THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
BUILDING DESIGN &
CONSTRUCTION JULY 2014
ISSUE 199
GLAXOSMITHKLINE
A CULTURE OF SAFETY COLIN NIVISON, PEM LEADER TALKS ABOUT GSK’S IMPRESSIVE SAFETY RECORD
: e d i s n i Also MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
BRAEMAR ESTATES
LAND SECURITIES
PLUS: CLEAN GREEN HOME ENERGY | FM SHOW 2014 | COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL
LEADERS IN GL OBAL REAL ESTATE GLOBALLY, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FIRMS, EMPLOYING 13,500 PROFESSIONALS IN 482 OFFICES ACROSS 62 COUNTRIES. IT’S UK DIVISION PROVIDES A BROAD RANGE OF REAL ESTATE CONSULTANCY SERVICES INCLUDING GENERAL PRACTICE SURVEYING, FUND MANAGEMENT AND PROPERTY CO-INVESTMENT 40
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uccessful property management is often largely about getting the basics right. In the case of Colliers International, according to Head of Professional Services Mark Jarrett, much of that revolves around the finances. “We have a finance team that is best in class,” he says. “We collect 99% of rent within fourteen days and have been doing that for about six years. One of the main things about Colliers is consistency of service and you get that from every one of our office locations. We have consistency due to good staff retention and we have been performing at a high level for many years. We run performance statistics across all our business so we can tell where we have been improving and demonstrate that to clients and tenants.” Colliers International is the third largest real estate advisory service in the world with 560 offices and over 13,000 staff in 58 countries. It’s also the world’s second largest property manager with 1.25 billion square feet under management, 40 million square feet of that is in the UK where there are 150 property management staff in nine offices providing a national coverage.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY FOCUS The focus is on commercial properties across all sectors that include retail, industrial, offices and leisure with a small amount of residential in mixed use schemes. Clients range from individuals with a single property, often overseas owners who hand complete responsibility to Colliers, to the likes of Aviva, the largest UK fund for whom Colliers manages two portfolios. There are in excess of 200 clients with widely varying requirements that may simply be to collect rents or could involve full property, facilities and asset management that can include redevelopment, change of use and re-gearing of leases to maximise income and property values. Because of that, as Mark explains, it’s necessary to determine what each client requires: “The key for us is not only understanding what the client wants and delivering that service but, depending on what the client needs, putting the right team together to deliver the
“SUSTAINABILITY IS IN OUR DNA AND WE ENSURE WE ARE LIVING AND BREATHING IT RATHER THAN JUST PLAYING LIP SERVICE. SOME LIKE TO PORTRAY SUSTAINABILITY AS A VERY COMPLICATED ISSUE BUT IT’S NOT AT ALL; IT’S JUST SENSIBLE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT” service. Some people will be good at day to day property management and then there are others whose specialism is asset management and so the key is matching up the people with the client.” That starts even before a new property is taken on, with Colliers discussing requirements with potential clients and knowing the appropriate team, services and client focus right from the outset. Many larger clients currently have global investors that require the full service in order to maximise returns while sustainability also is something investors are looking for and it is a high priority for Colliers. SENSIBLE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT “We were the second largest agent to gain ISO 14001 in 2005,” recalls Mark. “Sustainability is in our DNA and we ensure we are living and breathing it rather than just playing lip service. Some like to portray sustainability as a very complicated issue but it’s not at all; it’s just sensible property management. Certain initiatives are very straightforward — waste recycling, putting hippos in water tanks and turning off lights and air conditioning. We also do boiler optimisation, insulation and other things but the bulk of sustainability is just about sensible property management. “It doesn’t cost the client anything for a lot of these operational changes and it saves the tenants money, operational costs go down and rental values go up. We have branded it internally as the Colliers’
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Green Standard with a list of ten initiatives that facilities managers systematically go through for each building and make sure that, where possible, the initiatives are rolled out. A lot of the new buildings we get have nothing being done at all so running through them can introduce at least 10% carbon saving across the site. “We procure green energy at the same price as brown energy and have introduced smart meters to monitor what is happening with plant. The smart meters are useful in identifying where boilers are operating when they shouldn’t be and it allows us to investigate and take action. Boiler optimisation, recycling and the introduction of other measures can require a lot of tenant input so there’s some negotiation needed. Zero waste to landfill is another big initiative we have rolled out nationally. At a conservative estimate, this scheme will result in 800 tonnes of waste being diverted from landfill in 2014. This is roughly equivalent to 10,257 standard 1,100 litre wheelie bins, 22,566 standard car boot loads or enough waste to fill 4.5 Olympic swimming pools. The initiative was also at no additional cost to clients or their tenants and in many cases resulted in a reduction in costs.”
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PAYBACK PERIOD Colliers’ Green Standard is an internal initiative that is rolled out to each new property taken on, many of which haven’t previously benefited from energy saving measures and so, with costs continuing to rise, significant savings can be made. Many measures don’t cost anything but when they do, such as for insulation and boiler optimisation kits, the general intention is to have a payback period of less than two years. A tenant survey undertaken by Colliers indicated tenants are happy to pay through the service charge for capital expenditure with this length of payback. In other cases, larger clients in particular are coming round to the sustainability agenda and are willing to contribute to overall costs. There is ongoing communication with all clients but it is increasingly in electronic form with the number of meetings and the amount of paper reporting reducing as instant information is more commonly demanded. Colliers has its own internal systems and uploads data to clients frequently so they have a common reporting platform across their organisation. It also has Collier 360, an information platform that clients can access for their whole portfolio and which provides details in realtime of rent collected, service charges, arrears, tenancy schedules, portfolio analysis and a repository for reports, copy leases and other documents. A similar approach applies to tenants, Mark believing it’s important to be aware of their situation. He says: “We spend a lot of time with tenants and are able to do this because we don’t load up the facilities managers with an unworkable
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portfolio. We keep it to a small size because they are the people on the ground and they are forever meeting the tenants and making sure they are happy. It’s very important to us to know what is going on, including when a tenant is expanding or contracting and exactly what their needs are. That may involve moving them within the building or perhaps with other clients and holdings elsewhere.” There are quarterly tenant meetings and feedback is often received then or possibly privately, especially when operational considerations are involved. Mark believes it’s crucial to not only listen to what tenants are saying but also to take action when possible. Whilst that can be tricky in multi-let properties where tenants may have contrasting views, failure to act can result in the even-
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tual departure of a dissatisfied tenant at the next lease renewal with the consequent loss of income. BULK TENDERING The complete service Colliers offers includes facilities management that’s delivered through a network of offices throughout the UK and Ireland. Here the approach is based on using local or regional companies with specialist services rather than total facilities management companies since national providers often give varying levels of service in different parts of the country. In each region, however, the principle is to bulk tender several buildings in order to achieve cost benefits for clients. “We tendered an M&E contract for outside central London but inside the M25,” recalls Mark. “That covered 25
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CHATFIELD CLEANING LTD
Providing exceptional cleaning services Proud to be working with Colliers International The company was formed in 1999 with emphasis on providing a personal service whatever the size of contract. Our close working relationships with our clients has meant that the vast majority of our work has been secured through recommendation. We provide all services relating to cleaning and hygiene. Our contractors are diverse and incorporate well known names throughout industry. We cover London, the Home Counties, the South East, Birmingham, Manchester and aim to be a one stop shop for all your cleaning needs. OFFICE CLEANING We provide trained, competent personnel to carry out the agreed specification. All equipment is provided new at the outset and we endeavour to use the most environmentally friendly products. Our management team have a wealth of experience within the cleaning industry, providing you with the assurance that our operations are carried out to the highest professional standard. We are safecontractor health & safety accredited. WINDOW CLEANING With today’s Health & Safety demands we are equipped to deal with any access problems that may arise. Our operatives are fully trained in abseiling cherry-picker use, harness work and ‘reach and wash’ systems. We are confident we have the solution to clean your windows safely. RETAIL PARKS We provide both a cleaning and landscaping service to retail parks. With the growing number of retail parks being developed, this has become an important and successful part of our business. ENVIRONMENT Environmental issues are important to our business. We use the most environmentally friendly products on the market. We are BS EN IS014001 2004 accredited. WASHROOM SERVICES We provide sanitary bins, air freshers, hot-air dryers, roller towels, sanitizers, water savers, vending machines and all your paper and soap products. Whatever your washroom requirements we have the complete solution.
1 Bromley Lane, Chislehurst, Kent, BR7 6LH Tel: 020 8468 1023 Fax: 020 8468 1024 Email: chatfieldcleaning@eupanet.com Web: www.chatfieldcleaning.co.uk
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buildings, saved 30% across the board and the service improved in many respects too.” That level of saving was something of a surprise but a study of the pricing structure revealed 5% of it was directly attributable to the finance team due to them paying suppliers within eight days. Mark says: “We collect service charges from tenants in advance and so the money is sitting in a bank account waiting to be paid out. Our view is that suppliers will give us a preferential rate if we pay their invoices quickly and so generally we are good payers.” One of the biggest challenges for the sector is the risk of personal injury, which applies equally to vacant buildings where plant and equipment still needs to be maintained, other work has to be done and a duty of care has to be exercised. That is largely met by proper organi-
sation that involves undertaking audits and identifying risks, of which there are over 30,000 being managed every year. Facilities managers and building managers then manage the risks using an online portal which can be viewed by all parties including clients. Regular email prompts and reminders are sent to the Colliers team, ensuring nothing is missed. CLIENT RETENTION It’s all a well-proven method that’s demonstrated by the success the company has experienced. “We provide the best service in the market and have fantastic client retention, having lost only four clients in the last six years,” comments Mark. “Some of those clients will grow and we’re also winning new clients, so as a result we grew our business by 20% last year. The focus is to keep the service level high, which is helped by having a low staff turnover; very few people leave because it’s a great place to work.” www.colliers.com/en-gb/uk Tel: 020 79354499
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