TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Spotlight SPOTLIGHT ON
PAUL FENTON MBE CEng FIHEEM FIET FIWFM
P
aul Fenton MBE CEng FIHEEM FIET FIWFM is the Business Development Director for IHEEM and Managing Director of PNFM Consulting Limited, providing Strategic Estates, Facilities and
Engineering Consultancy Services. He was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Her Majesty the Queen’s
New Year’s Honours list in 2021 for services to the NHS in the United Kingdom and is a Past President of IHEEM and past National Chairman of HEFMA. After a successful career of over 40 years, 22 years of that in the NHS, his last role was as Director of Estates and Facilities at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust where he managed a 1,200 strong EFM workforce across two major acute and community hospital sites. He ‘semi-retired’ in 2023 to start his consultancy business. He said: “Although I knew that I wanted to retire I also felt that I wasn’t quite ready to ‘put my feet up’ and I’m still very passionate about the Estates and Facilities profession and the NHS in particular.” Paul suffered a life-threatening condition in 2018/19 and spent several months in hospital and this he said was “instrumental in
my decision to semi-retire and I remain forever grateful for the fantastic treatment I received during that time from the NHS and its staff.”
Paul joined IHEEM in 2024 as the Business Development Director: It’s a role which is close to my heart, supporting our members in the healthcare estates profession through technical advice, guidance, policies, professional engineering registration, training and career development of current, and future healthcare estates engineers
On leaving school in 1980, he embarked upon
a five-year electrical apprenticeship with Eastern Electricity, based in Ipswich and is a firm advocate of apprenticeships. He said: “The electrical training I gained, and the discipline and rigour the apprenticeship afforded provided a solid foundation for my career.” After working his way up through the management structure, and further years of studying and qualifications (even with 3 young children at the time!) he left the organisation and joined the NHS in 2001, firstly as a Head of Estates and eventually rising to an Executive Director position. Throughout his career, Paul has always preferred to ‘walk the beat’ with his estates and facilities staff to understand, and try to resolve,
some of the issues and pressures faced by them in a busy, complex, patient focussed hospital environment. Simply put he says, “I’m only as good as my team, we need to listen to them, support them, train them and develop their careers as they are our future.” Paul joined IHEEM in 2024 as the Business Development Director, appointed by the Executive Council to undertake a review of IHEEM’s governance functions and to write it’s next Five-Year Strategy, along with developing its national and international presence as the leading healthcare professional engineering institute. He said: “It’s a role which is close to my heart, supporting our members in the healthcare estates profession through technical advice, guidance, policies, professional engineering registration, training and career development of current, and future healthcare estates engineers.” In fact, it’s the last point which strikes a chord, as Paul mentions that his son followed him into the profession. He added: “I’m incredibly proud in all that he has achieved in his career, he was recently awarded a Bachelor of Engineering Degree with First Class Honours from London South Bank University which is a fantastic achievement!”
12 Health Estate Journal October 2025
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