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY?
My career was always going to take me into the food industry (I was inspired by watching a food economist working on a film set as a child) and I studied for a BSc in Hotel, Catering and International Management at Manchester University.
WHO, IN ANY OTHER INDUSTRY, DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?
I had the very great pleasure to work with Katie Dowding when I was a supply chain partner to Skanska FS. I then worked for Katie developing new facilities clients for Skanska. Katie has achieved significant personal success and promoted the contribution that women can make in the construction and engineering sectors.
IF MONEY WAS NO OBJECT, WHAT CAR WOULD YOU BUY?
An Aston Martin DB9 (with Daniel Craig as my personal driver).
HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE THE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY?
I’d like to remove the low-value, low-skill image of the industry. It’s a fabulous, complicated and technologically demanding business that I believe is very much undervalued. Without a meticulously clean operating theatre no life-saving surgery can take place; without caretakers, cleaning staff and caterers producing healthy nutritious food no child can be properly educated.
Q6 Q7
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?
An astronaut or a pilot.
IF YOU COULD HAVE A SUPER POWER FOR A DAY, WHAT WOULD
IT BE AND WHY?
To be able to fly. I think it would give a different perspective on the world.
58 | TOMORROW’S FM Q8
IF YOU COULD HOST A DINNER PARTY WITH ANY THREE GUESTS,
DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD THEY BE
AND WHY? Sam Heughan, JK Rowling and George Lucas (I’m a huge Star Wars fan).
Q9
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE FUTURE OF THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY?
The application of robotic technology to aid some of the repetitive tasks carried out by staff, particularly in the cleaning arena.
Q10
PAUL DJURIC, CEO, URGENT TECHNOLOGY ASKS: HOW DO
YOU USE TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR FACILITY
TO IMPROVE THE USER EXPERIENCE We’ve been trialling the use of social media, and in particular Instagram, to communicate directly with some of the 40,000 young people we feed each day.
www.vertas.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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