Facilities Management leader Kath Fontana elected RICS Senior Vice President

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - April 26, 2018 - Global leader in facilities management (FM) Kath Fontana FRICS has been elected to the role of Senior Vice President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). She will be the first chartered surveyor from the area of workplace and facilities strategy to lead the profession and will become RICS President in 2020. Kath is the third woman in the past ten years to be elected to the RICS Presidential Team.

Standing at the forefront of technological progress in property, Kath is a strong proponent of the "Internet of Things" and the opportunities a networked built environment can bring to businesses and people. She has worked at a senior level across multiple sectors including banking, retail, professional services, defence, science, local and central government as well as the private finance initiative sector.

Kath is Managing Director for ISS Technical Services, based in the United Kingdom (UK). She joined ISS from BAM FM where she was Managing Director for the company's FM business. She leads a team of over 1000 employees to deliver mobile engineering, energy management and compliance services across the UK.   

Commenting on her election, Kath says:

"I am thrilled to have been elected as RICS Senior Vice President. This industry is on the cusp of a technological and social revolution which will fundamentally change our profession and usher in radical new business models. RICS professionals must be ready to embrace this change -- ready to enable a sustainable built environment through values driven technology and a people focussed approach. Not only will this ensure a better built environment but also a better life for those that live and work in it."

Kath has over 25 years' experience within the industry. At ISS, she is responsible for the UK technical services business and also leads service excellence for asset management engineering and capital projects in the UK and Ireland. Prior to this she held a number of senior positions in Estates and Contract Management spanning over 20 years, managing complex programmes and service delivery. She has been involved in a number of integrations and acquisitions in her career, leading and developing teams through transformation to success.

"I will also be a championing the continuing drive for greater diversity within our profession and the wider built environment. It is vital all genders, races and backgrounds are properly represented, supported and proactively elevated within our member firms. This isn't just the decent thing to do, it's good business", she says.

RICS Governing Council elected Kath after a global search for candidates and a rigorous process. Shortlisted candidates demonstrated strong skills as trustees and as ambassadors for the profession. Kath will take up her post as RICS Senior Vice President in November 2018, elevating to RICS President Elect in 2019, and finally RICS President in 2020.

About RICS

Confidence through professional standards

RICS promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards -- bringing confidence to the markets we serve.

We accredit 125,000 professionals and any individual or firm registered with RICS is subject to our quality assurance. Their expertise covers property, asset valuation, real estate management; the development of infrastructure; and the management of natural resources, such as mining, farms and woodland. From environmental assessments and building controls to negotiating land rights in an emerging economy; if our members are involved the same professional standards and ethics apply.

We believe that standards underpin effective markets. With up to seventy per cent of the world's wealth bound up in land and real estate, our sector is vital to economic development, helping to support stable, sustainable investment and growth around the globe.

With offices covering the major political and financial centres of the world, our market presence means we are ideally placed to influence policy and embed professional standards. We work at a cross-governmental level, delivering international standards that will support a safe and vibrant marketplace in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, for the benefit of all.

We are proud of our reputation and work hard to protect it, so clients who work with an RICS professional can have confidence in the quality and ethics of the services they receive.

For media enquiries, please contact:

RICS East Asia Public Relations Representatives

Ms Penn Leung / Ms Peggy Mak

T: +852 3159 2986 / +852 3159 2982

E: penn.leung@creativegp.com / peggy.mak@creativegp.com