FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Paul Cottam, Managing Director, VINCI Facilities on the importance of apprenticeships for the future of the sector, how they shaped him and why they’re the foundation of how he leads and develops others
My passion for apprenticeships started long before I realised. Even now, after decades in engineering and FM, I believe early-career programmes are one of the most powerful engines for opportunity in our industry.
I began my journey at seventeen, stepping from the familiar rhythm of school into something far more demanding. My apprenticeship with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (British Nuclear Fuels) was strict, disciplined, and utterly formative. You were on time, or you weren’t, and in serious trouble. You wore the same kit, changing overalls religiously every Monday at 08:00, followed the same routines and learned quickly what it meant to be part of a functioning team.
One of our first tasks was to file a hexagonal piece of metal flat on each individual side to a precise tolerance. It took days, sometimes a week, and if it didn’t meet the mark, you started filing again sometimes depressingly with a new piece of metal. Slow, meticulous, often frustrating, but exactly the grounding that set me up for everything that followed.
After two weeks, I came home and told my parents I wasn’t sure I could stick it out. My feet hurt from standing all day in new steel toecap safety boots, and nothing felt easy. Their response was firm, I was lucky to have this opportunity, and I wasn’t quitting. They were right. That apprenticeship taught me discipline, pride in my work, and the importance of standards. It taught me resilience and how to learn.
LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP
We rotated through workshops (lathes, milling machines & electrical) site experience and technical college – the full spectrum. Year 2 involved a weeklong outward-bound course (rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing and camping). Some apprentices stayed on the craft route while others, like me, were nudged toward technical. This opened new avenues and ultimately led me into design work before I moved into the broader world of FM.
Years later, early in my time at VINCI, I walked into a meeting with our nuclear sector business, Nuvia, and immediately recognised one of my former instructors. He recognised me too, which meant a lot. Apprenticeships are about people, and the people who shape you never fade from your memory.
What my apprenticeship didn’t teach, and what became vital later, were the softer aspects of leadership: how to communicate, how to understand personalities, how to get the best out of people and the importance that culture plays in an organisation. Emotional intelligence wasn’t part of the curriculum back then, but the discipline and structure became a platform I could build on.
MOVING INTO MANAGEMENT
After leaving the nuclear sector and completing an engineering degree at Manchester, I moved into maintenance and facilities management. This was my first exposure to managing engineers, people who know their craft inside out, who can spot insincerity a mile off, but who also rally behind you when they respect you. I was fortunate to have supportive engineers and an excellent mentor who helped me develop, grow, and learn what real operational leadership looked like.
That grounding eventually led me into strategic leadership. Transitioning from day-to-day management to longer-term leadership is significant. You must step back, create space to think, and focus on the organisation’s future not just its daily noise. A pivotal turning point came when I won an industry award and attended a course on managing professional teams, sponsored by the then named HVCA. It reshaped how I thought about leadership and gave me tools I still use today.
FUTURE OF FM
It’s apprenticeships and early-careers programmes that excite me most about the future. At VINCI, we’ve seen extraordinary examples of what’s possible. Take Louis Yates; he joined us for work experience, returned as a technical apprentice, completed his degree through us, and is now account lead for one of our most complex healthcare facilities. His journey embodies what apprenticeships can unlock, for individuals and for organisations.
If I were offering advice to anyone starting out, or to my younger self, I’d say this: expose yourself to every part of the business you can. Early in my career, I spent time in departments I didn’t think were relevant, HR, IT fleet, credit control, business development. It felt unnecessary then but became invaluable later. When you eventually sit around a board table, you need to understand every function, not just your own.
Above all, appreciate the opportunities as they come. Apprenticeships aren’t just a route into work; they’re a platform for life. Mine gave me a career, but it also gave me purpose. And that’s why I remain committed to creating pathways for the next generation. Because the day I picked up that file and started shaping a piece of metal was the same day I started shaping the leader I would eventually become.
