Building Resilience: Lessons in Facilities and Safety Leadership

By Ben Harris, Partner, Avella Security 

Across every sector - corporate campuses, transport hubs, healthcare facilities, or large public events - facilities and safety leaders face the same challenge: how do you create safe, resilient environments in the face of scale, unpredictability, and evolving risks? 

In my recent article for Facilitate Magazine, I explored how this year’s Notting Hill Carnival offered a real-world stress test for facilities and safety leadership. While best known as a celebration of Caribbean culture and community, the Carnival is also one of Europe’s most complex safety and facilities management operations. With more than two million people converging on West London, the 2025 event highlighted lessons that apply far beyond the streets of W11. 

Short-term fixes vs. long-term resilience 

This year’s Carnival only went ahead thanks to nearly £1million in emergency funding, secured just weeks before the event. While this lifeline kept the celebration alive, it underscored a familiar reality: critical operations cannot be sustained on last-minute fixes. Lasting resilience demands consistent investment in infrastructure, staffing, and training. 

Technology in support of fundamentals 

The 2025 event also demonstrated how the readoption of technologies can enhance readiness. Drones provided real-time aerial imagery of crowd flow, while live facial recognition was piloted to strengthen perimeter security. These technologies gave facilities teams sharper oversight and faster response options. 

But technology cannot stand alone. As the Carnival proved, the fundamentals of stewarding, signage, waste management, and emergency access routes remain the backbone of safe operations. Technology should extend and enhance human capability, not replace it. 

Preparing for new obligations 

With the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (Martyn’s Law) receiving Royal Assent on 3rd April this year, facilities managers will face increased expectations to assess risks, train staff, and rehearse emergency procedures. The lesson from the Carnival is clear: resilience is not achieved by paperwork, but by embedding training and practice into everyday operations. 

Principles that apply everywhere 

Whether managing a major cultural event or a corporate campus, the principles remain consistent: 

• Know your environment - map infrastructure, access points, and utilities. 

• Reassess risks in real time - from weather to crowd surges to equipment failure. 

• Empower your teams - through training, authority, and clear lines of escalation. 

• Use technology wisely - as an extension of people, not a substitute. 

  
  

From support function to strategic role 

Ultimately, facilities management is more than a background service. It is an integrator of safety, logistics, and experience. When traditional measures, empowered teams, and technology align, organisations move beyond compliance and create truly resilient environments. 

Notting Hill Carnival 2025 showed what’s possible when facilities management, safety, and collaboration come together, but also where long-term investment and readiness must improve.

The lessons apply everywhere - from Carnival streets to corporate campuses - the future of facilities leadership depends on acting early, acting smart, and acting together.