As Paul Bedborough prepares to retire from Cushman & Wakefield's facilities management business after leading the group for the past six years, the firm has tapped a food services veteran to replace him.
The Chicago-based brokerage has hired Mia Mends as CEO of C&W Services, which offers facilities management to clients in the United States and Canada. Mends, who is based in Houston, started her new job on June 22.
Bedborough plans to retire Thursday, Cushman & Wakefield spokesperson Grace Wilk said in an email.
In her role as CEO of C&W Services, Mends manages a business with nearly 13,000 employees serving clients in several industries. She becomes part of Cushman & Wakefield’s global management team, as well.
Mends takes over C&W Services as the role of facilities management in the operation of buildings and complexes is heightened because of the pandemic. During the global health crisis, facilities and property managers effectively served on the front lines as tenants and visitors began to return to work.
She joined Cushman & Wakefield from Sodexo, a Paris-based food and facilities management company where she served in several senior leadership roles, including as chief administrative officer in North America. She worked at Sodexo for about a decade.
She also has served as CEO of Impact Ventures, which involved leading SodexoMAGIC, a joint venture between Sodexo and Magic Johnson Enterprises.
Cushman & Wakefield President and Chief Operating Officer Michelle MacKay said Mends' experience and expertise would help C&W Services to continue a profitable growth trajectory.
MacKay wished Bedborough well on "his well-deserved retirement."
"He has been a tremendous leader at C&W Services, which was especially evident as he successfully navigated the business through the pandemic," MacKay said in a statement.