Meet the team: Darren Naylor – Senior Asset Manager NHS Open Space

What does your role involve?

Top line, I manage a lean team who oversee the onboarding of new rooms, monitoring property performance, driving utilisation of our existing rooms, and identifying new opportunities within the NHSPS property portfolio. My role is fast paced, so I need to be proactive in managing tasks and responsibilities. It’s all about good planning, teamwork and working collaboratively with the wider NHSPS organisation – so everyone stays on track and delivers the best possible service to our users.

What expertise do you bring to the team?

My background is Real Estate Management. I qualified as a Chartered Surveyor back in 2011 working in both the private and public sector ever since. I joined NHSPS in 2017, as Senior Property Manager, and then moved into more strategic positions before transitioning to my current role as Senior Asset Manager in 2023.

What do you see as the future of NHS Open Space?

We understand the immense benefits of NHS Open Space, enabling heath, wellbeing and community services to book flexible and affordable rooms on an hourly, sessional or daily basis. We’re continuing our mission to maximise room utilisation and want more services to benefit from it. Growth and improvement are our mantras. Over the coming year you should expect to see increased expansion of rooms and properties across England, bringing even more choice and flexibility to our customers.

Three words to describe your asset management colleagues?

Supportive, dedicated, and hard-working. They’re the backbone of NHS Open Space, making it all happen with passion and grit.

To see all bookable spaces our asset management team have onboarded for you click here.