Cofely Besix Mannai Facility Management (CBMFM) has appointed Robert Willem Cats as the new country manager for Qatar.

A leading facilities management provider in Qatar, the CBMFM was originally founded in 2006 as a joint venture between Mannai Corporation and Transfield Services.

In early 2014, Cofely Besix Facility Management acquired a 49 per cent stake in the company, to CBMFM.

Cats hails from the Netherlands, and has spent most of his career working in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, said a statement from the company.

He has a degree in Economics and Facilities Management (FM) from Haagse Hogeschool in The Netherlands, and has also completed many international courses in project management (Prince2) and ISO 9001 amongst others.

After completing his studies in 1987, he worked in the sales and marketing industry for 10 years, and in 2000, he decided to join the facilities management sector.

He began his career as a facility manager for Catella Codemeer in the Netherlands. Soon after he was employed as Benelux facility manager.

From 2004-2008, Cats worked for Gale Global Facility Services as the regional account manager for Europe, and was responsible for a portfolio of 32 administration facilities throughout Europe, accommodating almost 4,000 employees as well as three data centres.

More recently, he also worked as the EMEA account director for (AT&T / CB Richard Ellis) from 2008-2012, and was assigned to manage a portfolio of 68 administration facilities across the region, including a total of 15 data centres.

Prior to joining CBMFM, Cats worked as international project director for FM and project management for (Cofely FMO), and was assigned responsibility for the Katara Cultural Village in 2015.

On the appointment, Ian Harfield, the chief executive of Cofely Besix Facility Management, said: "Cats' experience includes developing and implementing global FM programs in the areas of safety, critical environments, continuous improvement and workflow."

"His proven leadership skills make him an ideal candidate to assume the general manager's role and enable CBMFM to deliver the best long term outcomes for our clients as we continue to expand our business in the region," he added.-TradeArabia News Service