FM World 20 June 2013

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT | 20 JUNE 2013

FMW www.fm-world.co.uk

ACADEMY SCHOOLS

STEPPING UP

The theme of leadership takes centre stage at this year’s ThinkFM

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FM and the new academy school system

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VOL 10 ISSUE 12 20 JUNE 2013

CONTENTS

6 | Energy shortages ahead

18 | ThinkFM

26 | Academy Schools

NEWS

OPINION

FEATURES

6 Power black-outs could become more common, according to BSRIA 7 In his keynote speech at Think FM, Jim Lawless talks tiger-taming 8 Project of the Fortnight: Interserve is helping heroes through the construction of Parker VC 9 Think Tank: Are FMs prepared for possible power shortages?

10 Business news: Graeme Davies believes the healthcare sector is offering opportunities 11 Clugston reveals it has hit pre-recession turnover levels 12 In Focus: George Adams of CIBSE discusses the de-carbonisation of cities

14 Perspective of a facilities manager: It’s showtime for Simon Francis and his team 15 Five minutes with Global FM chief executive Duncan Waddell 46 No Two Days

MONITOR 35 Legal Update: Trevor Horsley on insulation requirements 36 Technical: Part one of two pieces on the value of FM benchmarking 37 Insight: Market intelligence

30 | Web Apps

18

Think FM: Our special report from this year’s ThinkFM conference, held at the Royal College of Physicians, where leadership was the key theme

26

Academy Schools: Maintenance managers at academy schools are getting more freedom from council control, finds Lucy Black

30

Web Applications: A new wave of internet apps are changing the way FMs are approaching office moves, explains Gary Watkins

32

Front of House: Hanna Barrett argues that a well-run helpdesk can become the hub for FM in an organisation, protecting both brand and value

REGULARS 38 41 42 43 44

BIFM news Diary of events People & jobs Products Appointments

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visit fm-world.co.uk/jobs For daily notice of the latest FM news and fresh FM World content, follow us on Twitter COVER IMAGE: Rafael Bastos

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r u yo ow k o ts n o B ke tic The must-attend event 14 OCTOBER, GROSVENOR HOUSE HOTEL Who will be recognised for their facilities management excellence, innovation and inspiration? Join over 1,300 facilities management professionals and see the winners crowned at the networking event in the FM calendar.

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Email awards@bifm.org.uk or call 01279 712 640

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Redactive Publishing Ltd 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP 020 7880 6200 www.fm-world.co.uk EDITORIAL Tel: 020 7880 6229 email: editorial@fm-world.co.uk editor: Martin Read ⁄ news editor: David Arminas ⁄ sub editor: James Richards ⁄ editorial assistant: James Harris ⁄ art director: Mark Parry ⁄ art editor: Daniel Swainsbury picture editor: Sam Kesteven

MARTIN READ EDITOR COMMENT

LEADER

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING email: sales@fm-world.co.uk senior display sales executive: Norbert Camenzuli (020 7880 7551) ⁄ display sales executive: Richard York (020 7880 8543) ⁄ recruitment sales executive: Carly Gregory (020 7880 2755) PRODUCTION production manager: Jane Easterman senior production executive: Aysha Miah PUBLISHING publishing director: Joanna Marsh Forward features lists and media pack available at www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us SUBSCRIPTIONS BIFM members with FM World subscription or delivery queries should call the BIFM’s membership department on 0845 0581358 FM World is sent to all members of the British Institute of Facilities Management and is available on subscription to nonmembers. Annual subscription rates are UK £110, rest of world £130. To subscribe call 020 8950 9117 or email fm@alliance-media. co.uk – alternatively, you can subscribe online at www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us/ subscribe/ To order the BIFM good practice guides or the FM World Buyers’ Guide to FM Services call James Harris on 020 7880 6229.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Simon Ball, business development manager, Interserve ⁄ Martin Bell, independent consultant, Norland Managed Services / Lucy Jeynes, Larch Consulting / Nick Cook, managing director, Haywards ⁄ Rob Greenfield, group SHEQ director, GSH ⁄ Liz Kentish, managing director, Liz Kentish Coaching ⁄ Anne Lennox Martin, FM consultant ⁄ Peter McLennan, joint course director, MSc Facility Environment and Management, University College London ⁄ Geoff Prudence, chair, CIBSE FM Group ⁄ Chris Stoddart, general manager, Heron Tower ⁄ Jeremy Waud, managing director, Incentive FM ⁄ Jane Wiggins, FM tutor and author ⁄ Chris Wood, FM consultant

Average net circulation 11,513 (Jul 11 – Jun 12) FM World magazine is produced using paper derived from sustainable sources; the ink used is vegetable based; 85 per cent of other solvents used in the production process are recycled © FM World is published on behalf of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM)

by Redactive Publishing Ltd (RPL), 17 Britton St, London EC1M 5TP. This magazine aims to include a broad range of opinion about FM business and professional issues and articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the BIFM nor should such opinions be relied upon as statements of fact. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any print or electronic format, including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet, or in any other format in whole or in part in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While all due care is taken in writing and producing this magazine, neither BIFM nor RPL accept any liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. Printed by Pensord ISSN 1743 8845

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eople are people so why should it be / You and I should get along so awfully?” The synth-pop sound of Depeche Mode there, with 1980s’ smash People are People. Yes, it’s possibly the worst rhyming couplet in recorded history – but in his rather awkward way, Martin Gore’s electro pioneers appear to be gnawing away at a fundamental truth about our sector.

As we all know, FM is a people business. FMs need to be great communicators, effective diplomats and unflappable adaptors to fast-changing client/occupier needs.

We’re required to be expert at communicating sideways to peers and down to our direct and indirect reports. Put bluntly, getting along “awfully” with people just isn’t going to cut it. And so, those who make a successful career in FM don’t. We get on with people famously, in fact.

There’s one way in which our communication can be awful, however, and it involves that other direction of communication travel – upwards; to the board, to senior level decision-makers, and to the people who can really make change happen.

FMs, such confident communicators at all other levels, can be struck mute at the prospect of justifying themselves to more senior personnel.

It’s a shortfall that needs addressing because who else is better qualified to speak out about the absurdity of, say, some idiot’s poor tendering choice, or a lunatic guru’s potentially catastrophic, productivity-quashing change to the workplace? Alas, putting an alternative case can sometimes feel like we’re putting our jobs on the line.

It’s a confidence thing, and motivational speaker Jim Lawless calls the solution ‘taming the tiger’, by which he means the tiger of our inner monologue. This tiger roars at us just as we’re set to communicate our life-changing, business-changing decision, whatever it may be. We’re so absolutely certain that we’re right, but at the last moment we think ‘better’ of it, trading potential glory for a quieter life.

Lawless became a professional jockey for a bet, just to prove his point that you can indeed achieve what your tiger says you can’t. Last week, Lawless used his keynote address at the ThinkFM conference to explain how his 350-strong audience could break through this stifling communication barrier.

It’s what happened next that really struck me; most of the speakers who followed Lawless’ address at ThinkFM invoked his presentation when making theirs. Clearly, all those comments about ‘seizing the day’ had made quite an impact. I didn’t attend a single presentation in which Lawless’ speech wasn’t mentioned.

At ThinkFM, and at the FM procurement roundtable event we ran the following day, so many of the solutions discussed needed underpinning by an associated requirement for better upward communication in order to make them happen. Do we in FM pretend we’re good at getting on with people when, in fact, we’ve got a communication ‘blind spot’?

After all, when it comes to making strong, long-term workplace management decisions, what the FM thinks should always be in the spotlight. Everything we say should count in large amounts…

“P

“This tiger roars at us, just as we’re set to communicate our life-changing business idea”

Tel: 0845 058 1356 Email: admin@bifm.org.uk Web: www.bifm.org.uk

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ENERGY

GETTY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

BSRIA chief warns of jump in power shortages FMs and their organisations will have to deal with the possibility of power shortages, both spontaneous and government enforced, by the year 2016, according to building services consultancy, test and research organisation, BSRIA. “It’s an issue that is really exercising BSRIA,” said Andrew Eastwell, who recently announced he will step down as the organisation’s chief executive in April next year.

“Enforced power outages are now getting to the point where they are much more likely to happen,” he said.

“Facilities managers and FM suppliers should be thinking now about how they are going to manage this risk.”

Big companies in most sectors will have power shortage solutions and risk management strategies in place, he told FM World. “It’s medium to smaller-size businesses that won’t have a plan B or C.” Eastwell announced his decision to step down from the organisation at the end of last month, saying it was time for a change.

Eastwell, who holds a physics degree from Brunel University, joined BSRIA as a research engineer in 1975. He took on the chief executive role in 1998 and has seen many changes over the years.

One of those changes is the concept of a buildings’ worth to its owners and occupiers. Facilities managers will increasingly have to prove the value of a building to their organisation rather then the cost to buy or rent it, he said.

This notion of the building as a value-added asset instead of a

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bricks and mortar asset will become increasingly important.

“FMs will need to monetise the value of the building rather than the cost of the building alone.”

Eastwell was part of the Innovation and Growth team set up under the government’s construction adviser Paul Morrell during the last Labour administration. The construction sector was notorious for being full of silos, or “cells of expertise”, he said, where knowledge was sometimes shared, but there was little real communication. In other words, documents were passed around, but few cross-functional teams were set up to discuss and examine them with an eye to improving the building.

Lights out: Are more building black-outs on the way?

This lack of communication among silos is what building information modelling (BIM) is supposed to combat “The strength of BIM is that it has the capability to make this communication happen, to break down the walls between functions,” Eastwell said.

“But it’s early days yet for BIM. It’s as if we were in the area of the old DOS computing where communication is possible, but not easily done. We want to be in the era of Windows where information

is not only shared more easily, but understood more easily.”

The government has mandated the use of BIM Level II for new public sector buildings by 2016.

Eastwell is confident of that target because Level II “is not very taxing”, he said. “It’s as if it were the first bit of Windows technology coming into use.”

It’s his hope that the government doesn’t lose its nerve for mandating the use of BIM because “it’s got up a head of steam” as far as industry and academic commitment.

HSE opens legionella consultation The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened three consultations, including one on the control of legionella in water systems.

The legionella Consultative Document (CD258) sets out proposals from the HSE to publish an updated Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) on Legionnaire’s disease.

The consultation provides an opportunity to comment on whether the draft ACOP text provides legal clarification and proportionate advice in low-risk scenarios.

Accompanying guidance provides advice on achieving compliance, information of a general nature,

Germ of an idea: Legionella consultation

including explanation of the requirements of the law, specific technical information or references to further sources of information.

The revised ACOP gives practical advice on the legal requirements of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). It also

applies to the risk from exposure to legionella bacteria and includes information of a general nature including explanation of the requirements of law.

Interested parties can e-mail for more information: legionella.

ACOPconsultation@hse.gsi.gov.uk Documents and comment forms can be downloaded at tinyurl.com/ nynvr7g.

The other two consultations concern the Control of Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002, and the amended Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

Industry and interested parties have until 23 August to respond. www.fm-world.co.uk

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ThinkFM: Beware the tiger Opening the ThinkFM 2013 conference at the Royal College of Physicians in London, motivational speaker Jim Lawless told an audience of more than 300 that that “you could have the greatest ideas in the world, but unless you “tame that tiger”, all will be for nought.

“The tiger roars at the very moment you can make a difference to your business,” explained Lawless (pictured).

“Your time has come and your decision can show people you are thinking and acting out of the box.

Innovation beckons. Instead, you cower, shrink back into yourself covered in self-doubt. As a result, you don’t take that decision that would have propelled you and the business forward.”

Jim Lawless tamed his “tiger” – and so can everyone else, he told a packed keynote session.

Lawless tamed his tiger when he accepted a bet that he couldn’t become a jockey within a year, but did so in 2003.

NEWS

BRIEFS Lorimer appointed chair It needs a commitment that “will take you out of reverse gear”, he said. You then have to challenge the naysayers, as there will be naysayers. People told Lawless he would never be able to ride a horse.

Admittedly, he did have to lose weight: “Twenty-five per cent of me had to placed somewhere else.”

But, he countered: “One hundred and fifty years ago, every muppet could ride a horse. So why not me?”

“When someone believes in you, you want to never let him or her down,” he said. Taming the tiger probably means that you will have to challenge the status quo and that means you’ll inevitably come up against people with a vested interest in the status quo, including any ‘rulebook’.

Rulebooks, said Lawless, are a double-edged sword. They confirm

the right actions to take and so keep people from doubt and keep them comfortable in the way they operate. But there comes a time when you must challenge the rulebook to move forward.

It will be a continual battle with the tiger, and you have to be ready for it. Remember the tools are within you and, importantly, around you, he said. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice from friends and colleagues.

In the end, there is no point grumbling about things if you don’t try to change them: “You can’t blame the board for not listening to you if you don’t knock on the boardroom door.”

To register your interest in next year’s ThinkFM, please go to: tinyurl.com/thinkfm2014 Our report on this year’s event starts on p.18.

CONSULTATION

RAFAEL BASTOS

Group consults global FM industry on new guidance A working group led by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and consisting of representatives from the BIFM and CoreNet Global’s UK Chapter, is calling on FM professionals worldwide to help shape a new ‘strategic facilities management guidance note’.

Once established, the note will “help drive professionalism and enable benchmarking across the sector by creating greater consistency in the delivery of FM services”, according to a RICS statement. The guidance will form a key part of RICS’ “wider campaign to improve understanding and recognition from businesses for the performance efficiencies that strategic FM can deliver”. www.fm-world.co.uk

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The call for global feedback follows RICS’ initial UK consultation last year. The development of the note is being led by RICS’ Strategic Guidance Working Group, which includes BIFM and CoreNet Global UK Chapter representation. The Facilities Management Association and Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) have also said they will contribute during the consultation, along with several international organisations.

Johnny Dunford, global commercial property director at RICS said: “There is an appetite from the property sector and RICS membership to have strategic guidance for facilities managers, which our note will seek to address.

We have received a good level of response from the sector in the UK and look forward to hearing the views of global FM practitioners.

BIFM chief executive Gareth Tancred said: “Working together with key partners across the built environment is an essential part of our strategy; building awareness of the strategic importance of facilities management, and the best practice principles that govern it.

The Guidance Note open for consultation is provisionally titled ‘Managing facilities to enhance organisational performance.’ To contribute to the consultation, FMs are invited to follow the link below The consultation ends on 8 July. tinyurl.com/RICSconsulation

The Institute of Hospitality Scotland has appointed Ray Lorimer as chairman.

Lorimer, chef director of his own company, Catering At Your Convenience, specialises in nutritional recipes and menu development for healthier food and specialist diets.

Lorimer has 45 years of international hospitality and catering experience including as a logistic food supply officer for the British Army and with the United Nations Forces.

For 10 years he was executive chef for Unilever Foodsolutions.

He succeeds Rob Moore, director of Edinburgh-based Xpress Recruitment, who served the membership for seven years.

The Institute of Hospitality is the professional body for individual managers and aspiring managers working and studying in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry.

Eco-friendly law firms A survey by Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) indicates that UK law firms reduced their carbon emissions by nearly two per cent last year The survey of 69 LSA members found that 95 per cent of companies assign responsibility for environmental performance to a senior executive and 80 per cent measure their carbon footprint.

LSA members commit themselves to improving their environmental credentials.

Interserve trains up Interserve claims up to 2,000 of its employees working in the NHS trusts in Leicestershire and Rutland could benefit from a training deal the FM provider signed with Leicester College.

Interserve will send its employees on basic education courses including numeracy, literacy and English conversation courses for foreigners, apprenticeships and Qualifications of Credit Frameworks (QCFs). Courses will be delivered on-site to suit employee hours.

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PROJECT OF THE

FORTNIGHT NEWS BULLETIN

BIM4FM creates online discussion group The BIM4FM group has created an online discussion group to stimulate the conversation around the engagement of facilities managers, owners and occupiers with Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Government Soft Landings (GSL).

BIM4FM is a group set up to champion FM’s involvement with BIM and GSL projects. It brings together leading FM industry bodies, including BIFM, RIBA and RICS. Geoff Prudence, chairman of the BIM4FM group said: “Since our launch, many individuals have asked to join the BIFM4FM group.

However, the group has been set up as a steering committee of institutes, trade bodies and professional associations, supported by the Cabinet Office Government Property Unit.

“That said, rather than excluding the enthusiasm of individuals, we thought we should encourage and harness their input from across our communities, as it’s often those who are operating at grass-roots level who raise the most valuable insights.”

The discussion group has been created on LinkedIn and can be found at tinyurl.com/lu3oc6x .

Essex school fined £9,000 by HSE

Interserve helps the heroes Interserve has completed construction of Parker VC, the first of two facilities in Plymouth that will benefit military personnel and veterans undergoing recovery.

Interserve worked with the charity Help for Heroes, which supported the project with funding of £21 million.

Parker VC, part of HMS Drake’s larger Naval Service Recovery Centre, is a specialist adaptive accommodation facility with 60 single and six family ‘cabins’.

The building, on a brownfield site, is a steel frame construction with composite floor, Metsec inner leaf and Forticrete outer leaf.

It features brick for its upper three floors with composite aluminium and timber windows. Reception area, function room and bedrooms have been fitted out to a high standard and there is a landscaped rooftop terrace for relaxation.

Help for Heroes provides grants to individuals, other service charities, capital build projects and the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) four recovery centres in the UK. Bryn Parry, chief executive and co-founder of Help for Heroes, said the facilities being built by Interserve “will make a huge difference to the lives of servicemen and women who have suffered lifechanging injuries and illnesses”.

Also underway on the site is construction of the rehabilitation complex of three buildings called the Endeavour Centre. The complex has a gym, consultation rooms, a social area for veterans and a hydrotherapy area with changing facilities. A 25-metre, six-lane competition pool will feature a floor that can be raised or lowered according to the needs of the swimmers.

Both the Endeavour Centre and Parker VC facilities will be staffed and operated by the Navy and the MoD. The recovery centres are part of the MoD’s Defence Recovery Capability funded by the MoD and its principal partners Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion.

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An Essex high school has been fined for safety failings after a 14-year-old boy fell more than four metres from a climbing wall.

The teenager was one of four pupils at Manningtree High School in Manningtree selected to try their first-ever ‘lead climb’, a more advanced, mainly rock-climbing technique, during a physical education lesson.

He fell more than four metres and hit the safety mat on the floor, suffering a fractured heel bone, which was later pinned and plated.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Manningtree High School, found that prior to the lesson, none of the four pupils were aware what lead-climbing was or the risks involved and none had been properly trained or prepared for the more advanced type of climbing that was being attempted.

In addition, the school failed to have an adequate safety management system in place for lead-climbing, and the instructor was not competent to teach or supervise lead-climbing.

The school was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay around £1,640 in costs after pleading guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to adequately protect the pupils against the risk of falls.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Glyn Davies said the boy sustained a totally preventable injury that required an operation, saw him on crutches for more than 14 weeks and from which he is still recovering.

Call for NHS cleaners to have own qualifications The outgoing chair of the Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP) said hospital cleaners for the NHS should have their own professional qualifications, if cleanliness standards are to be raised.

In her keynote speech at the AHCP’s annual conference at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, Denise Foster said that without such qualifications, there will continue to be questions over standards amid concerns over infection outbreaks, said.

Foster said that attempts by government and NHS senior managers to raise cleaning standards and reduce infection outbreaks will continue to fall short without better training and a national pre-entry qualification for healthcare cleaners.

She also called for national training and qualifications for cleaners in NHS hospitals.

No vocational qualifications are currently required to work as a cleaner in the NHS. www.fm-world.co.uk

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UK plc is very well prepared 5%

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THINK TANK

Some are well prepared 3% We’re doomed!

31%

WE ASKED 100 FMS… How prepared do you think UK plc is for coping with power shortages?

Only eight per cent of respondents to the latest FM 100 Think Tank poll believed that half or more of FMs were “very well prepared” to deal with a power shortage.

Around a third of respondents (31 per cent) believed that just two out of 10 FMs were prepared and had a strategy in place – trouble awaits the majority of facilities managers should the lights go out.

And the possibility of power shortages is greater than we think, according to Andrew Eastwell, chief executive of building research, testing and consultancy BSRIA. In an interview with FM World, he said BSRIA has been “exercised” by what he says is the increasing likelihood of power blackouts, either through lack of supply

or by government edict.

Eastwell said FMs in large companies are likely to be wellprepared. It’s the FMs in medium to smaller businesses that have neither the manpower to work on a coherent strategy, nor the money to invest in supplemental power sources including uninterruptible power supplies.

There is a belief among respondents to the latest Think Tank poll, that most organisations don’t have a strategy – 61 per cent of respondents said so.

However, one respondent said he believed “the vast majority” of FMs have at least some plans in place through their business continuity strategies. “Unfortunately, in the current economic climate, many

Most organisations don’t have a strategy 61%

of these plans are untested or outof-date, meaning that they can be ineffective if exercised in earnest.

“The reality is, power shortages are tomorrow’s problem,” he said.

“With so many challenges, I suspect that little will be done to change this thinking until we’re faced with regular blackouts.”

Indeed, the poll question appeared to shine a light in a dark corner for some respondents: “Does anyone have good advice on a sensible strategy?”

Another respondent said he didn’t have a strategy, “but I shall

be raising this tomorrow in a management meeting now”.

However, there wouldn’t be the prospect of blackouts if it wasn’t for the meddling of he European Union, one FM said. “This electricity ‘shortage’ is entirely political.

A solution is to vote the UK out of the EU, abolish EU diktats, and restore the UK’s power stations to full action. Then the EU can buy electricity from us.”

Join the FM World Think Tank LinkedIn group by visiting www.tinyurl.com/fmwthinktank

Procuring FM: it’s all about value Demonstrating value for money in the procurement of FM services is one of the toughest challenges facing experts in the field.

At a roundtable debate hosted

by FM World and sister publication Supply Management in association with Office Depot, FM and procurement practitioners and consultants discussed the areas affecting the two professions.

Richard Warner, commercial director at Cushman & Wakefield FM, said he believed the most significant issue is preventing FM from being commodity and pricefocused and putting value back into FM service delivery.

John Bowen, consultant at Gulfhaven who works in procurement and FM, agreed the biggest challenge was about getting value from what’s provided and linking it to business objectives.

Head of FM consulting at www.fm-world.co.uk

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Hosted by FM World in London, the roundtable focused on value and cost

Davis Langdon, Craig Little, concurred it was essential to ensure arrangements were aligned with the overall needs of the organisation.

“And once the contract is in place,” he added, “you must ensure continuous improvement is built into those deals and collaboration works as it should.”

Andrew Lofty, head of

construction, sourcing and supplier relationship management at Carphone Warehouse, said it was about finding ways of extracting value through innovation not only in the first year of a contract but carrying it throughout a threeto-five-year relationship.

Hannah O’Reilly, category manager (FM, refrigeration and transactional sourcing) procurement at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, who echoed sentiments on the service-valuecost conundrum, added: “Another challenge is how do you differentiate between suppliers who are all talking the same talk and delivering the same services in the total facilities management world we’re operating in today?”

Paul Crilly, managing director of Not Just Cleaning, said he saw the key issue as one of “chronic mistrust” throughout the industry.

“This is inside customer CRE and FM groups, and between procurement functions and FM. It’s a reputation the supplier industry has probably earned over time, but it is an issue.”

Capita principal consultant and subject matter expert for FM Marcus Hill, raised the challenge of engagement with the true stakeholders in the organisation.

“There tends to be many that have ‘wants’ as opposed to identifying those that are actually true ‘needs’.

“The other issue is that the whole procurement function is still very process-led. I’m amazed at some of the PQQ documents I have been asked to put together that have questions such as ‘are you VAT registered?’ The PQQ process focuses on the wrong areas.”

A full report on the event will appear in the 28 July 2013 edition of FM World.

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ANALYSIS

Health sector holds promise for FM players GRAEME DAVIES newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

This column has discussed the merits of expanding service capabilities before, whether through acquisition or organic growth. A recent move by facilities giant Sodexo into pathology services highlights how a shift into closely related sectors can open up new business opportunities.

It also begs the question of where this process will end and whether, in years to come, the FM sector will be dominated by a small group of multi-faceted service providers with the breadth to work for clients across many sectors.

The recent move by Sodexo into pathology and laboratory services was driven by its longheld presence in the healthcare sector, where it has served the NHS as an outsourced service provider for many years and already has 6,500 employees working. With the NHS seeking to save money and outsource peripheral services such as non-urgent pathology lab work, many NHS Trusts are increasingly outsourcing to private sector providers.

Hence Sodexo’s decision to form its pathology joint venture business in Taunton, which has

already been contracted to provide services to two NHS Trusts.

Health has proven to be a popular sector to expand into in recent years as FM providers have sought to diversify. Both Mitie and Mears Group have actively moved into the domiciliary care sector through significant acquisitions after identifying this as an area of potential growth, as the budgetary pressures on the NHS have prompted a trend towards doing as much as possible to keep elderly people in their own home.

Elsewhere, larger operators such as Capita and Serco continue to make bolt-on acquisitions that have added strings to their bows and taken them into new areas of operation alongside their existing businesses. For larger companies such as these, it is easier to make bolt-on acquisitions work, as costs can be taken out of the acquired businesses by plugging them into the parent company’s back office

Contract wins

NEW BUSINESS ISS Facility Services is providing security at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with the award of a three-year contract.

ISS is delivering manned guarding services, covering reception, goods-in control and building patrols, across five sites in Bloomsbury, central London.

Property consultancy GVA has appointed GBM for cleaning and support services for properties in central London and the South East.

The three-year deal includes the St Katharine Docks Estate area along the Thames in London. GVA will be responsible for daily cleaning, specialist 10 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

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stonework and window cleaning, hygiene services, pest control and waste management.

Lindley Group’s Heritage catering division has won against 19 bidders to pick up a seven-year, £5 million deal with RAF Museum London. Heritage is operating two restaurant-cafés at the north London-based museum, which is a registered charity.

Aramark has retained its catering deal at the Old Bailey for a further three years. The contract caterer will continue to operate restaurants for judges, barristers, jurors and visitors to

the London court. The new contract has an estimated value of £1.2 million.

Sodexo has won a retained and expanded three-year contract to provide international investor 3i with integrated facilities management.

The deal sees three separate contracts brought into one at 3i’s head office on Palace Street in London. Sodexo Prestige, Sodexo’s corporate dining and hospitality division, continues to provide catering, but takes on cleaning, switchboard and engineering services contracted to other suppliers.

London-based contract cleaner Julius Rutherfoord has won a contract with Nonsuch High School for Girls in Cheam, Surrey. Nonsuch is the tenth educational contract win for Rutherfoord since the start of the year and brings contract win revenue to more than £600,000, according to Rutherfoord. West Thames College and Harrow Schools also renewed their contracts with the firm.

and finance functions. This improves the margins available through economies of scale and making such businesses more competitive for new contracts against smaller companies where the fixed costs are less thinly spread across the business.

This suggests that the trend of consolidation is only likely to continue, indeed in many cases it is more cost-effective to acquire a bolt-on operation than it is to attempt to build a new business stream.

This was the case for Mears and Mitie, for whom domiciliary care were areas in which the companies had virtually no expertise at all, and being a sector where building up a new business from scratch would have been relatively capital intensive certainly in terms of human capital; here, a market sharegrabbing acquisition was the most effective route in.

In areas where the public sector is only just opening up to private sector involvement, such as some areas of the NHS, it is still possible to start from scratch, as Sodexo has done. But here again, a deep balance sheet is required to stomach the start-up costs and smaller players will struggle if heavy hitters like Sodexo weigh in.

In such cases, this places the government in a difficult bind.

Despite having pledged to give small and medium businesses a fair crack of the whip when it comes to government outsourced contracts, the government is also wedded to getting the best value for money from its ever-growing number of private sector relationships and, in most cases, this is only going to be provided by partners with scale.

Graeme Davies writes for Investors Chronicle

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 15:21

Clugston sees ‘momentous’ leap in profit

Stephen Martin, Clugston group chief executive

Clugston, a privately owned construction, logistics, property and FM group, said it has returned to pre-recession turnover levels and record profits.

Figures for the year 2012/13 showed that pre-tax profit jumped from £2 million to £6.1 million, according to a company statement.

Turnover, too, saw a healthy

30 per cent increase, rising from £83.8 million to £108.7 million.

The company’s forward order book is in excess of £220 million.

In the education sector, Clugston started construction on three schools under the Northern Lincolnshire Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. It also started on an academy in Cleethorpes through the Education Funding Agency Contractors Framework.

In July last year, the company announced it had picked up a three-year total FM deal with Finnish stainless steel manufacturer Outokumpu in Sheffield.

The construction division saw turnover increase by 32 per cent, up from around £74 million to £97.5 million. The sector is working on four energy-from-

BUSINESS BRIEFS

waste projects in Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Oxfordshire and Shropshire, as well as a biomass plant in Kent.

All the construction projects are in conjunction with joint venture partner Constructions Industrielles de la Méditerranée.

The venture also recently won a contract to build the Leeds Energy Recovery facility for Veolia Environmental Services, which is working with Leeds City Council.

The group’s logistics business also saw turnover increase by 11 per cent to nearly £11 million from £9.8 million.

Stephen Martin, Clugston group chief executive, said the year was “momentous” because of record profits, strong cash balances “and an order book that allows us to look forward with increasing optimism”.

Anticimex snaps up ISS pest control ISS Group has sold its pest control businesses in Europe, Australia and New Zealand to Swedish pest control and environmental group Anticimex.

Jeff Gravenhorst, group chief executive of ISS, said the sale of the businesses – in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland – is to focus more on core activities.

“We will use the proceeds from this divestment to further deleverage ISS,” he said.

A statement said ISS will continue to have material pest control activities primarily in emerging markets.

A statement from Anticimex www.fm-world.co.uk

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in Australia said the deal, worth around £229 million, also includes ISS washroom businesses in Australia, New Zealand and Italy.

Copenhagen-based ISS and Anticimex have agreed on a partnership covering the 12 countries in which ISS activities have been acquired, the statement said.

The combined group, to be named Anticimex, will have more than 3,000 employees serving around 2.2 million customers.

Olof Sand, chief executive of Anticimex, said the deal makes Anticimex “an even more interesting partner for insurance companies and

25-year TFM deal for Cofely Cofely has started delivery of a 25-year total FM contract for the new Liverpool Central Library and Archive. The contract follows a major restoration and construction project by Liverpool City Council and Amber Infrastructure of the Grade II listed parts of the building, which date from 1860.

The new spaces provide a home for the Liverpool Record Office, increased archive capacity and a range of new facilities for library users. Cofely advised on the design and infrastructure, alternative energy strategies, energy usage and efficiencies.

Chester amalgamates FM Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council has appointed Norland to a framework contract for facilities management for more than 500 of the council’s buildings.

The contract includes schools, children’s centres, libraries, museums, offices, storage facilities and public conveniences.

Work includes mechanical and electrical maintenance, security, waste collection, asbestos consultancy and water hygiene management. The framework also includes capital projects.

Balfour to close offices Jeff Gravenhorst, ISS Group chief executive

other partners and clients in Anticimex markets”.

Anticimex was founded in 1934 in Sweden. Services include pest assurance, hygiene assurance, dehumidification and fire protection, as well as property inspections and energy surveys.

Balfour Beatty Group, parent of Balfour Beatty Workplace (BBW), said it will close three regional offices in its construction division: Dartford in Kent, Doncaster in South Yorkshire and Rochdale in Greater Manchester.

The group recently appointed Nick Pollard as chief executive.

He has had senior roles at Network Rail and was an adviser to the government.

FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 11

13/06/2013 15:21

FM BUSINESS IN FOCUS

THE ISSUE: The de-carbonisation of cities THE INTERVIEWEE: George Adams, the newly elected president of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

A question of zero-carbon Think big and, importantly, think global, says George Adams, the newly elected president of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).

“The biggest challenge facing building services engineers is the de-carbonisation of cities and I believe CIBSE should be thought-leaders in this.

“There’s been too much emphasis on individual buildings and occupiers and not enough on macro strategies,” says Adams, who took up the reins of office last month.

“The (de-carbonistion) process should be driven by industry, professional institutions, such as CIBSE and academia, as well as professions, such as facilities management, services designers and landscape designers.”

The trick, he says, is to get them all talking together to share knowledge and see where information and professional knowledge and skills overlap, he told FM World.

If this sounds like fightin’ talk, it’s because the gauntlet has been thrown down. It’s time to climb out of the trenches, he says. Get involved in wider discussions about things global, such as climate change, cities as heat islands, making urban areas more user-friendly after the workday

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is finished and the best use of alternative technologies.

Adams doesn’t for one minute think building services within an individual building aren’t important. Want he wants is more joined-up thinking that necessitates a lot more communication among all interested parties, FMs included.

Building information modelling (BIM) “has a place” in this de-carbonisation process, but Adams says it isn’t a panacea.

BIM is a major step forward for the design, construction and life cycle performance of all new buildings and a lot of large refurbishment projects. Including FM in the BIM process is essential for its success, he says.

But don’t lose sight of the fact that existing buildings use the vast majority of energy consumed. Data on how to improve their performance is central to the macro strategy of making cities a much better place in which to work and live, he says.

Also, it is early days for BIM: “We can’t wait for BIM to mature enough to solve a lot of today’s problems. It will take time to make BIM really user-friendly.”

In that respect and on the micro-scale, Adams says his message follows on from that of

his predecessor, David Fisk – get back to basics and shun the so-called ‘greenbling’ technology.

From roof-top wind generators, acres of solar panels and ground-source heat pumps, it is horses for courses when making building operate most efficiently. “You have to identify what alternative technology suits the particular building and, importantly, the natural environment in which it sits.”

Much more needs to be done to improve these technologies and make them adaptable, he says. Wind-source technologies remain hostage to the vagaries of the environment in which they sit. Heat reclamation and ground-source heat pumps appear to have much more potential and the technology is being improved through use in Finland, Germany and Scotland.

A pressurised environment The profession of building services design is, like many construction-related professions, under immense pressure, due to the continuing tough economic climate. Training programmes, especially apprenticeships, are one of the first things to suffer cuts, says Adams, who started out as an apprentice in

the building services division of Matthew Hall – now Spie Matthew Hall – before going to university.

His experience ranges from consulting work, designing and managing sites and turnkey project design and he is now engineering director at Spie Matthew Hall.

Future engineering Adams is passionate about increasing apprenticeships as a way for the industry to get young people involved in building services design and operation. A major draw for young people is the everincreasing environmental aspect of the engineering discipline, he says. Getting young people involved in services engineering on the back of environmental concerns will create what he calls a new consciousness in the engineering discipline.

He also believes that FM is increasingly a “fine art” because of the skills needed to not just manage the technical aspects of building, but manage the expectations of increasingly demanding occupants. Keeping people comfortable and happy, he says, is part of the FM’s challenge, especially if occupiers are in a BREEAM ‘Excellent’rated building.

“Data on how to improve building performance is central to the macro strategy of making cities a much better place in which to work and live” www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 15:05

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Selected forthcoming features in FM World: 4th July issue: Third Spaces

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15th August issue: Workplace interiors

Rats & Mice, Feral Pigeons, Cockroaches, Moths, Ants, Ticks & Fleas, Bed Bugs, Wasps, Ground Beetles, Fox & Squirrel trapping

5th September issue: Carbon Footprint 3rd October issue: Cleaning innovations

Preventative maintenance contracts, Intense baiting programs Proofing Work

We have something of interest for all advertisers.

For a full 2013 features list visit:

www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us or contact : norbert.camenzuli@redactive.co.uk / 020 7880 7551 Features are subject to change - please contact the editor for further details. FM World welcomes contributions and ideas for articles. Send a short synopsis to Martin Read at martin.read@fm-world.co.uk.

Please note that we reserve the right to edit copy submitted for publication in the magazine.

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24/05/2013 12:23

12/06/2013 15:18

FM OPINION THE DIARY COLUMN SIMON FRANCIS

“IT’S FAIR TO SAY THAT GLITTERING CAREERS HAVE BEEN FORGED ON THE SUCCESS OF PAST END-OF-YEAR SHOWS”

Local Authority

NHS Trust

FM Consultant

Simon Francis is senior facilities manager at the University of the Arts London

SHOW TIM E F OR FM

s students at the University of the Arts A prepare their end-of-year fashion shows, Simon Francis sees his FM team prove its worth in supporting and organising the events I find myself writing at perhaps our busiest time of the year. The end of the academic year is approaching and we are right in the middle of our show season.

One of the most stressful, yet rewarding, aspects of working for the university’s FM team is our crucial role in the success, or otherwise, of the end-of-year shows. This is felt particularly keenly by those planning, supporting and managing our private views and fashion shows.

The shows allow our hardworking students to not only display their work to their friends

and family, but also to the press, collectors and the art and fashion worlds in general.

It’s fair to say that glittering careers have been forged on the success of past end-of-year shows.

Yesterday alone we had the majority of London’s fashion press on site for a high-profile show.

With this in mind, it’s therefore essential that my team are firing on all cylinders and are fully focused on their key role of supporting the students during perhaps the most important period of their three (or more) years with us. In the age of Twitter, any performance failures at

such high-profile events can very quickly find themselves with a worldwide audience. A few years ago, I would never have thought that actively monitoring social networking sites would become such a crucial new tool for FM. This year, we seem to have more shows, events and private views across the university, as well as extended opening hours, compared to previous years, yet far less resources to go round. We’ve therefore had to be smarter with these resources, being less reliant on event security brought in to support us and working with our cleaning contractor to utilise our existing resource as support, rather than paying for event cleaning.

I’ve also had to ask more than ever of my local managers, having my management team at our King’s Cross site sacrifice their bank

holiday weekend to support not only opening our fine art show to the public, but the building of a large-scale fashion show set up in a central public space.

We have, however, learned some valuable lessons from this year’s events. For example, we ran one ticketed fashion show in a piece of public realm without restricting access for the public to the surrounding area. This proved extremely tough to manage and required all hands on deck to help our security team manage access for genuine ticket-holders. I found myself covering a security post at the busiest point. While I enjoyed this ‘back to floor’ session, we will have to rethink this for next year.

Overall, thought, we’ve been able to demonstrate some of the real value of FM to the university over this busy period.

BEST OF THE WEB Views and comments from across the web Is the FM industry learning from the outside world? (BIFM group) Mike Oppenheim: Personally, I am a great proponent of the crossfertilisation of skills from different industries, in order to enhance the end product/service. I have had great success both in my past outsourcing companies and now with my own consultancy on behalf of my clients (both outsourcers and in-house workplace managers or 14 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

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FMs) in introducing this approach to recruitment, training, placement and development from other industries into the FM industry.

Peter McCartney: My experience too is that the ‘un-obvious’ people can sometimes bring that elusive USP, especially in an industry where, in reality, people are your only unique asset – as most other things can be copied.

Graham Forrester:

In reality, most organisations seek to appoint people who have had exactly the same profile as the person they are replacing! Not only will they dismiss candidates from outside FM, but will reject candidates whose experience is in other sectors within FM. The result? The same insular ideas and ways of working are continuously recycled.

Rebecca Wood: In reality, many skills are transferable and

can be adopted to many roles with an openminded approach. @bendaft: #ThinkFM Sitting for six hours a day at a desk increases the risk of heart disease. Could desk treadmills be the answer? @FMCoach: Here’s a great job title... head of essentials facilities management... nice to see that FM is considered essential! #ThinkFM

@djfbus: #thinkFM can’t help but feel a bit like Henry Ford: can see what is needed, but all people want are faster stronger horses... @cathy_magenta: “Stay on air and don’t kill anyone”. FM mantra at the BBC, says Chris Kane at #thinkFM @djfbus: Here’s an idea: #ThinkFM could be #FMThink – shift from reactive to proactive. www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 15:04

You can follow us at twitter.com/FM_World facebook.com/FMWorldMagazine

BEST OF THE

FMWORLD BLOGS Niels Diffrient redefined what we know about ergonomics and office furniture Mark Eltringham, Office Insight Niels Diffrient, who passed away over the weekend at the age of 84, did more than any other designer to further the principles of ergonomic design as we now understand them. He is perhaps best known for his work over the past two decades on seating for Humanscale, including the ground-breaking and truly iconic Freedom chair. His interest in function and comfort, however, predated this by some time.

As far back as the 1950s, Diffrient was one of the first people to x-ray a human spine while its owner was sitting and moving in a chair. He discovered that people will generally adapt to whatever they are sitting on without adjusting the seat. For Diffrient, this suggested that the chair should be designed to adapt to the person.

He laid out these principles in a book published in three volumes in the 1970s and 1980s called Humanscale, which argued that ergonomic design should not rely on providing the fixed factor in the ergonomic relationship – the human – with a manual that allowed it to adapt to the variable factor – the product. It seems obvious, but it remains an idea that some designers are not always prepared to accept.

In a New York Times interview from 2003, he explains that his interest in this area dated to his time working with the designer Henry Dreyfuss for the Singer Sewing Machine Company. “Dreyfuss introduced me to ‘human-factors engineering’ in 1955 – it’s now called ergonomics,” he said. ‘We worked on making the machines fit people. I had worked in Eero Saarinen’s office on furniture. We didn’t know a lot about ergonomics then. We learned it, pardon the pun, by the seat of our pants.”

Read the article in full at tinyurl.com/nielsdiffrient

BYOD, freedom and dignity Neil Usher, workessence Sometimes – no, make that most of the time – we seem to welcome trends that exacerbate the colonisation of our life by work as if we were the Iceni throwing a barbecue for the Romans because they had promised us a game of football and a steam room afterwards. In other words, it helps to take the socket set to the bandwagon from time to time. No, make that most of the time.

The latest nagging trend is Bring Your Own Device, #BYOD. Somehow its introduction signifies a progressive organisation granting a tranche of unprecedented liberty. Just how many blog posts have been written proclaiming it? We are freed from the shackles of the budget laptop made from recycled egg cartons and the jamboree-bag BlackBerry, liberated from draconian and extinct policies and restrictions and whoo-hoo, we can see our work e-mails on our (overpriced, overhyped and still over-proprietary) iPads. Suddenly we can do our work, and will finally be recognised for the creative, free-spirited knowledge-wielding valuecreating…. apologies, I lost interest. That’s because its bunkum. The Romans didn’t come over for a game of footie. Or fussball, for that matter.

BYOD seems of most interest where the organisation buys the kit, where an allowance is given. But that means while it’s ‘your’ device it’s not really ‘yours’ at all.

It’s not BYOD, it’s just a user choice of kit – like the archaic practice of choosing a company car from a pre-selected list. You can proudly stroke the bonnet in front of your envious Allegro-driving friends, but it’s a thin-veiled vanity as you don’t own it.

BYOD is a matter of freedom and dignity. Retain them both.

Read the article in full at tinyurl.com/workessencebyod

www.fm-world.co.uk

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FIVE MINUTES WITH NAME: Duncan Waddell JOB TITLE: Chief executive, Global FM

I think Australians have overcome the leadership challenge in FM, by showing and developing the value proposition that FM offers in the wider organisation. There’s a higher degree of risk acceptance, a higher degree of change management skill and a higher level of communication.

Facilities management in Australia has learned from the slow start to the profession 20 odd years ago; it’s now engendering a more business-like approach to the whole field.

Australians are typically a bit non-compliant when it comes to the rules; we tend to be out there on our own and I think we’re used to challenging the status quo.

My experience of the UK is that the industry has been based around a traditional trade, contracting approach. There is a very rigid structure that has developed over time, whereas in Australia, while it is about trade delivery, it’s been driven more by a middle-management approach, in my opinion.

In Australia there’s very much a greater embracing of outsourcing, of skills that other people can bring to bear to deliver the role.

There’s been a much more open mindset so far as the facilities manager is concerned – and less of a fear about losing your job.

Australia is a long way from the rest of the developed nations involved in the practice of FM: we’ve often had to be more inventive, to push the boundaries. We’ve had to do it on our own and that’s meant breaking or changing the rules.

In the UK, it’s been more about the strategy and the structure of the way things have been done; it’s hard to break those things down. The converse is applied in Australia.

FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 15

13/06/2013 18:14

FM EVENT IDEACTION ELLIOTT CHASE

AUSSIE RULES

Elliott Chase reports from Ideaction, Australia’s annual FM industry conference

ALAMY

C

onventional wisdom says that we should expect to come away from a conference with up to three new ideas – apparently, that is the maximum the brain can process efficiently at any one time.

I’ve returned from Australia with just one idea, but it seems to me to be pretty significant.

Looking at FM across the world from our home base in the UK, we inevitably make generalisations about what’s going on elsewhere.

Like all such generalisations, there may be some factual basis for our statements. However, much of the ‘authority’ lies simply in the repetition.

So this is what we know: the UK is the most mature FM market in the world; the US is very big, but still rather wedded to the singleservice or out-tasking model; some of Europe and a bit of Asia/Pacific is making progress, largely in our footsteps; elsewhere, there are a few emerging markets – the Middle East, Brazil, India, China amongst them – that could eventually be quite big indeed.

But that assumption about the UK leading the world was looking smug and unreliable about 10

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minutes into my first conversation with an Australian FM. Australia’s Facility Management Association (FMAA) was set up as an independent body in 1989, pre-dating the BIFM by a couple of years. Today, its mission ‘to inspire, shape and influence the FM industry’ is pursued through its Melbourne headquarters and a series of regional branches that gives pretty good coverage across this vast country. Admittedly, its 2,000 or so membership looks a bit slim compared to the BIFM’s 13,000 – but although Australia is big, its population is considerably below the UK’s.

Familiar refrains A brief chat with FMAA members produces a striking revelation, at least for a first-time visitor. In many ways, the UK and Australian markets are identical – with Australian FMs shaking their heads over the same issues and concerns: why isn’t FM better appreciated as a key business discipline? How can we make this a career of choice?

What should we do about training and qualifications programmes?

Is our industry body delivering as we need it to?

FM is the same big, dynamic and often confusing sector in Australia that it is in the UK. The figures are different, of course, but there is no doubt about the maturity of the discipline. The total outsourced market is currently valued at about A$32 billion (£20 billion), made up of about 68 per cent single and bundled services and 32 per cent integrated services.

Interestingly, firms like DTZ and JLL have a big share of the market down under and integrated deals incorporating property services are common, as opposed

to being fairly rare in the UK. In Australia, therefore, everything (except the landmass) is scaled down in comparison to the UK. But there is a solid, well-developed market there, with a number of service areas tipped for future growth. There are also plenty of issues around which to build a conference.

Ideaction 2013, held 26-29 May, was the latest in an annual series that stretches back almost 10 years. Themes vary each year, as does the location – the FMAA has hit on a pattern designed www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 15:43

The opening plenary sessions went down well, particularly the first day’s entreaty from financial commentator Jonathan Pain, whose message was basically ‘forget all the negativity in the Western press and concentrate on growth and development in the Asia/Pac region’. That, Pain argued, is Australia’s future.

On top, down under

to accommodate its potential audience as much as possible: the location alternates between the major cities (Canberra in 2012 and Sydney next year) and comparatively more remote regional venues. This year it was Hobart in Tasmania, Australia’s smallest and southernmost state, which generally presents itself as a holiday destination.

The principles of this year’s programme could easily have been lifted from a UK event. Building design and management issues; energy; indoor environmental www.fm-world.co.uk

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quality; lighting; fire standards; compliance; risk management; BIM; the future of FM – it was all there. If there is any criticism to be levelled, it would be that – as many of those headings might suggest – much of the content was driven by product and service providers. In addition, the future trends theme (which happens to be my particular interest) was mainly talked around rather than looked into in any depth. What we lacked, in that case in particular, was a chairman to push the speakers towards conclusions.

FM QUICK FACTS

$32 billion The amount the total outsourced market is currently valued at

Certainly, the commercial climate down there is quite different to the UK: Australia has weathered the global financial crisis relatively well – in fact, in Pain’s view, the GFC (an acronym in common use in the region) has really been a WFC, raging across the Western world and offering other countries a clear indicator that the future may lie elsewhere.

There are two local concerns on the economic front: first, Australia is a comparatively expensive place to live and do business, and second, it’s due for a general election in September. But the economy has been motoring on and business has been good for FM service providers.

Overall, this event, too, must be declared a success. As one measure dear to the hearts of organisers, the great majority of the delegates (200 or so in this case) stayed on until the conference close.

What did I learn from the experience? Most importantly, we are wrong if we think that the ‘mature’ market of the UK needs to teach any basic lessons to the ‘emerging’ market in Australia.

On the contrary, in this case, many more of the problems, issues and opportunities we see in FM are unique to the sector rather than unique to the country.

That suggests one potentially important opportunity lies in sharing information between these two parties, who are closer to being on an equal footing than many may realise. FM FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 17

13/06/2013 15:44

FM FEATURE

FM WORLD TEAM

THINK AHEAD

PHOTOGRAPHY: RAFAEL BASTOS

Time to stop blaming other people for keeping facilities management down the pecking order within an organisation. Only one thing is holding back FMs from adding value to the business – and that’s FMs themselves.

‘The leadership challenge’ was this year’s theme for ThinkFM, and in this report we highlight just some of the presentations from the day

ThinkFM took place at London’s Royal College of Physicians for the second successive year

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www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 17:57

CONFERENCE REVIEW

WORKPLACE CHANGE? FM NEEDS TO ‘MAN UP’ With businesses demanding ever more from their resources in order to survive, the theme of Phil Ratcliffe’s presentation was that FMs were in a great position to illustrate their worth.

Despite the continuing rise in third and even fourth spaces, there would always be a role in organisations for FM, said Ratcliffe. The trick, according to the managing director of consultancy Procore, was for FMs to establish where the function fitted into the ‘machinery of business’. What is the value generated by the FM activity? Get that right and we’ll be winning – otherwise we’ll only ever be seen as an overhead.

And language matters. Is the business language and terminology we use a turn-off? Cost per square metre, cost per workstation, cost

per person, ratios… do senior personnel switch off when they hear this talk? Are we talking in the right language?

Some of this problem is our fault, said Ratcliffe. We’ve allowed the many elements of facilities service provision to be broken down into component parts – making it easier for them to be treated as commodity items.

“Imagine if companies were asked to provide similarly granular analysis of their other professional services – how much he’s paid, how much goes to pension, his laptop, and so on. In FM we’ve left ourselves exposed because we’ve done that.” In the Netherlands, he says, “they can’t believe the way in which we’ve exposed the facilities provision over here”.

FM is being pushed too far down

the commodity route, said Ratcliffe.

FMs need to step up and tell their organisations that they won’t be treated like this. Citing Jim Lawless’ keynote speech, Ratcliffe said that FM needed to ‘man up’ in order to change things.

“Have trust in yourself, your colleagues and your service partners. Things fail – deal with it and learn. Be internally agile,

watch, listen, learn and act.

Ratcliffe spoke of a major pharma business telling him it was looking to be ‘asset light’ – an indicator that business is ‘switched on’ to the message the FM can send.

“If we act like we currently do we’ll get treated the same way. Act differently and we’ll get treated differently. This is a call to arms.”

THE BOARD IS HUMAN, TOO

THE REALITY BEHIND ‘PARTNERSHIPS’

Knocking on the boardroom door is only the first step toward success. The second step is convincing them you have the solution to the company’s problem, said Debra Ward, managing director, Mitie Client Services.

Too often we forget that the board is made of people, said Ward in her ThinkFM presentation ‘Engaging the Board’. The board is, in reality, only another meeting of people – just highly paid people, said Ward. You should prepare for a board meeting just like any other meeting.

“Boards are made up of human beings. They don’t have all the answers or information, so they need people like you,” she said.

“You must understand they need to make the business run better.”

Keep a presentation simple, but well structured, she advised.

“Don’t be offended if board members haven’t read your draft proposal beforehand, but be prepared for summarising it succinctly and also have spare copies to slide in front of you.

Direct them to salient points to bolster your presentation and back up your argument.”

No matter what cynics say, true business partnerships exist, although they won’t – and don’t – last forever.

That’s because partnerships are about people operating in changing conditions, said David Howorth in his presentation, ‘The future of client-supplier relationships’.

Partnerships require much effort, including commitment, honesty and integrity. And, importantly, they need ground rules that are adhered to, said Howorth in his ThinkFM presentation.

Sometimes, partnerships get hung up on the technical aspects of request for proposals or request for information and forget about what is really being sought. They are basically looking to see if the potential exists for a future relationship.

“They’re an overview to initiate a partnership,” he said.

Companies that operate in a partnership shouldn’t be disheartened if, as is likely, a business-as-usual approach to the relationship sets in as the months or years go by. It’s at this point that all parties have to work extra hard at communication to re-awaken the drive towards the partnership’s shared goals.

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FM FEATURE

FM WORLD TEAM

BIM AND THE THREE DIMENSIONAL VIEW

Building information modelling, (BIM) is all the rage, but you need to be wary of it too, claimed Martin Ward.

Against a backdrop of cleverly produced Monty Python-esque slides, Ward drove home his message that “BIM is not the Holy Grail” when it comes to understanding your new building’s design and performance.

BIM is an evolving tool and is here to stay. Remember, he told delegates, BIM is not just for Christmas, but for long-term gain.

But Ward, founder and managing director of iSite – the technology solutions division of property support services business Styles & Wood – is far from a BIM-basher.

“Let’s face it,” he told FM World after his presentation, “why look at the design of your new building in two dimensions when you can see it in three.”

BIM is still in development, but nonetheless it is extremely 20 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

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useful in an “assetology” sense, said Ward. It successfully uses information from disparate sources in a business and from among suppliers for analysis, to make smarter decisions for the design and procurement of new buildings.

Ward said that BIM is exciting because it is high-technology in action. But there is still some confusion among FMs about where they sit in the BIM process.

As a holder of some of the information that can go into a BIM project, FMs are an essential contributor. But there are many ways of using the data that FMs hold, not just for BIM purposes, he said. What BIM is doing remarkably well is getting people – FMs in particular – to see data as a “living asset”.

“As yet, there aren’t that many FMs and organisations that look at data as an asset, as something to be added to, to be protected. In this respect, BIM is a catalyst for changing people’s mindset about data, its collection and its use,” said Ward.

Also, the quest for greater and greater energy efficiency in building is creating a larger data pool – the issue is what can be done with it. Many organisations will collect data and are good at it, but the issue then becomes what to do with it all.

There are many programmes and analytical tools out there, he said, that can build up pictures of a building, how it functions and, most importantly, how it will operate in the future. All this can be translated into better building design if information is shared and that is where BIM acts as a very useful tool.

THE FM CHALLENGE – BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Left: iSite’s Martin Ward invoked Monty Python for his presentation while Rob Harris, above, discussed FM’s need to cultivate relationships

Today’s work environment is about choice – where, how and when to work.

The strategic challenge for FM is to provide the business with a choice because work is no longer nine-tofive, said Rob Harris, principal at Ramidus Consulting. The workplace is not a static environment, but one that is always evolving depending on which employees work there. “FM is there to facilitate this change. It is rarely enough for FM to simply reduce the cost base of the organisation.”

Change revolves around using the so-called internet-based and mobile phone ‘freedom’ technologies that allow employees to work, not only out of the office, but out of their physical silos within the office. Employees are working much more collaboratively within their own organisations, not so much in their old silos.

To do this, FMs need to audit their department for skills and identify any gaps, said Harris. There should be coordination with the IT department about what can and can’t be done, and to set any goals. FM should embed a service culture into its staff: a desire to want to help its internal clients do their jobs better.

The FM strategy is to build a relationship with its internal clients to boost productivity, said Harris.

It all comes down to what he called “business infrastructure management” for hard FM services and “occupancy management” for soft services.

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13/06/2013 17:58

CONFERENCE REVIEW

More than 300 delegates came to hear the latest in FM thinking

LEADERSHIP: SPARKLING MOMENTS AND SELF-BELIEF Leaders should focus on a quick, effective and positive approach in order to increase performance and productivity.

In an entertaining hub session, Jenny Garrett, leadership coach and founder of Reflexion Associates, commandeered delegates to help staff feel resourceful enough to take action.

Garrett asked members of the audience to turn to the person sat next to them – more than likely a stranger – and compliment them on a recent “sparkling moment” at work. Delegates were only allowed to utter the words “thank you” in response – nullifying the British instinct to be self-deprecating.

CONSISTENCY NEEDED IN FM STANDARDS Occupiers and service providers need to get more involved setting standards for facilities management so the profession isn’t bogged down with duplicated and unworkable guidance.

Don’t leave the setting of standards for FM to academics and bureaucrats alone, said Dave Wilson, managing director of the

Effective Facilities consultancy.

What’s needed are standards on specificiations, contracts and contract management, pricing models, performance measurement and procurement techniques.

The importance of ensuring comprehensible standards in these areas and others can’t be over-estimated, he said in his presentation.

“Having a usable set of standards is critical to being on the pathway to professionalism,” he said. “We have to

“If we ever have time to reflect, we tend to focus on the negatives,” said Garrett.

The feedback at the end of the session seemed to demonstrate a new-found self-belief among the delegates.

Garrett continued by suggesting we should be more open to ideas from elsewhere in the business. “Assumptions are made about people’s capability, knowledge and skills,” she said.

Garrett concluded by suggesting leaders can often close their mind to possible options, quoting Japanese monk and teacher Shunryu Suzuki: “In the mind of the expert, there are few possibilities. In the mind of the beginner there are many.” make sure there’s FM feedback.”

Wilson admitted to being initially a standards sceptic. Standards would put FMs into a straightjacket when it came to choosing their working methods and processes. But he gradually come around to the idea that they have much-needed purposes, including creating a process for benchmarking FM performance.

But there already is too much duplication and overlap, said Wilson, who has sat on BSI standards committees.

IDENTIFYING YOUR ORGANISATION’S ‘HIDDEN WASTE’ FMs were strongly advised that effective savings could be made from becoming more innovative and resource efficient.

Joshua Sharman and Clare Ollerenshaw of efficiency and waste reduction consultancy Wrap noted that better asset management, with a view to a move from owned assets to managed assets, could reap significant financial and environmental rewards.

Businesses may have an effective waste management policy in place, but Sharman and Ollerenshaw described “hidden waste” – assets which the FM sector under-utilise – as an opportunity for further saving. www.fm-world.co.uk

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“Do you need to buy these things outright, or can you lease them instead?” delegates were asked.

The delegates were presented with a number of opportunities available to maximise the use of their organisations’ resources.

Electronic equipment was noted as a “high-impact area” for saving, with many disposed-of laptops and machinery still holding a higher value than its refurbishment cost.

Other “resource-hungry” products highlighted include food waste, textiles, maintenance products and furniture.

The speakers explained that the UK reuses only 14 per cent of disposed office desks and chairs

Waste not, want not: Joshua Sharman and Clare Ollerenshaw advised on waste management

each year, spending an estimated £20 million annually on landfilling these items. They noted the opportunity cost of ignoring the value of used products for profits was a potential £2.4 billion.

The presentation continued with

an urge to exploit any markets for recycling materials, as a number of firms have been set up to purchase unwanted goods from larger corporations, which might be going through a refurbishment process, for example.

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FM FEATURE

FM WORLD TEAM

SOCIAL MEDIA: AN EFFECTIVE FM TOOL? Your company is allowing use of social media, believing it to be an effective corporate tool for advancing the business. But is it?

Does it add value, measurable or otherwise, to an organisation?

Or is it the reverse, asked Cathy Hayward, director of FM sector communications agency Magenta Associates. Is it a time bomb about to explode and wreck the hard-won corporate brand image?

The major problem for the vast majority of organisations is that there is no strategy for its use, much less any idea how it enhances any existing corporate strategy, said Hayward, a former editor of FM World.

It’s basically word of mouth on steroids, Hayward told delegates in her session looking at social media as an effective FM tool.

Concentrating on Twitter in particular, Hayward spoke about key time indicators.

As far as getting a message across, studies have found most tweets are looked at around 4pm daily. Other tweets will focus on how innovatively your clients use your products or services.

Tweets with videos and pictures will get re-tweeted more often than tweets with only text.

Many tweets are used as a blunt marketing tool, comprising nothing more than corporate messages extolling the business’s services or products. How effective that is for increasing sales or revenue remains open to question, she said.

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is less important than who the followers are – a question of quality over quantity.

Too often, social media strategies are set up in an afternoon by someone in the company who likes using the technologies and probably has little thought for how it backs up an organisation’s strategy, whether that be financial, environmental and so on.

As a result, social media channels can be left to stagnate when the majority of employees get tired of it. It is left to the enthusiasts to maintain them, in all likelihood in a haphazard fashion with no corporate direction.

HOW FM CAN INFLUENCE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES

Organisations create strategies that eventually fall apart because few people know about them, talk about them or act upon them in a co-ordinated way, said Alan Williams, director of ServiceBrand Global, in a presentation about FM adding value to organisations.

For example, the marketing

department of a major bank announced that it would have a slogan saying its employees are fitter. HR followed up the branding strategy by getting on board with the government’s bike-to-work scheme through which employees get discounts on bicycles.

But no one told FM. There was actually no place for employees to park their cycles, said Williams.

Co-presenter psychologist Alison Whybrow said that social media has really turned up the volume on branding issues. Now, more than ever, your organisation is what people on the internet say you are. And there is little control over their message.

For example, they cited the United Breaks Guitars song by Dave Carroll, a passenger who tried for several months to communicate with United Airlines which he said had broken his guitar in transit.

His song went virile, much to the chagrin of the airline.

In another example, a company spent a great deal of time and money publicising statements on its environmental credentials.

Yet in the executive parking lot there stood dozens of gasguzzling four-by-four vehicles – another example of where FM could have influenced decisions about what cars to buy in order to keep the company’s brand image from faltering.

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 17:59

CONFERENCE REVIEW

OCCUPIER DATA DOESN’T LIE - SO USE IT

Above: David Sharp of Workplace Law Top: Tim Oldman Left: This year, delegates used iPads to navigate the programme

THE INTELLIGENT FM CLIENT An intelligent client will have an FM who “gets” the business of his organisation, including what values his organisation is to its clients.

The FM will understand his or her organisation’s core business and its strategic perspectives, said David Sharp, managing director of Workplace Law. The FM will also have a lot of commercial acumen and a good grounding of contract management, said Sharp and his co-presenter Bev Burgess, director of BurgessB2B, in } their session on ‘The intelligent FM client’.

But many senior level FM courses fail to have much in the way of a business element, especially around the organisational value one company can bring to another. www.fm-world.co.uk

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A successful FM such as this will have – or should have – a leading role in procuring services providers for their organisation.

The intelligent FM client will also see a growing link between an employee’s health and the employee’s productivity, they said.

But the intelligent FM client will need good communication skills, within and without their organisation, said Burgess.

“I’m sorry to have to say this, but you as a profession are really bad at communication,” said Burgess.

The good FMs can move with ease in and out of business strategic discussions. Other FMs may be tops in meeting key performance indicators and can’t make the switch.

Understandably for someone running the Leesman Index – an organisation that measures how well office environments support employees in their work – Tim Oldman’s message was that data doesn’t lie and that it can be used to FMs’ advantage. In fact, FMs could command the relationships with peers, occupiers and customers through data.

And one aspect they should certainly be aware of is that, according to the 30,000 people who have completed one of Leesman’s surveys, “just 50 per cent of those we’ve asked say the design of their workplace enables them to work productively.”

This is key, particularly when the total cost of office occupancy in London priced at £8,250 alone on per-desk provision – the equivalent of buying a new Volkswagen Up hatchback for each worker, then simply throwing the cars away at year end.

“FMs often ask,’what would happen if we didn’t turn up one day?’,” said Oldman, “but that’s the wrong focus. You’ve got to understand that it’s the activities of your business that generate the revenue.

Your job is to understand the toolkits required at individual worker level.”

In a bid to demonstrate

the power of data, Oldman pointed to two high-scoring Leesman indicators. When asked what they needed to perform effectively, it was not a surprise to see adequate provision of IT at 93 per cent.

Perhaps more of a surprise was that provision of tea and coffee making facilities rated an extremely close 91.6 per cent. So – do you offer sufficient quantities of quality biscuits?

“You’ve got to understand what people are doing in order to be able to support it,” said Oldman.

“Understand the cost of occupancy per desk, per person or per square metre.

Understand the density and utilisation of your spaces.

Then consider which aspects are impacting most on the productivity of those occupiers. Finally, take all of that into the boardroom. I think it’s your responsibility and your opportunity to take control of your data.”

THINKFM SPONSORS

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13/06/2013 17:59

FM FEATURE

FM WORLD TEAM

The Royal College of Physicians in London played host to Think FM 2013

PICTURE THIS

One day, 26 sessions, more than 350 delegates... These images capture something of the energy and insight that was ThinkFM 2013

Some sessions were standing room only (left)

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13/06/2013 18:01

The BBC’s Chris Kane gave the event’s closing keynote address (left)

Jim Lawless and a chair got this year’s conference off to a rousing start (below)

Jenny Garrett of Reflexion spoke on the topic of ‘leader as coach’ (left)

This year, iPads were given out to all ThinkFM delegates (bottom left)

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A panel session discussed BIM and Government Soft Landings (below)

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13/06/2013 18:02

FM FEATURE ACADEMY SCHOOLS LUCY BLACK

ALAMY

A

cademies are publiclyfunded independent schools, run outside local authority control.

The original scheme, set up by the Labour government, enabled failing schools to be taken over by sponsors; the coalition government introduced legislation in 2010 that allowed schools that performed well to become academies. Now, around two-thirds of the 2,924 academies open as of May 2013 are not sponsored. More academies are in the pipeline, backed by the strong support of government.

All land and property is transferred to the academy from the local authority on a 125-year lease, although the assets continue to be publicly owned and cannot be disposed of without government permission. Non-academy schools are responsible for the day-to-day upkeep of their site and buildings, with the local authority retaining ultimate responsibility for ensuring accommodation remains sufficient and suitable.

An academy has greater responsibilities and is liable for the property and health and safety as well as procurement of facilities services. Budgetary control enables them to choose where to buy services such as maintenance and repairs, health and safety support, capital projects, cleaning, catering, etc, with no obligation to use local authority services.

The downside is that academies are not protected by the local authorities, in terms of ensuring they are statutorily compliant.

This direct control of budgets may allow academies to improve

TOP OF THE CLASS Lucy Black finds that academy schools across the country have been given more responsibility to specify works and maintenance

The Oasis Academy Coulsden, Surrey (right)

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FM FEATURE ACADEMY SCHOOLS LUCY BLACK

ALAMY

The Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, south London, designed by Zaha Hadid

the quality of their FM services through effective service level agreements and potentially to reduce costs through tendering.

Some academies are coming together into multi-academy trusts to enable resources to be shared and to bundle services for tendering.

Academies receive funding through the Education Funding Agency (EFA) that manages the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund (ACMF). This provides funding for tackling building condition issues and for supporting overcrowded academies to expand. The EFA makes capital grants, monitors project delivery and advises on building design, construction costs and the procurement of new accommodation for academies. To support this work, a national property condition survey (Property Data Survey Programme, PDSP) is being carried out. Due to be completed

this summer, the survey helps help ensure capital funding is targeted towards the schools’ most urgent needs.

The ACMF has risen from £85 million in 2011/12 to £276 million in 2012/13 and £392 million for 2013/14 – although the number of eligible schools has also increased considerably. In the first round of 2013/14 allocations, bids were received for 2,158 projects from 1,364 academies with a total cost of £1,128 million, against a budget of £325 million. From this, 1,021 projects in 789 academies have been funded, leaving projects worth £803 million unfunded.

Academies are starting to prepare bids now for the next rounds, expected to be launched in December. There is uncertainty about what may replace the ACMF as a result of the PDSP informing 2014/15 school capital budgets.

The EFA assesses projects against a set of criteria:

CASE STUDY

CHULMLEIGH ACADEMY – A LESSON IN DELIVERING A BUILDING PROJECT hulmleigh College is a secondary academy located in rural north Devon, serving a catchment of over 200 square miles. When Mike Johnson, the executive headteacher, joined in 2004, the school was operating in seriously sub-standard buildings – temporary classrooms were cold and damp, contained asbestos, suffered from frequent leaks and were not large enough for class sizes. As part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, a lengthy feasibility study took place. This resulted in a decision that it was too expensive to construct replacement buildings

C

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and in 2009 the county council replaced some of the old temporary buildings with new temporary classrooms.

Chulmleigh College converted to an academy in 2011 and has used the Academy Capital Maintenance Fund to deliver a new building at a fraction of the standard costs. It is a traditional building using block

and render to aid acoustics and insulation. The design is simple, and makes good use of the space available to provide classrooms that are 25 per cent larger than government standards. Both humanities classrooms and science laboratories have large windows that maximise daylight. Air source heat pumps combined with high insulation levels should mean that the building will not need to be heated, and the combined mechanical and passive ventilation system will provide the air quality that good teaching spaces require. Water use is being minimised by low-flush toilets

and infrared sensors on tap units.

The money has been focused on creating as much teaching space as possible, without architectural conceits. This makes it the kind of well-functioning building that we should want, but it is not the sort of building that currently wins awards.

The architect has worked closely with the school team to deliver what they need. Terry Pullen, Chulmleigh’s estates manager says, “This is a building that we have helped to designed. It is not a building just being handed over to us.” How many facilities managers have wished that they could say this with a new building?

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ACADEMY SCHOOLS

Outputs (50 per cent weighting) – either the urgency/importance of the building condition issues or the number of new places being added at successful schools and/or the urgency of dealing with overcrowding. The EFA looks for independent reports on condition, fire safety, etc with supporting evidence and option appraisals that demonstrate how the proposal has been developed ● Cost and value for money (30 per cent weighting) – clarity about the outputs (sizes of buildings, exactly what is to be replaced, etc), detailed cost plans with at least one quotation, revenue savings and any other sources of project funding ● Deliverability (20 per cent) within the 12 month deadline – detailed project plans, particularly when planning permission is needed or building works are to take place during term time, phasing and the impact on the school, ●

Mike Johnson stresses how critical it was to have the right team in place. Tim Capps from Oxenham Consult has been at the centre of project delivery, bringing together the professional design and building team and working closely with Terry Pullen. Johnson sees the estates manager role as essential, as it provided the focus and expertise for the school and enabled him to continue with his own role as headteacher. Pullen’s determination to deliver better buildings is evident,

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information on the appointment of consultants/advisors and their experience.

The requirement for works to be completed within 12 months of funding being awarded means that larger projects need to be developed to a stage ready for tendering, with planning

permissions in place. Chulmleigh academy, (see case study), was able to do this by finding money within existing budgets and by the project manager sharing the cost risk with them. This could, however, be a barrier to other academies unable to make similar arrangements.

Jeremy Pilgrim from School Property Matters identifies the current big issue for academies as making sure that they have their data prepared and ready for the next round of funding. An advantage of being an academy is that where they previously relied on third party information about their school, via the local authority, they now own it themselves and can use it to inform investment decisions.

There is a key role for building and facilities professionals in supporting academies with their increased responsibilities for their buildings. More are likely to appoint facilities managers to lead

on this and much of the success of the academy in the case study can be attributed to the role of the estates manager. Local authorities are keen to supply services and are reviewing the way they work to try to improve customer focus, service level agreements and costs.

At present ,they continue to deliver a significant amount of work to the sector.

The private sector, which works with schools through local authority contracts, is now able to work directly with academies and some, such as Mouchel, see this as an important growth area.

The question is whether the changes can help academies have better, properly maintained buildings more cost-effectively and if these gains can be translated into the school sector as a whole to avoid a gulf developing between the learning environments of children in maintained and academy schools. FM

as he has worked tirelessly to keep the old buildings going and believes that the pupils deserve something much better.

The design was developed to a stage where outline planning permission was obtained before the submission to the ACMF was made. This financial investment was made possible by architect/project manager Oxenham, sharing the risk 50:50 with the academy, and by the governing body and trustees deciding that this was a good use of academy funds. With buildings that were so energy inefficient that they are unclassified on the DEC and the requirement for constant structural repairs, investing in creating new buildings was clearly a good idea.

Johnson supports the greater control over the building process

allowed for by the school’s academy status. He believes that while the risks are being taken by the school and not the local authority, it also means that they can control the design to deliver what is needed.

Staff had spent many months considering new buildings as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, which ultimately had no end result and left people feeling disheartened.

Since the new approach involved a time-limited consultation period, the building was designed in three to four weeks (it was also able to use some of the BSF work).

Despite classrooms being larger, Chulmleigh has achieved a building at considerably lower cost: the new 2,016 square metres (21,700 square feet) layout cost £1.8 million.

Local authority buildings cost as much as £3,000 per square metre, and the ACMF expects an average of £1,500 square metres. This building has been delivered for less than £1,000 per square metre.

The success that Chulmleigh has had in delivering this building may have contributed to it having just been awarded funding from the 2013/14 round of ACMF to move on to Phase 2.

This will see the removal of all the remaining temporary buildings on site, and there is every expectation that it will be as successful as Phase 1.

Chulmleigh’s approach to its building project has yielded many useful lessons that can be applied across different sectors.

FM QUICK FACTS

£85m

Value of the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund (ACMF) in 2011/12

£276m £392m 2012/13

2013/14

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13/06/2013 13:54

FM FEATURE WEB APPS GARY WATKINS

BEN THE ILLUSTRATOR

F

M software is usually thought of as an asset management tool.

Increasingly, though, it’s being used to manage space. The traditional approach would have seen a facilities manager or office administrator requesting changes to a layout.

This would be passed to the moves team that would generate drawings. Whether the process was manual or used technology, it was usually centralised.

Two trends are changing this approach. First, workplaces have become more dynamic, responding to organisational change. Rigid, functional departments have given way to customer-facing teams. Projects come and go, resources ebb and flow.

For FMs, this can mean an almost constant re-planning and allocation of office space.

The churn rate (the percentage of staff moved during a year) for a typical office can be as high as 40 or 50 per cent.

The complexity of office churn can be reduced by adopting universal space planning standards, standardising on furniture layouts (so that you move people not desks) and adopting IT systems that allow people to log in to phones and servers from any location. However, the cost is still significant, and FMs are increasingly using software to manage both internal moves and relocations.

The second trend is the rise of web applications, replacing or complementing conventional, dedicated software. According to Gary Watkins, managing director of Service Works Group, the significance of web apps is the change of user and the change in roles: “The graphical, familiar web interface opens up space planning and move management to a much

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GET A MOVE ON

Web-based applications are making office moves easier for FMs. Gary Watkins explains how to get the best out of them

wider audience,” he says.

Now an administrator (or even an end user) can look at different space options and scenarios. If the changes are straightforward, such as moving people on a floor, they can often be authorised without the involvement of specialists.

“Web applications put power into the hands of those who use and need the data,” says Watkins.

For example, conventional systems are not always kept up

to date with the reality on the ground because there are too many steps involved to correct the data. Show someone a floorplan in a web browser and it’s easy to correct errors there and then.

A system, such as QFM Space from Service Works Group, allows the user to view both a database and drawings via the web interface. It’s integrated with AutoCAD so that drawings can be published straight into the

system, but users don’t need AutoCAD to run it.

Moving people or assets is a drag-and-drop operation, much like changing your seat on an airline reservation system, or booking for the theatre.

For those worried that this puts too much power in the hands of people who may not understand the bigger picture, there are rules that can be set.

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WEB APPS

carry out, prevent them moving someone to another floor or into a particular type of office, for example.

The rules can be quite sophisticated, to address health and safety requirements, compliance and technology issues. Users of QFM Space, for example, can identify particular individuals who may need to be in certain locations, such as a head of department, a fire marshall or even an ‘approved person’, performing a controlled function under the Financial Services and Markets Act. The system will then warn if the user tries to move that person off a particular floor, out of an area, or separate them from a piece of specialised kit or infrastructure, such as back-up power.

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individual to plan moves or to update occupancy, but a request to execute a move will usually require validation. All related communications are automated, with the system dispatching all the relevant emails at each stage of the process.

Watkins says it’s not just office moves, but also strategic accommodation planning that can benefit from FM web applications: “Organisations need to understand their use of and requirements for space before acquisition or disposal.

They need to be able to answer the question, ‘Do I really need 200,000 square feet?’.” According to Watkins, many astute companies are looking at their space-use on a monthly basis, “ensuring they’re not wasting it or, conversely, have insufficient

“Moving people or assets is a drag-and-drop operation, much like changing your seat on an airline reservation system, or booking for the theatre”

space for future plans. In some organisations, there’s virtually an internal market for space.”

An application such as QFM Space can be used to assess the suitability of a new building or the feasibility of a particular move. The application can produce blocking and stacking plans to help determine the most efficient ‘fit’ for teams or departments with the space available. Users can also carry out scenario planning across different floors and buildings, as well as run audits to see how much space is available.

All these activities are made easier and more accessible because they run on familiar web-browser technology.

When it comes to the actual move, systems such as QFM Space can produce all the documentation necessary for a successful and efficient operation, whether it’s shifting a team to another floor or a major relocation. This will include spreadsheets to manage the move, drawings showing ‘from’ and ‘to’ locations and labels for crates and desks.

The system can also host post-move surveys.

The use of web applications to manage space and moves is likely to accelerate as organisations opt for more responsive workplaces.

According to SWG’s Watkins, various forms of flexible working are now being considered by organisations that previously wouldn’t have considered it. These include a variation on hot-desking, with say 20 people allocated to 10 desks in a ‘work zone’.

Making the use of space and the cost of moving people and assets around it more transparent can significantly demonstrate the excellent value that facilities managers bring to organisations. FM FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 31

13/06/2013 13:54

FM FEATURE FRONT OF HOUSE HANNA BARRETT

T

he value of the service desk is often overlooked.

If managed and executed well, however, it can act as the hub of an organisation or building. The service desk, or ‘helpdesk’, is the focal point and driver for an efficient and seamlessly managed operation.

If it works well, it should create a well-connected, responsive, safe and friendly environment for both employees and/or customers and clients.

Much like other front-of-house services, the service desk’s role is to deliver effective, engaging and structured support. This is to ensure a consistent brand image is projected, trust is gained by all users of the building, they are satisfied with the end result and, importantly, clients receive value for money.

Opening thoughts As the communications centre, it’s crucial that this facility is operated by a team of individuals who are customer-friendly, approachable, resourceful, reliable and work in a structured manner. It’s all about that first impression; whether the user is a visiting customer or an employee, the quality of the desk must be high, in order for it to work effectively.

The qualities of service desk staff should be no different than those positioned at the front reception desk. They should have a breadth of facilities management experience in order to deal with the variety of in-coming issues and questions, have knowledge of the sites and be able to build relationships quickly in order to gain trust and be valued. It’s the personal touches and the nurturing of key individuals within the organisation that will make the service desk a success.

A connected culture Connecting with other services and departments is at the core of 32 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

32-33 Front of House.sr.indd 30

FIIMPRESSIRSTONS Portico’s Hanna Barrett offers her thoughts on the importance and value of the service desk and its central role within the service and facilities offering

the service desk operation and it’s vital that close relationships are formed to develop a threepronged communication line, from the hub to the relevant party required to respond to the request and between the hub and the end user. Staff manning the desk should have the opportunity for written, verbal and face-toface communication with other departments and go out of their way to form strong relationships with those they are likely to be in regular contact with and require information from.

Spending time with these people to understand the way in which they work and sharing best practice will make for a smooth process that keep all parties happy and working efficiently.

A reliable hub is really important to the people that it serves, so from implementation the service desk should portray an open culture. Connectivity with the rest of the frontwww.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 13:58

FRONT OF HOUSE

dealt with as necessary.

visiting customers to the building, it means a consistent and seamless customer service is provided and for employees based there, it means they feel valued, cared for and safe in their working environment. This consistency in brand image will help in developing a good reputation for efficient and sincere customer service, driving repeat custom and motivated staff.

Service satisfaction

Look to the experts

The service desk must own the incoming enquiry and follow it through from start to finish, ensuring the customer is satisfied with the resolution. Taking ownership means that the end user is well informed, which usually results in higher customer satisfaction levels.

It also means the service desk is tracking the problem, enabling the user to continue their daily work with minimal or no disruption, meaning increased productivity. Importantly, the connectivity that this hub has created ensures the enquiry is being directed to the appropriate internal department or external service to be resolved, resulting in better cost control.

The market can still be considered young as, traditionally, front of house hospitality tended to be undertaken in-house. But a wide range of industries – including hotel and leisure, residential, banking, professional services and managing agents – have taken the step of engaging with a specialist company for their service desk facility. Not least because they can create a team of highly motivated and well-trained individuals, whose sole purpose and passion is in giving great service.

The benefits to any business considering outsourcing their service desk function are as follows: A specialist provider can either work with a company’s existing staff, providing comprehensive training for them as they embrace new ways of working, or put their own teams into an organisation, providing them with the knowledge and expertise to deliver a seamless service.

Looking to the future, I believe the front-of-house industry will evolve to offer more and more bespoke solutions, such as the service desk, responding to the growing trend of personalisation, as seen increasingly in corporate marketing and communications.

This personal service is simply an extension of the principle of high quality customer service – something that all organisations, whether it be to a lesser or greater extent, should aspire to. FM

“A reliable hub is really important to the people that it serves, so from implementation the service desk should portray an open culture”

Hanna Barrett (left), client services, operations and development manager at Portico

of-house services, facilities managers, IT department, maintenance teams, PAs and operations managers is mutually beneficial and will be reflected in the delivery and result of each service desk request.

This holistic approach will go a long way in helping to manage a company’s culture and thus promoting workforce satisfaction.

This service desk function ultimately offers a one-stopshop and single point of contact to the customer or employee.

If positioned front of house instead of in the back office, it provides the opportunity for that important face-to-face interaction, instilling confidence in the end user. Having a dedicated help or service desk that works alongside other front of house services means you can respond efficiently and pro-actively to the needs of the service user, providing them with a personal and www.fm-world.co.uk

32-33 Front of House.sr.indd 31

knowledgeable service. This helps to, literally, put a face to the name ‘helpdesk’.

Many hands...

As the hub of the building or organisation, the service desk absorbs issues and requests, taking them away from other members of staff and resolving them with minimal disruption to others and the business’s wider activities.

The hub is where things happen. The customer or employee should be able to leave their problem or enquiry with the service desk, be advised of the progress and expect to receive a prompt report when the issue has been resolved.

Communication is a vital part of the process and needs to be implemented throughout the life cycle of each works order, complaint or question, in order for the service desk user to trust everything is in hand and being

A beneficial hub In 2004, when the Portico brand was launched, the front-ofhouse industry was very much in its infancy. Clients tended to be based in London, but in recent years, interest is increasing from businesses, both within and outside of the capital, as more senior teams have realised the importance of creating the right first impression, and delivering excellent customer service.

And that is why it works in a client’s favour to implement the service desk front of house alongside other welcome and farewell hospitality services.

A well-managed service desk is great for brand reputation. For

FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 33

13/06/2013 13:58

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11/06/2013 16:21

FM MONITOR TREVOR HORSLEY

LEGAL UPDATE

Trevor Horsley Strata Tiles

IN SU L ATION

revor Horsley breaks down the requirements of the current building regulations to provide sound, heat and insulation in walls and floors

T

The Building Regulations 2010 and the accompanying Approved Documents ensure that building work carried out in England and Wales meets set standards on issues such as fire safety, ventilation and conservation of fuel and power.

There are currently 14 sections.

Flooring issues, namely around noise and heat insulation requirements, are addressed mainly in Part E, ‘Resistance to the passage of sound’ and in Part L ‘Conservation of fuel and power’.

Noise insulations Part E sets out the rules around acoustic insulation requirements in dwelling-houses, flats, rooms for residential use and schools, and covers not only floors, but also external and internal walls.

The rules are an attempt to address an increasing number of complaints about noise, partly due to a higher density of housing per hectare. The adverse impact on health and well-being from nuisance neighbours and their barking dogs, loud music, raised voices, banging doors and DIY activities has been well documented.

Even the sound of a neighbour’s footsteps overhead, caused by inadequate flooring insulation, can impact the quality of life of those down below. Earlier this year, a couple took legal action claiming their lives had been made hell by the clicking of heels on the hard www.fm-world.co.uk

35_LegalUpdate.sr.indd 35

floor of the £5 million apartment above their West London flat.

Part E of schedule 1 specifies that buildings shall be designed and built to provide reasonable resistance to sound from other parts of the same building and from adjoining buildings. This is achieved by ensuring that internal walls and internal flooring provide reasonable resistance to sound and reverberation.

Table 1a stipulates that floors and party walls (a dividing partition between two adjoining buildings) need to achieve an airborne sound insulation of at least 45dB. For houses and flat dwellings formed by material change of use, the figure is 43dB. These are about the sound level of a quiet conversation. Party floors need to achieve an impact sound insulation of less than 62dB (64dB for dwellings), about the sound level of conversational speech from about one foot away.

Pre-completion testing must then be carried out a minimum of one in every 10 dwellings of the same house type. Depending on the mix of different types of dwelling in a development, testing will be required on 10 to 30 per cent of the development. Testing is to be undertaken by a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)registered test organisation, or European equivalent.

Section 3 of Approved Document E sets out examples

of floor types which, if built correctly, should meet the performance standards set out in Table 1a. Each floor type – concrete floor with ceiling and soft floor covering, concrete floor with ceiling and floating floor, floating floor or timber frame base with ceiling and platform floor – should use a specified ceiling treatment. This includes plasterboard on proprietary resilient bars with absorbent material, plasterboard on timber battens or proprietary resilient channels with absorbent material, and concrete base with ceiling and soft floor covering.

Then there are specific requirements around issues such as thickness of material for soft floor coverings and junctions of flooring materials. It’s also essential to opt for reputable tradespeople to ensure the quality of the workmanship. Sealing of air paths, clearing of cavities and good detailing are all key aspects in maximising sound insulation.

Heat insulation The installation of insulation in flooring must meet the minimum energy efficiency values set out in Approved Documents Part L. Approved Document L1 is specific to (new and existing) dwellings, and L2 relates to all buildings other than dwellings.

It controls fuel and power conservation by prescribing the insulation values of building elements, the allowable area of windows, doors and other openings, air permeability of the structure, the heating efficiency of boilers, the insulation and controls for heating appliances and systems, hot water storage and lighting efficiency.

Specific to insulating floors, the floor should achieve a U-value of

0.25 W/m2K in new dwellings and 0.22 W/m2K in existing dwellings, even less if possible. The U-value is a measure of how quickly heat will travel through the floor. To achieve this standard, at least 70mm of high-performance foam insulation or 150mm of mineral wool is normally needed, according to the Energy Saving Trust, but this will vary depending on the floor type, shape and size. These standards even apply when at least half of a floor is being replaced.

Estimates from the Energy Saving Trust suggest that insulating a timber floor saves around £60 and around 240kg in carbon dioxide per year. Filling in the gaps between the floor and the skirting board saves around £25 per year and around 100kg in carbon dioxide. Insulating a concrete floor also saves around £100, but can be more expensive to do, meaning that it takes longer to pay back.

Other issues In Scotland, work is regulated by the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, with guidance on achieving the standards set out in Technical Handbooks for Domestic Buildings and Non-domestic Buildings.

While both sets of legislation are intended to ensure that buildings are safe, efficient and sustainable for all, they differ in their specific requirements. Always seek advice from reputable flooring experts that have knowledge of the applicable legislation.

Aside from the legal issues, slips and trips can be caused by flooring choice, poor maintenance and management and the impact of the wrong type of flooring in the wrong area. Conversely, the right materials well-installed and correctly-maintained in the right colour can act as a boost to a business. FM FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 35

13/06/2013 17:22

FM MONITOR DAVE WILSON

TECHNICAL

Dave Wilson, director, Effective Facilities

THE PROB LEM WI T H BEN CH M A R K I N G

n the first of a two part benchmarking I article, Dave Wilson explains how the era of ‘big data’ holds pitfalls for FMs seeking to apply the data to improve performance

comparable data from peers.

All being equal, facilities managers must decide whether the time and effort it takes to compile and interpret the data is of significant benefit to the organisation. Sometimes, the answer is simply ‘no’.

“We face danger whenever information growth outpaces our understanding of how to process it,” says Nate Silver in his 2013 book, The Signal and The Noise. Indeed, this is the dilemma we face in benchmarking facilities management services: so much data is available, from so many diverse sources, that it is sometimes hard to know where to start. And, given that some of it is unreliable and incompatible with other data, it can actually be next to useless.

Yet benchmarking is talked about as being the ‘magic bullet’.

This is not the case. We need to understand how and why to use the techniques of benchmarking to improve performance.

The first issue is that benchmarking is wholly retrospective: it looks back at what we did; on its own it is not especially worthwhile. We must be able to show conclusively, not only that the performance will be replicated in the future, but that it will improve relative to the benchmark normative data we used for comparison.

It’s especially the case if the activities we benchmark create little or no beneficial effect on the performance of the entire organisation: we may think we did a good job, but in effect we haven’t really achieved anything.

Second, most benchmarks are a one-off snapshot of performance.

Stripped of a longer-term context,

Data issues

36 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

36_Technical.sr.indd 36

in particular trend analysis, they run the risk of being misleading.

Another concern is that we too often assume that the data used for the benchmark are accurate or relevant to the organisation.

In a similar way, another problem is that we often benchmark data that is easy to capture rather than what is relevant.

This is all compounded by the various ways in which facility services are packaged and the convoluted pricing and costallocation methodologies used by building occupiers and service providers. This all raises serious questions regarding the reliability of data.

The next drawback is the sheer impossibility of finding valid comparators for most buildings: the European benchmarking standard BS CEN 15221-7 contains some of the large number of variable factors to be considered in international benchmarking, most of which also apply within the UK. Even if we try to follow the solution offered by the European Standard EN15221-7, which is to identify and analyse just one factor and seek suitable comparators against which to measure our own facility’s performance, the sheer variety of possible options is confusing.

The level of detail (or ‘granularity’) and the resources we have access to internally is not matched by easily accessible

Even if the data is of good quality, statistics is a highly complex field and it takes more than just being able to use a spreadsheet to analyse complex data.

For example, is a single source comparator valid? If it is an average, do we know the numbers in the sample, where they came from, when they were reported, what the standard deviation is and where the upper and lower quartiles fall? If it is a range of data, do we know how to analyse that set of data to create meaningful comparisons?

Many FMs simply don’t have the training to handle these kinds of in-depth questions.

Cause and effect Among many other problems, the key issue is, what drives the performance that we can see? That is partly a question of making sure that we have analysed the ‘root cause’ data, rather than just one of the symptoms, or at least that we understand the underlying chain of causality.

What this amounts to is the risk of blindly assuming that future performance can be predicted based on past outcomes. If we don’t understand the events that

create or influence the pattern of data, then there is little or nothing that we can with any of the facts we obtain because we won’t know what to change to improve.

In short, benchmarking activities can be devoid of a sense of causality: simply knowing what the cost per square metre is won’t be particularly helpful if we don’t know why that it costs that much. Nor will it help if the factors that drive those costs are outside our control.

So, if we attempt to use benchmarks in a more sophisticated way than simply to compare costs, then the two key problems we face are understanding what the data tells us and understanding how to apply that information to create future improvements.

Finally, how well do the benchmarks that we create link to the desired organisational outcomes? This matters because in assessing operational performance doing something for the sake of doing it is not perceived as positive, no matter how much better than peers that performance might be.

In some cases – health and safety compliance, for example – benchmarks might be irrelevant because the target performance is already set at 100 per cent by organisational policy and service user expectations. FM Next issue: creating meaningful, useful measures – and how to communicate the results.

“We too often assume that the data used for the benchmark are accurate or relevant to the organisation” www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 16:44

FM MONITOR MARKET INTELLIGENCE

INSIGHT

The figures on this page have been compiled from several sources and are intended as a guide to trends. FM World declines any responsibility for the use of this information.

PEOPLE NOT IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT OR TRAINING

VAT rates: Standard rate – 20% (from 4 January 2011) Reduced rate – 5% Zero rate – this is not the same as exempt or outside the scope of VAT Source: HM Treasury (hmrc.gov.uk)

THERE WERE

1.09 MILLION

15.1%

YOUNG PEOPLE (AGED FROM 16 TO 24) IN THE UK WHO WERE NOT IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT OR TRAINING (NEET). THIS WAS UP 21,000 FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2012,

Bank of England base rate: 0.5% as of 6 June 2013.

The previous change in bank rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 0.5% on 5 March 2009.

JUST OVER HALF (53.0%) OF ALL YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UK WHO WERE ‘NEET’ WERE LOOKING FOR WORK AND AVAILABLE FOR WORK, AND THEREFORE CLASSIFIED AS UNEMPLOYED. THE REMAINDER WERE EITHER NOT LOOKING FOR WORK AND/OR NOT AVAILABLE FOR WORK AND THEREFORE CLASSIFIED AS ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE

BUT DOWN 101,000 FROM A YEAR EARLIER.

Source: Bank of England (bankofengland.co.uk)

Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual inflation grew by 2.4% in April 2013, down from 2.8% in March. It is the first time growth in inflation has slowed since autumn 2012. The largest downward contribution to the rate came from transport costs, notably motor fuels and air fares, while price movements for food produce contributed to growth.

FOR JANUARY TO MARCH 2013:

ALL NEW WORK (CONSTANT 2005 PRICES, SEASONALLY ADJUSTED)

UK MARKET FOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL DOORS 2007-2015

£ million 20,000

500

18,000

All new housing All other new work All new work

16,000 14,000

EMPLOYMENT

12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000

Hourly rate from 1 Oct 2012

Aged 21 and above

£6.19

Aged 18 to 20 inclusive

£4.98

Aged under 18 (but above compulsory school age)

£3.68

Apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship

£2.65

www.fm-world.co.uk

37_Insight.sr.indd 37

450 400 350 300 250 200

4,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Est Fcst Fcst

2,000

Category of worker

53%

COMMERCIAL DOORS

Source: ONS (www.ons.gov.uk)

National Minimum Wage The following rates came into effect on 1 October 2012:

THE PERCENTAGE OF ALL YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE UK WHO WERE ‘NEET’ WAS 15.1%, UP 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2012, BUT DOWN 1.3 PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM A YEAR EARLIER.

CONSTRUCTION ORDERS

Value (£m MSP)

ECONOMY

0 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 Q3 Q1 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

At 2005 prices, the estimated Q1 2013 seasonally adjusted total volume of all new construction orders was 10% lower than Q4 2012. The Q1 2013 estimates show a 0.2% fall compared with Q1 2012. The fall between Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 was due to the decline in all other new work, which fell 13.9% (£1.2 billion). This fall was solely due to the large decline in infrastructure, which fell 49.8% (£1.6 billion) compared with Q4 2012. New housing increased in Q1 2013 by 0.2%, up to its highest level since Q1 of 2008.

The value of the UK market for industrial and commercial doors is estimated at £404 million in 2012.

The sector experienced relatively healthy levels of commercial and industrial new build, which stimulated market growth between 2003 and 2007. Despite the decline in new warehouse developments in 2008, demand continued to grow, before starting to show significant signs of a fall in demand with the recession of 2009. Other factors include an oversupply of office space and reduced investment in new-build in education and hospitals.

Source: ONS (www.ons.gov.uk)

Source: AMA Research (www.amaresearch.co.uk)

FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 37

13/06/2013 16:45

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

Wendy Cuthbert, FM of the Year, 2012

THINKFM

Sponsors

clients. This enables the company to deliver high-quality services that support a healthy working environment. www.oceancc.com

Emcor Asite

BIFM AWARDS

FM of Year Candidates for the FM of the Year category of the BIFM Awards have until 28 June to submit their application. If you’re thinking of applying, now is the time.

The Facilities Manager of the Year Award recognises outstanding personal and professional performance in FM. FMs entering this Award must show evidence of their: ● Innovative use of FM methodologies ● How they create dynamic solutions ● How they integrate FM into the organisation’s strategic influencing and decision-making process and senior corporate structure. i Learn more about this award and enter at www.bifm.org.uk/ awards2013. As a reminder, entries close on 28 June.

QUALIFICATIONS

PETE SEARLE

Support The institute’s growth and the continuing expansion of its qualification programme has meant the professional standards and education department has extended its team of committed assessors/external quality assurers.

The BIFM qualifications provide career pathways throughout an FM’s employment: from entry Level 2 right through to strategic Level 7. All the qualifications are accredited on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and are internationally recognised.

38 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

38-40_BIFMNews.sr.indd 38

Qualifications are unit based, with mandatory and optional units at each level, allowing maximum flexibility for both learners and employers. Assessment is practical and related to experience in the workplace through the use of assignments relating to case studies or live business projects and activities.

The institute is looking for individuals who are: ● Qualified in facilities management (or a related discipline), with for example, an MSc or MBA in FM ● Experienced in facilities management at a senior level ● Experienced professionals in the academic world related to facilities management higher education.

Assessors/external quality assurers will be required to: ● Commit to meeting the exacting standards of an Ofqual regulated awarding organisation ● Work to scheduled deadlines ● Enter into a formal contractual agreement with BIFM ● Undertake appropriate training/ qualification.

If you would like to contribute to the FM profession by sharing your considerable experience and expertise, please submit your expression of interest, including a copy of your CV, to Linda. hausmanis@bifm.org.uk. i To learn more about BIFM qualifications at www.bifm.org.uk/qualifcations, email qualifications@bifm.org.uk or call +44 (0) 1279 712 651.

Emcor is one of the UK market leaders in the provision of FM, technical and support services to both the private and public sectors. From museums to airports, from prime real estate to government facilities, Emcor provides a broad range of integrated services to its clients, providing tailored and technical support that allows them to concentrate fully on their core business. www.emcoruk.com B&ES

Asite helps people share information and build knowledge in a secure environment in the cloud. Every day, people all over the world use Asite to manage their facilities, projects and supply chains, collaboratively, to get the information they need – when and where they need it.

Asite’s Adoddle platform offers CAFM for facilities information in 2D and 3D BIM integrated with supplier relationship management and electronic procurement. www.asite.com Opale Management Services

B&ES is the UK’s leading trade association for building services engineering contractors.

Founded in 1904, it adds value to members’ businesses by providing quality services, promoting excellence and shaping the commercial environment through representation and leadership. www.b-es.org Ocean

Ocean is a leading UK FM service provider specialising in integrated facilities services and management solutions. Ocean’s winning combination is simple – the company believes in a handson approach to build strong relationships on knowledge and trust, delivering environmentally friendly solutions, developing strong partnerships with all

Opale Management Services is an independent consultancy working with many large and complex FM clients. These include a number of Blue Chip FTSE 100 companies. Such exposure to the FM market enables Opale to innovate and develop new thinking. FMAP, the Facilities Maturity Assessment Programme, is one of its latest developments.

Launched last year, FMAP is now presenting some interesting and powerful results, and has proved to be valuable for both FM clients and suppliers alike, which are being reviewed by the BIFM. New thinking offers new directions for better results. www.opale.co.uk

KEEP IN TOUCH » Network with the BIFM @ www.networkwithbifm.org.uk » Twitter @BIFM_UK » LinkedIn » Facebook » YouTube » Flickr www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 13:58

Please send your news items to communications@bifm.org.uk or call 0845 058 1356

Helistrat

Helistrat delivers award winning waste, cleaning and pest control solutions, auditing and compliancy. Working closely with your FM professionals, managers and staff, Helistrat provides sustainable, workable and cost-effective strategies for recycling and waste disposal, minimising the impact and cost. With a track record of proven strategies, we operate as part of your team to achieve your business objectives and provide innovative solutions for operational issues that can have a big impact on business outcomes. www.helistrat.co.uk RISING FMS

Careers day The third annual Facilities Management Careers Day, organised by the BIFM Rising FMs special interest group (SIG), takes place on Monday 1 July, from 12:00-19:00 at the University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. The SIG, established in 2007, aims to promote FM as a career of choice. IT is focused at potential, new and existing participants within FM and its free annual careers day is open to all. The event includes: Live job interviews ● CV writing and interview workshops ● Live debates on the value of qualifications verses experience ● Mentoring programmes ● Personal style surgeries ● Free training and CPD sessions ● Benefits of hiring apprentices ● Networking area ●

All are welcome at the careers day – register for free at www.bifm. org.uk/careersday i

www.fm-world.co.uk

38-40_BIFMNews.sr.indd 39

Mark Morgan is finance director and company secretary of the BIFM

BIFM COMMENT A Y E A R I N F I NA N C E

t the end of 2011, the BIFM board was in the process of making some radical changes, in the form of an internal restructuring. The aim was to turn around a large deficit and stabilise the institute’s finances, providing a solid platform on which to build in the coming years.

While the institute has been touched by the downturn in the UK and global economy, the restructure allowed it to remap its strengths and maximise its returns on both membership and commercial offerings. This improved performance has allowed the institute to develop a new medium-term strategy that will see a significant level of investment being made in the institute over the next three years and beyond.

The actual surplus for 2012 was £297,773 compared with the 2011 deficit of £432,490, representing improved bottom-line performance of £730,263. Overall income rose by over 12 per cent. However, the recession continued to impact activities, such as sponsorship and regional events.

Membership numbers grew to 12,834 (from 12,214 in 2011) and outperformed our previous highest-ever numbers of 12,814 achieved in October 2008.

The institute decreased its running costs by almost 13 per cent during 2012, as it implemented the restructure, and focused on delivering improved returns from some of its commercial ventures. The institute was pleased to see that these actions not only delivered a reasonable saving, but also saw improved performance in virtually all income areas of the business.

The institute has continued its development programme from the previous years and, while some development has been delayed under the economic recession, the BIFM is still concentrating on delivering these significant plans over the coming months and years. We are expecting our new online platform to be released in the next few months.

The cash position of the institute remains strong and, combined with the actions taken in 2012, the institute is now well-placed to invest in the development plans.

As the economy begins to emerge from recession, we aim to be in a strong position to deliver continued growth and enhance the range of benefits and services that BIFM offer to members and the industry.

This year is looking to build on the impressive returns made during 2012. Investment in the new medium-term strategy, set by the board in 2012, is well underway!

A

Actuals/budget (£ thousands) Income Membership Other income Interest Expenditure Running institute Development Surplus/(deficit) on ordinary activities Capital investment Net assets

2010

2011

2012

2013

1,814 855

1,918 878

2,065 1,071

2,175 1,136

14 2,683

1 2,797

0 3,136

2 3,313

2,671 81 2,752 (68)

3,178 52 3,230 (432)

2,840 (1) 2,839 297

3,164 100 3,264 49

53 389

229 (44)

203 254

425 303

FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 39

13/06/2013 13:59

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

GOLF

Golf qualifier The BIFM East Region golf qualifier takes place on World FM Day – 27 June, at the West Essex Golf Club, Chingford E4 7QL. The course nestles in a quiet corner of Epping Forest with spectacular views over London and the surrounding countryside, and is easily accessible from London and junction 26 of the M25.

Entries are invited from corporate and individual members for this regional qualifier for the 2013 BIFM Golf Final on 19 September 2013. The finals will be held at Bowood Golf Hotel and Spa Nr Chippenham in Wiltshire.

The cost is £50 per person or £200 for a team of four.

The day includes: 8:30 – Coffee and bacon roll 9:00 – Golf clinic on the range; free balls and guidance from the pro’s sponsored by Talent FM 10:15 – First tee and eight minute intervals thereafter 16:00 – Afternoon tea 16:45 – Prizes i To confirm your place, contact Steve Anderson – admin@talentfm. co.uk, 0844 880 2426. Further details about the venue are available at www.westessexgolfclub.co.uk.

EDUCATION SIG

University of Oxford The Education Special Interest Group (SIG) is holding an event entitled ‘The latest best practice in Legionella Control and Energy Management’, which is taking place at the prestigious Sheldonian Theatre, University of Oxford, next to the world-famous Bodleian library. The Sheldonian Theatre was erected in 1664-8 to a design

by Sir Christopher Wren and was described by the European Commission in 1994 as “one of the architectural jewels of Oxford”.

The event takes place on 9 July 40 | 20 JUNE 2013 | FM WORLD

38-40_BIFMNews.sr.indd 40

from 14.30-18.00.

The sessions will focus on two different disciplines of best practice; legionella control and energy management.

The first presentation covers legionella liabilities and awareness training and will cover: ● The

history of legionella Risk assessment process ● The law and the organisational responsibilities, such as tools of the trade and controlling sub-contractors The second session will focus on energy management for 13 Amp supplies.

Additionally, networking and discussion groups will be hosted at the Exam Halls. ●

i For further details contact mark.gale@cataxsolutions.com, 0333 323 0207.

VOLUNTEERS

Last chance Voting in the BIFM Recognition Awards closes on 28 June.

Volunteers were sent an email on Monday 20 May with details of how to vote. If you need a copy of this email, please contact membership@bifm.org.uk who will arrange for it to be re-sent.

Winners will be announced on 11 July 2013 at the BIFM annual general meeting. i See more about the Volunteer Recognition Awards at www.bifm. org.uk/recognition13

WORLD FM DAY

27 June Don’t forget World FM Day takes place on Thursday 27 June with the theme: ‘Creating, Sharing and Learning’. You can see the latest BIFM celebrations at www.bifm.org.uk/events i Learn more about World FM Day at globalfm.org/events/worldfm-day-2013

BIFM TRAINING HOW TO GET PEOPLE ON YOUR SIDE – LEARN THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE o many of the challenges we face in facilities management boil down to communication.

FM is becoming more about management and this means that beyond technical ability. FM professionals need to have a thorough understanding of people and the communication process and how they can improve their own communication skills.

Resolving communication difficulties in the workplace can improve the effectiveness of your FM operation and bolster better working relations to make life easier all round. At the end of the day, don’t we all want an easier life?

We hear how FM should be ‘more strategic’, and how it should ‘align itself to organisational aims and values’. You can’t do this without the ability to ‘sell’ the services you and your team provide and you can achieve this through good communication – written, spoken and non-verbal. The responsibility for delivering an accurate and effective message, in whatever format that might be (email, face to face, or by phone), lies with you.

No doubt there are people you have to work with on a regular basis that you find hard to deal with.

Often, this is because you are, quite literally, ‘talking a different language’. Find out about the psychology of communication and learn the tricks to getting people on your side.

The course also covers the good, the bad and the ugly of communications in FM; the secrets to saying no and meaning it; dealing effectively with unhappy clients and colleagues; giving praise, and accepting feedback.

People development expert and qualified coach, Liz Kentish facilitates this fun, interactive workshop that will give you tools and techniques that you can apply immediately, to help you both at work and at home.

S

The following is some feedback from those who have attended the course: “The course was interactive and presented very well. The tutor gave different scenarios and examples to get the point across – very good” Facilities and estates manager, HSBC Bank “Great, engaging course – learned lots of usable techniques… thanks Liz” Assistant FM, Immediate Media Co. If you’d like to improve communication in your FM operation and see better results, get yourself booked onto the next Communication Skills course, running in Central London on 19 September 2013. Call 020 7404 4440, email info@bifm-training.co.uk or visit our website www.bifm-training.com

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 13:59

FM DIARY INDUSTRY EVENTS 24-25 June | 33rd Facilities Management Forum In this ever-changing environment, all companies need to source sustainable FM services, products and solution providers that offer the best value for money. At the forum, you can find them quickly and efficiently.

This event is specifically organised for FM directors and managers who are directly involved in the procurement of FM services.

Venue: Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire Contact: Robert Wye at r.wye@forumevents.co.uk or call 01992 374 100 27 June | World FM Day Joint event from the Rising FMs and Women in FM special interest groups and the London region, for World FM Day. The core message is “creating, learning, sharing”.

Venue: Cushman and Wakefield, 43-45 Portman Square, London, W1A 3BG Contact: www.eventbrite.com/ event/7041815259 19 September | BIFM national golf finals 2013 The event returns to the venue of the first national finals, in 2001, following a series of regional qualifying events.

Venue: Bowood Golf Hotel & Spa, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN11 9PQ Contact: Don Searle at don@c22. co.uk or call 020 7220 8900 14 October | BIFM Awards 2013 The BIFM Awards is the most influential networking event within the UK’s FM calendar and gives national recognition to the leaders in our profession. The BIFM Awards are designed to celebrate the increasingly strategic profile of FM by highlighting the key role it plays in the success of organisations.

The night of the awards ceremony brings together the leaders of our sector with the winners, finalists and high-profile guest presenters to celebrate excellence in FM. Venue: Grosvenor House Hotel, London Contact: communications@bifm. org.uk or call 0845 058 1356

Send details of your event to editorial@fm–world.co.uk or call 020 7880 6229

profession, raising the industry’s profile worldwide. This will be the fifth annual World FM Day. Visit the FM World website for last year’s highlights.

Venue: Various global events.

Contact: www.globalfm.org 2-4 October | IFMA World Workplace conference & expo The largest annual conference for FMs includes exhibitors, discussions and networking.

Venue: Philadelphia, US Contact: www.worldworkplace.org BIFM SIG EVENTS 20 June | Women in FM – Acoustics in the workplace An interactive presentation from Grey Interiors, Acoustic Comfort and Bene, on how to get more privacy and less disruption from the open plan office and private rooms. The presentations will also look at how sound travels around the office, how easy it is to lose staff productivity and how to solve common issues.

Venue: Bene, 47-53 St John Street London EC1M 4AN Contact: Harriet.Cloake@mitie.com or visit tinyurl.com/kahaqmn 1 July | Rising FMs Careers Day The day will include workshops, the chance to learn more about training and qualifications, and networking opportunities. The event is also open to non-members.

Venue: Senate House, University of London, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU Contact: claire.akin@cbre.com or call 0207 996 9266.

9 July | Education Sig – Latest best practice in legionella control and energy management An update intended to educate FMs on best practice. Metering and energy control devices and engineered solutions to provide control switching and metering.

Also legionella control, risks and responsibilities.

Venue: Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford University.

Contact: Call 0333 323 0207 or email mark.gale@cataxsolutions. com

Contact: Michelle Douse at michelle@talentfm.co.uk HOME COUNTIES REGION 20 June | Regional golf day Qualifying for September’s finals, sponsored by BMG. Venue: Pine Ridge Golf Club, near Frimley, Surrey, GU16 9NX Contact: charlie.sorbie@ temco-services.co.uk or call 07908 711 964 IRELAND REGION 15 November | Ireland region conference More details to follow. Interest can be registered online.

Venue: Belfast Waterfront Contact: www.bifm.org.uk/IC2013 LONDON REGION 26 June | Water compliance at the Tower An event considering water compliance, taking place at the Tower of London. There will be just 50 guests and will include the famous Ceremony of the Keys.

Venue: The Tower of London Contact: Bernard Crouch at bernard@gunnersbury-consult. co.uk or call 07782 287 074 The BIFM London region holds its monthly CPD events on the first Tuesday of every month.

Contact: www.bifm.org.uk/bifm/ groups/regions/london/events NORTH REGION 27 June | Summer ball Tickets now on sale. Includes a meal and live music to celebrate World FM day. Supported by Norland Managed Services.

Venue: Hilton hotel, Manchester Contact: Stephen Roots at 07958 877 897 or email north@bifm.org.uk SCOTLAND REGION

EAST REGION

4 July | Scotland region AGM The region’s AGM. To register, visit bifmscotland-agm.eventbrite.com Venue: St Andrew’s House, Regent Road, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG Contact: Michael Kenny at mkenny@fesfm.co.uk or call 07920 136 784 or

27 June | Regional golf day Qualifying for September’s finals.

Venue: West Essex Golf Club, Bury Road, Chingford, London E4 7QL

10 October | All about FM! Conference and exhibition, with speakers currently being considered. Any

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS 27 June | World FM Day 2013 A global FM initiative to celebrate the importance of the FM www.fm-world.co.uk

41_Diary.sr.indd 41

proposals welcomed.

Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, EH12 5PJ Contact: Michael Kenny at mkenny@fesfm.co.uk or visit allaboutfm2013.eventbrite. co.uk SOUTH REGION 20 June | Regional golf day Qualifier for September’s finals.

Venue: Pine Ridge Golf Club, near Frimley, Surrey, GU16 9NX Contact: Dave Barrett at dave@ barrettassociates.co.uk or call 07961 684 579 SOUTH WEST REGION 12 July | Regional golf day Qualifier for September’s finals.

Venue: Orchardleigh Golf Club, Frome, Somerset, BA11 2PH Contact: gareth.andrews@gmacl. co.uk or call 07540 079978 12 September | Summer conference A day of presentations from keynote speakers, plus seminars and barbecue. Theme of the conference TBA. From 10am.

Venue: Hilton, Woodlands Lane, Bradley Stoke, Bristol BS32 4JF Contact: Nick Fox on foxer11@ hotmail.co.uk or Gareth Andrews on gareth.andrews@gmacl.co.uk or visit www.bifmswconference2013. eventbrite.com CHANNEL ISLANDS 27 June | Statutory compliance – Jersey Everything you needed to know, but were afraid to ask. Includes talks by Greg Markham from Emcor and Roland Zumpe from Allianz Engineering. Part of World FM Day celebrations.

Venue: Elizabeth Room, Radisson Blu Hotel, Waterfront St Helier Contact: susan.j.leonard@barclays. com or visit tinyurl.com/pro5xwf 28 June | Statutory compliance – Guernsey Everything you needed to know, but were afraid to ask. Including talks by Greg Markham from Emcor and Roland Zumpe from Allianz Engineering. Part of World FM Day celebrations.

Venue: Victor Hugo Suite, St Pierre Park Hotel Contact: christina.bacon@ gg.abnamro.com or visit tinyurl. com/q82fp2z FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 41

13/06/2013 13:59

FM PEOPLE MOVERS & SHAKERS

BEHIND

THE JOB What attracted you to the job?

People had spoken about how complex the PFI model is. I wanted to gain some experience in this area and, so far, I am enjoying the challenges of my journey.

NAME: Sajna Rahman JOB TITLE: Facilities manager ORGANISATION: Sodexo corporate services IFM JOB DESCRIPTION: Delivering Total FM services to PFI education contracts

How did you get into FM and what attracted you to the industry?

I started as a receptionist for Coca-Cola. When I was working for Ernst & Young as an FM co-ordinator, I realised I could develop a career in FM. When I went on to mobilising and managing a help desk for a Japanese Corporate Bank, my then manager, Michael Collins, encouraged me to stay in FM. I got involved in project works, budgets, and sustainability.

What’s been your career high point to date?

Work experience in Dubai for Emaar Developers was an incredible experience. I learned how FM is delivered to the residential communities in Dubai. I was out there when they were carrying out the final snagging works for Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, sat in on meetings, and met with various service providers. My work for the BIFM’s Rising FMs special interest group committee has also been very rewarding.

What has been your biggest career challenge to date?

I personally thrive on challenges. However, the biggest challenge to date would be the transition from a corporate environment into a PFI model.

ON THE

MOVE Changing jobs?

Tell us about your new role and responsibilities.

Contact Jamie Harris Jamie.Harris@fm-world.co.uk

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42_PeopleAndJobs.sr.indd 42

Willmott Dixon has appointed Paul Smith, former group chief executive at Morgan Sindall, to the role of chief operating officer at its support services division. Smith will work alongside the support services chief executive Chris Durkin as part of a planned transition that will eventually see him become divisional chief executive when Chris retires from the role at the end of 2013. As well as spending nearly 10 years as group chief executive at Morgan Sindall, Smith was previously managing director at Accord Group.

If you could give away one of your responsibilities to an unsuspecting colleague, what would it be?

I would aim to give them something positive, such as my monthly report to write up, which would give them a deeper insight into our work.

If I wasn’t in facilities management, I’d probably be...

A crime scene investigator, definitely!

Any interesting tales to tell?

I met Margaret Thatcher in 2008 while I was FM to a giant garage that housed all the government cars.

She asked me what I do and, as I explained, she listened with interest. Then she came close to me and said: “You have a very important role my dear.”

I remember thinking ‘wow’, the Iron Lady, who was once the most powerful woman in the world, had just told me I had an important job!

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?

Facilities management is so understated. People should not just ‘fall into FM’. I want them to choose it.

People should realise that is an umbrella and offers a wide scope of career prospects.

Do your friends understand what facilities management is?

Yes, they do now. In the past they used to think I worked for a radio station.

OCS has appointed Jane Sheard as its UK managing director of facilities services.

Sheard has worked at a senior management level for FM companies including Johnson Controls, NG Bailey and Reliance FM. Most recently, Sheard worked at ISS as global strategic head of new product innovation. She has an MBA in organisational and strategic development and postgraduate diplomas in strategic and business management. In February, OCS also appointed Petra Moss as director of total facilities management.

Catering Academy has appointed Lesley Pekun as director of operations south and Dan Williams as area manager south-west.

Pekun, who has worked in the food service industry for more than 30 years, joins the company from BaxterStorey, where she was operations director for four years. She now covers the south of England, where contracts are a mix of 70 per cent education and 30 per cent business and industry. Williams joins following five years as regional catering manager for the Garden Centre Group.

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 14:00

FM NEWS

Call Richard York on 020 7880 8543 or email richard.york@fm-world.co.uk For full media information take a look at www.fm-world.co.uk/mediapack

FM innovations ▼ Success in RoSPA Awards for OCS International total facilities management provider OCS has had its approach to occupational safety and health recognised by the safety charity, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

The Quality Safety Audit (QSA) Award Level 2 was presented to OCS Group UK at the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2013 ceremony on 15 May. The QSA awards scheme recognises levels of achievement of health and safety management and helps facilitate continuous improvement and benchmarking.

Graham Gilbert, managing director infrastructure and healthcare at OCS, said: “This is OCS’s first year of attaining RoSPA accreditation and we are committed to delivering safety excellence and getting it right, year on year.”

▲ ASSA Abloy delivers at The Place

▲ Legionnaires’ disease – concealed risks

Following its work on The Shard last year, ASSA Abloy Security Doors is now supplying its highsecurity steel doorsets to its sister building, The Place, which, with The Shard, forms the two million square feet London Bridge Quarter development.

More than 300 fire and acoustic steel doorsets will be installed throughout the new building, being developed by Sellar Property Group in association with LBQ. Working closely with joinery contractor Ruddy Joinery, ASSA Abloy security doors’ bespoke doorsets will address fire safety, successfully certified to BS 476 part 22 and providing the necessary level of fire protection under British and European standards.

W: www.assaabloy.co.uk/securitydoors T: 028 9266 2200.

The new TC Wall Port from TM Electronics is the ideal way to monitor concealed temperature points, including boxed-in TMVs, hidden pipework and covered water tanks.

Housed in a small white box measuring just 52 x 52 mm, this convenient temperature sensor monitoring point is used for spot checks on any test point with difficult or impaired access. Temperatures are taken by simply ‘plugging’ a thermometer into the port – much easier than dismantling boxing under sinks or using ladders to work at height.

The device is primarily designed for use with fine wire probes that are attached to the temperature test point and left in-situ. These wires are then run to the TC Wall Port, which is screwed to the wall.

T: +44 (0)1903 700 651 E: sales@tmelectronics.co.uk W: www.tmelectronics.co.uk

▼ Learn with Jangro Jangro, the largest UK network of independent janitorial supply companies has introduced a new way of learning.

Jangro Learning Management Solution (LMS) is an interactive suite of e-learning and mobile-learning modules, which are available over the internet and will be demonstrated at Facilities Show. Highlights of the Jangro stand will be its product range of over 4,000 items and new additional modules to Jangro LMS. Users can access these easy-to-use and costeffective training modules via a laptop or desktop in the office or even on the way home on the train using a smart phone or device. Visitors to the stand can download the free Jangro App, which offers product knowledge, giving users free advice on how to best use products. Visit us on stand 2B74.

T: 0845 458 5223.

▲ Zigor offers discounts on all UPS Uninterruptible power supply provider Zigor is offering the public and education sectors a special 10 per cent discount. The offer runs until 30 September with the aim of helping hospitals, schools and councils protect their power.

Organisations simply need to quote reference FMPS2013 to receive the discount. Zigor’s UPS range start at 650va line interactive plug ‘n’ play UPS systems extending up to 400 kva three-phase power solutions.

Zigor sales manager Gavin Banks, said: “Zigor likes to react to the demands of the market and tries to understand what constraints are put on customers during difficult financial times. This scheme will help organisations protect their power and equipment properly.”

T: 0844 854 6264 E: salesuk@zigor.com www.fm-world.co.uk

43_Products.sr.indd 43

▲ Regular vibration analysis – why do it?

Condition-based monitoring aids understanding of when machinery will fail and when servicing is required. A key part of this is vibration analysis.

As hardware costs reduce and equipment becomes easier to operate, vibration analysis is increasingly being adopted by FMs. Any asset with a motor, pump or fan will have a vibration ‘signature’ made up of the individual vibrations of the bearings, rollers, belts, and so on inside. As these components begin to fail, their vibration level will change and/or increase. With the correct equipment FM staff can easily notice changes and act before catastrophic failure. The new VM330 from C-Cubed is a rugged, hand-held vibration analyser, complete with PC based trending software to monitor and report asset condition over time.

T: 01256 895 050 E: info@c-cubed.co.uk FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 43

13/06/2013 14:00

Appointments

Call Carly Gregory on 020 7324 2755 or email jobs@fm-world.co.uk For full media information take a look at www.fm-world.co.uk/mediapack

JOBS

WE CAN HELP YOU FIND

your perfect job JOBS BY EMAIL

Be the first to receive your perfect job straight to your inbox. To sign up simply; • Enter your name and email address uld • Chose the sector, salary and location you would like to work within • Create up to 5 different tailor-made alerts

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Upload your CV and complete your jobseeker profile and increase your chances of being found for your perfect job. No need to go ur through hundreds of job adverts, just fill in your profile and let employers do the work.

RECRUITING NOW:

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FM New appoints200613.indd 044

13/06/2013 12:23 jobs.fm-world.co.uk

13/06/2013 12:25

London FM Opportunities M&E Contract Manager London • £50,000 Cobalt Recruitment is recruiting for a Contract Manager to join an M&E Service Provider. The Contract Manager will be responsible for a portfolio of clients that include banks, insurance firms, managing agents and property companies – all of which have the M&E and maintenance delivered by our client. The successful applicant will run a team of site managers, mobile maintenance managers and an overall team of engineers, as well as building strong client relationships across the whole portfolio. You must have a strong engineering background to apply for this role.

Ref: 119701

Building Manager Central London • £40,000-£45,000 An experienced Building Manager is required to join an established real estate company to manage a multi-tenanted commercial office building in Central London. You will have an excellent understanding of service charge budgeting, hard and soft FM delivery and health and safety and statutory compliance. You should have experience of working on behalf of a managing agent and leading an on-site team. In addition, you will have a strong track record of a tenant focused approach and experience of implementing exceptional front of house services.

Ref: 226501

Offices globally www.cobaltrecruitment.com Please apply for any of the above roles by emailing apply@cobaltrecruitment.com or call 020 7478 2500 to speak with Claudio Rojas or Ryan Coombs quoting the relevant reference number.

The power of people

Account Director, London Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions is a leading global provider of integrated facilities and corporate real estate management.

We are currently recruiting an Account Director within a prestigious EOXH FKLS þQDQFLDO LQVWLWXWLRQ EDVHG LQ WKH &LW\ RI /RQGRQ The successful candidate will be responsible for the delivery of facilities and property related services, achieving targets and objectives and ensuring quality and consistency of service delivery.

This will involve managing a direct team of over 150 employees plus suppliers and have P&L responsibility for over £10 million per annum. They will also be required to build effective customer relationships and work with other client service partners to ensure collaboration and optimal delivery for the client. Another key focus of the role is to identify, propose and implement continuous improvement and innovation across the account.

The successful candidate will have demonstrable previous experience of managing multi-site operations across a full range of facilities services and management responsibility for 150500 staff. In addition, previous P&L experience and a technical background would be an advantage.

If you are interested in the above vacancy please visit our website www.johnsoncontrols.co.uk/careers and apply online, or email your CV to ukcareers@jci.com quoting the vacancy reference number 095211.

DEPUTY CAMPUS FACILITIES MANAGER - GREENWICH Ref: 362

T

he University of Greenwich is seeking to recruit a skilled and experienced Deputy Campus Facilities Manager at its Greenwich Campus to assist in the delivery of a wide range of services provided by the Facilities Management Office including maintenance, domestic services, portering, post and security.

Candidates will be educated to degree level (or equivalent) with significant experience of similar work, preferably in the HE sector. You will have experience of proactively managing a range of customer facing services in a similar role within estates/facilities and managing manual/clerical staff and contractors including setting and monitoring performance standards.

You will be expected to be a good team player, well organised and able to manage a wide and varied workload. You should possess excellent IT skills and high standards of literacy and numeracy and have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Knowledge of building maintenance/services and experience of health and safety and relevant legislation would be desirable.

Salary: (SG8) £40,620 - £48,929 per annum inclusive To obtain further particulars on this post and details of how to apply: Internet: www2.gre.ac.uk/jobs Closing date for applications: 8 July 2013.

Interview dates to be advised.

8209a0613

jobs.fm-world.co.uk

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FM WORLD | 20 JUNE 2013 | 45

13/06/2013 12:30

FINAL WORD NOTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD OF FM

Jim Lawless: full marks for audience engagement; fewer for health and safety…

NO 2

DAYS

THE SAME

OUR DAY IN THE SUN By the time our next edition reaches you, World FM Day will have been and gone for another year. Among the many events planned for Thursday, 27 June, you are invited to celebrate with three BIFM special interest groups: Rising FMs, WiFM and London Region are combining to put on an evening reception at Cushman and Wakefield's Portman Square offices.

The core message of World FM Day 2013 is ‘creating, learning and sharing’, so it's great that these three SIGs have joined together to socialise, network and share knowledge with fellow members, all in one place.

As you might expect, FM World is also celebrating – keep an eye on the FM World Daily online newsletter for more details.

World FM Day is one of those rare examples of an opportunity to ensure others within our organisations better appreciate the sheer scale of the FM sector. By showing them that there's a coordinated day of networking across the world for the practice of facilities management, World FM Day does more than just say we are not alone – it shows those with whom we work that they should take more notice.

GEEING-UP AN AUDIENCE This year's ThinkFM was, by all accounts, a resounding success. Some 350 delegates made the most of the three themed hubs that were each broadly focused around facilities management's ‘leadership challenge’.

It's always good to get these events off to a flying start. Even so, it was probably asking too much to book a motivational speaker capable of getting the audience up off their seats and imitating the action of riding a race horse. Even so, that's exactly what happened.

Jim Lawless has a great story about how he was challenged to become a professional jockey within a year. He did so and the video he showed proved it.

As you might imagine, Lawless is nothing if not an energetic soul and you do wonder what the Royal College of Physicians' own facilities manager was thinking when the keynote speaker grabbed a chair from the side of the stage and ‘mounted’ it in order to make his point.

But that was just the start. Any health and safety

thoughts were soon set to one side when he managed, for a brief but thrilling few seconds to get everybody up on their own chairs and imitating him. Around 300 people, all with derrieres to the air, pretending to be riding horses. It's a wonder the Royal College of Physicians didn't have to provide some actual physicians to deal with the aftermath.

It's fair to say a new and probably immovable bar has been set for future keynote speakers to aspire to.

(Incidentally, there's a close-up picture of audience members in ‘mid-ride’, but modesty prevents us showing it to a wider audience. Let's just say that at least one former Facilities Manager of the Year knows how to bust some formidable equine moves…)

FM'S FAMILIAR FEEL DOWN UNDER The state of Australia's FM scene is described elsewhere this issue, so it's interesting to note the headline figures from a new census conducted by the Facility Management Association of Australia. It shines an interesting light on the profession – which employs more than 200,000 people – and the issues they face.

48 per cent of those completing the survey said that they were responsible for the management of between 1-10 buildings. But what's striking is the overlap in the

opportunities, priorities and threats identified by Australian FMs in this survey and those so often spoken about here in the UK. In this census, opportunities identified included levels of outsourcing, reduction in carbon footprints and the move to total integrated facility management (TFM).

Priorities included improving service levels, reducing costs and enhancing health and safety. For many of us in the UK, that list will certainly sound familiar.

RAFAEL BASTOS

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OUT 4 JULY

FEATURE – TRENDS IN FM: HOW DOES THE US DIFFER TO THE UK? /// THINKFM – THE THEMES EMERGING /// ‘THIRD SPACE’ MANAGEMENT /// ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES /// BENCHMARKING /// ELECTRICITY COST MANAGEMENT /// ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND BUSINESS ANALYSIS

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Advertisement feature

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Between them the couple have over forty years experience working within specialised service industries, over ten of which have been dedicated to gutter cleaning activities.

Both Paul and Kathy have a passionate belief in what their company stands for and a refreshingly uncomplicated common sense approach to managing their business. Their work ethic is based on teamwork and by placing a greater reliance and responsibility on those who work with them they have succeeded in achieving a consistently high and personal level of service that they believe is unrivalled in the industry.

Kathy Blair Managing Director says “in an industry where the end product invariably cannot be seen it is of paramount importance that clients have confidence in the company they choose to employ. We instil that confidence and trust by focusing on all aspects of our performance. With our teams’ combined and varied knowledge we have a unique understanding and empathy with what our clients expect from us and are committed to meeting those expectations by ensuring that all jobs are done properly and to the complete satisfaction of our customers”.

Placing utmost importance on Health and Safety the couple chose to appoint a Health and Safety Manager, Mr Martin Young whose sole responsibility is to ensure that all works are undertaken in a safe manner. Martin has had a long and varied career, primarily within the engineering sector and five years ago took the decision to obtain a NEBOSH qualification and focus on Health and Safety. Martin’s particular expertise lies in working at height and he has proven to be an invaluable asset to the company.

after digital photographs of all works are always provided together with reports upon on any major defects found or areas of concern.

for our national clients and work for several national help desks on a call-out basis.. This is proving to be an invaluable service and as far as we are aware UK Gutter Maintenance Ltd is the only company in the UK offering this type of service on such a major scale.

Due to the nature of these types of works, in most cases leaks are experienced inside the building and temporary repairs are required to prevent a further ingress of water. Inevitably we find that these leaks are not necessarily a gutter maintenance problem but could also be caused by defective areas on the roofs.

In some instances the gutter and roof defects we encounter need a permanent long term solution. This has resulted in our gutter cleaning service and skills extending to incorporate the treatment of leaking joints and badly corroded gutters as well as undertaking full roofing and skylight repairs, including the treatment of cut edge corrosion.

Consequently over the years our experience and expertise has evolved which now enables us to offer a complete gutter and roof maintenance service. This gives the Company the distinct commercial advantage of being able to offer a truly complete package.

A flexible and complete service

All teams are supplied with liveried 16.5 m boom vans as a standard piece of access equipment and are fully equipped with specialist safety equipment, particularly for undertaking works on fragile roofs or where skylights are present.

Additional equipment is resourced to suit each individual task and the appropriate team members are deployed to deliver a bespoke service to clients’ individual requirements.

Kathy Blair states “The structure and flexibility of UK Gutter Maintenance means that we are able to work throughout the country in just about any location, at relatively short notice.

We also offer an emergency call-out service

Communication is seen as key to the company’s ongoing success and clients are kept fully informed of progress before, during and upon completion of works. Before and

Wherever possible, should there be any minor defects found these are carried out before leaving the site.

Paul Blair states that “our clients acknowledge that this procedure is very effective and the provision of photographs is the only way that they can actually see that the work has been carried out. Unfortunately in our industry there are too many people that do not do the work they have been brought in to do. There have been many occasions when we have surveyed a job only to find that the company last employed to do the gutter clean or repair work had not done it properly, if at all”.

UK Gutter Maintenance Ltd has a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness and an ever growing and loyal client list with household names such as Interserve FM, FES FM, Facilities Services Group, ATS Euromaster, Carpetright, Topps Tiles, C Brewers & sons and The Open University to name but a few.

Kathy says “we are in the enviable position of clients actually wanting UK Gutter Maintenance Ltd to work for them. We have never been busier and for Paul and I owning our own company and being in control of our own destiny is the best thing that could have happened to us. Our business has been built on client relationships and our motivation and success lies in the fact that we personally know the majority of people we work for and for whom we deliver a high level of service which represents value for money, professionally, efficiently and safely”.

Services – Overview

• •

Major planned preventative maintenance (PPM) gutter cleaning contracts Fast reliable call-outs for national help desks

• •

Gutter maintenance and repair works Gutter waterproofing treatments (up to 15 year guarantee)

• • •

Siphonic system repairs and installations Roof and sky light repairs/replacements Re-testing of safety wire systems

For further information please contact us on Tel: 01748 835454 or visit our web-site:

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