Strengthening Engineering Excellence at Scale: A Conversation with Matt Kent

OCS has appointed Matt Kent as UK and Ireland Director of Engineering, following his transition from EMCOR UK following the acquisition in December, 2025. His role is to further strengthen engineering capability across the business, alongside other senior technical leaders from EMCOR UK who will play a key part in OCS’s evolution into a technical services-led FM partner.

With over 30 years of engineering experience, including senior leadership roles in the Royal Navy and experience across secure government environments and complex mobilisations, Kent brings strong operational and technical experience suited to high-risk, high-assurance settings.

His focus is precise. Establish consistency. Strengthen technical governance. Build an engineering model that delivers reliable performance and actionable intelligence at scale.

This appointment is an early example of how capability is being integrated. Engineering leadership, technical depth and delivery experience from EMCOR UK are now being applied more broadly, with a focus on consistency, assurance and scale.

Defining the Role

What is your mandate in this role with the team at OCS?

Matt Kent:
“My role is to define what engineering excellence looks like and take the delivery of technical services to another level. That means putting structure, consistency and clarity around how engineering is delivered across the business.”

Engineering Background and Operational Experience

You’ve spent your career in engineering. What shaped your approach?

Matt Kent:
“I joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice engineer and spent 29 years in a range of engineering and leadership roles. That included operational roles across ships, shore-based environments and secure facilities, and I went on to serve as a chief engineer and commander of the engineering department.

I’m a mechanical engineer by trade and a chartered engineer. I am also a fellow of both the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management. Safety and risk have always been central to how I approach engineering.”

Safety as a Foundational Principle

How do you define a safety-first approach in engineering delivery?

Matt Kent:
“Everything starts with protecting people. That includes both physical and psychological safety.

All work must be properly planned, risk assessed and delivered with the right controls in place. We follow the risk hierarchy. The priority is to eliminate or reduce risk through design and engineering controls before relying on PPE.

It also comes down to competence and culture. People need the right training, the right tools and the confidence to act. That includes being able to stop work or raise concerns where something is not safe. That is fundamental to safe technical delivery.”

A Structured Model for Engineering Excellence

What does Engineering Excellence look like in practice?

From Data to Actionable Intelligence

How do those principles translate into performance?

Matt Kent:
“High‑quality data is the foundation of effective engineering decision‑making. For example, by establishing a verified, structured view of asset condition, criticality and performance, we enable risk‑based maintenance assurance and the application of alternative maintenance strategies such as condition‑based and predictive interventions.

Opportunity for Customers

What is the opportunity for customers as this develops?

Matt Kent:
“The opportunity is consistency and clarity in engineering delivery.

By applying structure and standardisation across the business, customers can expect a more consistent, compliant and controlled service, regardless of location or contract.”

Building the Engineering Strategy

What are you focused on in your first phase?

A Structured Path to Engineering Excellence

Matt Kent’s appointment reflects both individual leadership and a broader shift in capability. The integration of EMCOR UK is strengthening engineering depth, with experienced technical leaders helping to define and scale standards across the business.

This approach builds over time. Data becomes insight. Insight becomes intelligence. Intelligence drives better decisions, stronger performance and more consistent outcomes across complex estates.

In complex, regulated and mission-critical environments, that level of control is expected. The focus is on building it consistently and demonstrating it at scale.