ISS names Charlie McCarthy to lead Business & Industry

ISS UK & Ireland has appointed Charlie McCarthy as Segment Director for Business & Industry and Ireland, completing its Country Leadership Team.

McCarthy will report to Chief Executive Officer Scott Davies when he takes up the role. He joins as ISS reshapes its private sector operations following the departure of Andrew Wilkinson, who had led the Office & Production segment before moving to oversee ISS Group's Barclays global key account.

The reorganisation replaces the former Office & Production division with two new segments: Financial Services, which includes Barclays UK, Banking and Livv, and Business & Industry, which covers Professional Services, Production, Technology and Ireland.

The change brings the private sector structure closer to the senior leadership team and gives each segment a narrower operational focus. It also places Ireland within the Business & Industry brief, making the new role central to ISS's plans for that market.

McCarthy brings more than two decades of facilities management experience. Over a 23-year career, he has held senior roles at Mitie, Compass and Interserve, most recently serving as Managing Director of JLL EMEA.

At JLL, he worked across 57 countries, according to ISS. His experience includes managing complex facilities management requirements and capital projects for multinational organisations.

Private sector shift

The appointment follows an earlier leadership change under the same restructuring. Marlies Hoogeboom was named Segment Director for Financial Services, making McCarthy's hire the final step in the revised country leadership line-up.

For ISS, the changes reflect a broader effort to sharpen accountability across customer groups rather than run a combined office and production portfolio under one banner. The split creates two units with separate mandates within the private sector business.

Business & Industry now spans professional services clients, industrial and production environments, technology accounts and the Ireland business. That breadth means McCarthy will be responsible for balancing growth ambitions with operational consistency across several distinct customer categories.

His team will be backed by investment aligned with ISS's broader strategy. He will also oversee the development of more targeted offers by sub-segment as the business focuses on areas where it believes it can differentiate itself.

Growth target

ISS has identified Business & Industry as a priority area within its private sector portfolio. In particular, it sees room to expand in Ireland while improving operational effectiveness through standardisation and the sharing of best practice across teams.

Davies outlined that view in a statement on the appointment.

"I am delighted to welcome a talented, seasoned executive like Charlie's to our Company and the UK & Ireland team. Under Charlie's expert leadership and given the opportunities we see in Ireland to better leverage our product investment, capability and value proposition, Business & Industry could be the fastest growing part of our business in the medium-to long-term. This focus, alongside continuous improvements in operational effectiveness via standardisation and best-practice sharing, will unlock the potential of this crucial segment, while bringing the CLT and our functional teams one step closer to our operations," said Scott Davies, Chief Executive Officer, ISS UK & Ireland.

The appointment gives a clearer picture of how ISS wants to organise its UK and Ireland operations after the exit of a senior executive from the previous structure. Rather than simply replacing one leader, the business has used the vacancy to redraw segment boundaries and assign dedicated leadership to each side of its private sector portfolio.

ISS employs more than 27,000 people across the UK and Ireland and operates in more than 30 countries. That scale means changes to segment leadership can directly affect how contracts are managed, how investment is directed and how closely country management is tied to frontline operations.

McCarthy's appointment also highlights competition for experienced executives in facilities management, particularly those with multinational account experience and exposure to large corporate clients. His background across outsourcing groups and property services brings expertise in both service delivery and commercial account management.

With Financial Services and Business & Industry now separately led, ISS has completed the leadership structure it wants for its private sector business in the UK and Ireland. Business & Industry includes Professional Services, Production, Technology and Ireland.