FM World 26 March 2015

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT | 26 MARCH 2015

FMWorld www.fm-world.co.uk

Agile workplaces and ‘spaceless growth’ characterise an evolving City of London

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VOL 12 ISSUE 6 26 MARCH 2015

CONTENTS

06| Budget measures

20| Doctor feelgood

24| Joined-up thinking

NEWS

OPINION

FEATURES

06 National Minimum Wage set to rise in October 07 Forum seeks to influence energy law 08 Project of the fortnight: Shortlist revealed for Nine Elms to Pimlico bridge competition 09 Think Tank: What factors are most motivational for facilities service personnel?

10 News analysis: Budget brings good news for apprenticeships 11 News analysis: Place Partnership asset vehicle gears up 12 Business news: Graeme Davies: When will large outsourcers have to say ‘no’?

13 CBRE in £1bn bid to buy Johnson Controls’ workplace solutions arm 14 In Focus: Aileen Peverell, head of facilities at Oxfam

18 Simon Francis and Emma Vincent 19 Five minutes with Munish Datta, head of Plan A and FM, Marks & Spencer 46 No Two Days

MONITOR 32 Insight: Market intelligence 33 Legal update: Zerohours contracts 34 How to: Best Practice – SFG20 and CIBSE M 35 Technical: Low carbon air conditioning 36 Technical: Set up an environmental policy 37 How to: Understand your building’s DNA

28| City spotlight

17

Workplace Conversation: The Stage 3 challenge has been set – and it’s a question of aligning the workplace with overall organisational strategy

20

Tri it and see? With spending cuts biting deeper, should London’s tri-borough or other combined local authority service models be adopted more widely?

24

Share in the community: At West Berkshire Community Hospital, multiple stakeholders on a unique PFI find it’s good to talk

28

The City, Slicker: Agile working, changing demographics and corporate flexibility are all factors in an evolving City of London

REGULARS 38 41 42 43 44

BIFM news Diary of events Case in point Behind the job Appointments

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EN T CLO RIES 22 SE MA Y

Entries are now open for the 2015 BIFM Awards.

It’s time to inspire your peers with examples of progressive facilities management in action: B E PA R T O F T H E 2 0 1 5 B I F M A W A R D S

SPONSORS

FM Team of the Year

Societal Impact

Learning and Career Development

Brand Impact

Innovation in Technology and Systems

Impact on the Workplace

New Product or Service of the Year

Rising Talent in Facilities Management Facilities Manager of the Year

Impact on Customer Experience Impact on Sustainability

Lifetime Achievement Award

www.bifmawards.org

awards@bifm.org.uk

18/03/2015 11:14

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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: Herpreet Kaur Grewal ⁄ reporter: James Harris ⁄ sub editor: Deborah Shrewsbury ⁄ consultant art director: Mark Parry ⁄ art editor: Daniel Swainsbury

MARTIN READ

EDITOR COMMENT

LEADER

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING email: sales@fm-world.co.uk senior display sales executive: Darren Hale (020 7880 6206) ⁄ display sales executive: Jack Shuard (020 7880 8543) / Case in Point sales: Greg Lee (020 7880 7633) recruitment sales: Sabmitar Bal 020 7880 7665 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

wo weeks ago, BIFM chief executive Gareth Tancred joined minister for disabled people Mark Harper at the House of Commons to announce the first winners in the Accessible Britain Challenge awards, a scheme set up by the Department of Work and Pensions last September.

Its aim is “for communities to become more inclusive and accessible by engaging and working with disabled people to remove barriers that get in the way of them being full and active contributors in their community.”

The BIFM sponsored the scheme, an initiative following on from the addition of disability access into the institute’s FM Professional Standards framework last year.

The links are obvious, of course – if facilities management is about anything, it’s about how the working environment is maximised for all those who need to access and use it.

The Accessible Britain Challenge awards comprised four categories. Pretty much all of the finalists in each category - including ‘safer neighbourhoods’ and ‘inclusive social activities’ - had something to say in their submissions that could be of some value to FMs in search of fresh thinking. ‘Innovative use of buildings, spaces and places’ might seem the obvious category for those seeking an immediate FM angle, and indeed there were several inspiring stories here. (The category winner, the YMCA Community Gym in Peterborough, is a great example of local coordination for the greater good.) However, the story that most piqued my interest, the one that most immediately brought to mind one of FM’s many hardy intractables, came instead from the ‘improved mobility’ category.

Established by Cheshire West and Chester Council two years ago, the Corporate Disability Access Forum seeks to ensure that people from organisations representing local disabled people are brought in to address accessibility issues for any planned new buildings and spaces suggested within the council’s area.

Sounds spookily familiar, doesn’t it? That wonderful ideal in which FMs have blueprint-level access to architects and developers just at the point when their involvement is of most value to the design and commissioning process.

I spoke to Cheshire West and Chester councillor Charles Fifield, and he wondered whether we define disability broadly enough - and he’s spot-on. The demographic time bomb that is already seeing four generations operating in one workplace guarantees an increase in access-impaired workers over the years ahead.

Fifield spoke about one particular building, only five years old, which sports perfectly adequate disability access – but can only be got to from a disabled car parking space situated some 100 yards around the corner…

This subject is as much about attitude as access; it’ll be interesting to see if the BIFM’s involvement bears further fruit. As a bold initiative, it certainly deserves to.

T

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Simon Ball, business development director, Mitie ⁄ Martin Bell, independent consultant / Lucy Jeynes, Larch Consulting / Nick Cook, managing director, Avison Young ⁄ Rob Greenfield, health & safety business unit director, myfm ⁄ Ian Jones, director of facilities, ITV ⁄ Liz Kentish, managing director, Kentish and Co. ⁄ Josh Kirk, facilities manager, JLL ⁄ Anne Lennox Martin, FM consultant ⁄ Peter McLennan, joint course director, MSc Facility Environment and Management, University College London ⁄ Geoff Prudence, chair, CIBSE FM Group ⁄ Jeremy Waud, chairman, Incentive FM group⁄ Jane Wiggins, FM tutor and author Average net circulation 12,744 (Jul 13 – Jun 14) 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 Polestar Stones ISSN 1743 8845

BIFM ENQUIRIES

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“If facilities management is about anything, it’s about how the working environment is maximised for all those who need to access and use it”

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BUDGET 2015

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National Minimum Wage set to rise in October The National Minimum Wage will increase by 3 per cent to £6.70 an hour, from October 2015. It is the largest real-terms rise in the National Minimum Wage since 2008, and more than 1.4 million of Britain’s lowest-paid workers are set to benefit.

The National Minimum Wage for apprentices will also go up by 57p an hour to £3.30. This is the largest ever increase in the National Minimum Wage for apprentices and will halve the gap with the National Minimum Wage rate for 16 to 17-year-olds, which will be £3.87 an hour. The government will also consult with businesses on the future of the National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices.

It is also putting employers in control of the funding for apprenticeships by introducing a digital apprenticeship voucher.

These will further simplify things for employers and give them the purchasing power over the government contribution to apprenticeship funding.

David Norgrove, chair of the Low Pay Commission, said: “We judge that the improved economic and labour market conditions mean once again that employers will be able to respond in a way that supports employment. However, our recommendation this year is predicated on a forecast which foresees lower costs for business in fuel and energy, a strong economic performance, significant recovery in earnings across the economy and rising productivity. If these expectations are not borne out… we will take this into account when considering next year’s recommendation.

“While we welcome the

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government’s response on the headline rates we are disappointed that it has not accepted our recommendation on the level of the Apprentice Rate. We based our judgement on a careful assessment of the evidence, seeking to benefit apprentices while also protecting the supply of places.”

In his Budget speech, chancellor George Osborne said the unemployment forecast was down to 5.3 per cent this year. But he did not include measures to encourage energy efficiency in homes and buildings or extend the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) –

News of a rise in the National Minimum Wage came on the eve of the Budget

a tax break for domestic landlords installing insulation in properties.

John Alker, acting CEO of UK-GBC, said: “While his backing of the Swansea tidal lagoon project shows that this government’s

commitment to the green agenda is not entirely dead in the water, this is an otherwise barren Budget for energy efficiency.”

See News Analysis, page 10, for more Budget reaction.

WORKPLACE TRENDS

Serviced office sector grow across the UK The cost of desk space in serviced offices has grown by double figures across the UK in the past year as the sector continues to expand, according to research by a property firm.

The number of serviced offices across the country has risen by 3.6 per cent, in addition to an 11.4 per cent increase in desk rates.

Growth in the number of such spaces across Central London is as high as 17 per cent at the South Bank and 11 per cent in the West End during 2014.

The Instant Group’s subsidiary company Instant Offices, a global broker of serviced office space, conducted a detailed review of the sector to present a view of the UK market up to 2015.

The serviced office sector in London continues to outperform other markets across the country, with Greater London now

comprising 30 per cent of the national market. Central London, the City, West End and the South Bank have all seen serviced office centre growth of more than 10 per cent, according to the market analysis.

Tim Rodber, CEO of The Instant Group, said: “The average rates in the capital have risen beyond levels previously seen at the height of the pre-recessionary

market in 2008. This consistent growth provides further evidence of the increasing adoption of serviced office solutions among entrepreneurs and companies nationally.”

Elsewhere in the UK nearly all of the largest markets have experienced growth with respect to new centres, and corresponding increases in average workstation rates year on year. www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 14:44

NEWS

BRIEFS Apprencticeship standard

Forum seeks to influence energy law Senior executives from energy, property, FM and finance organisations recently met to discuss how to have more influence on energy legislation in the UK. Consultancy Carbon2018 held the event to explore topics including Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), Display Energy Certificates (DECs), the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), Electricity Market Reform and the de-aggregation of gas.

Melanie Kendall Reid, director of compliance for Carbon2018, said: “We are frequently faced with new legislative requirements constructed by government departments that do not understand the complexities of multi-let properties and the landlord-tenant relationship. Our forum’s aim is to capture these at the consultation stage, offer a setting where any potential issues can be debated.”

On EPCs and DECs, forum participants concluded that there was a place in the market for both accreditations, however the assessments were incorporated, which would paint a valuable picture of the building fabric and performance. Substituting DECs for EPCs will “only enforce a requirement to measure the potential of the building’s energy performance – not the behaviour of its users” it was suggested.

ISTOCK

Accessible Britain awards show best practice Winners of the Department of Work and Pensions’ Accessible Britain Challenge Awards have been announced. The scheme, sponsored by the BIFM, highlights those making an outstanding contribution to inclusive and accessible communities for disabled people.

Talking to an audience including minister for disabled people Mark Harper and representatives of the nominated schemes, BIFM chief executive Gareth Tancred said: “It’s crucial that we learn from the very best practice and share the key learnings from what you’ve done with the wider community.

“We at the BIFM look forward to working with you in helping to share your experience and promoting it so that it can be to the benefit of many others too.”

The minister announced winners in each of four categories: www.fm-world.co.uk

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Gareth Tancred (left): “It’s crucial that we learn from the very best practice”

improved mobility; innovative use of buildings, spaces and places; safer neighbourhoods; and inclusive social activities.

The Corporate Disability Action Forum in Cheshire West and Chester Council won in the improved mobility category, its members comprising disabled people of all kinds who seek to have a greater involvement in the design of new retail, culture and leisure facilities within the

authority’s area.

The YMCA Community Gym in Peterborough took the prize for most innovative use of buildings, spaces and places. The gym provides specialist exercise equipment for people with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

At the announcement of the awards’ shortlist in February, Tancred said that it was vital that there should be a better understanding of the challenges that disabled people face when they access facilities – “and that this understanding is connected into the design process”.

“By adopting universal design and inclusive practices at the earliest stage, everyone should be able to access services independently and have equal opportunity to enter, use and enjoy the built environment,” added Tancred.

The government’s Trailblazer initiative, by which groups of employers join in designing apprenticeship schemes, has resulted in the approval by government of an apprenticeship standard for the role of facilities management supervisor.

The new Trailblazer standard was approved this month.

The FM supervisor apprenticeship was one of more than 50 employer-designed apprenticeship standards announced at an event by skills minister Nick Boles this month.

“Apprenticeships play a key role in the success of our long-term economic plan,” said Boles.

The first eight trailblazer projects began in October 2013.

BRE’s sustainability partner BRE, the organisation responsible for the BREEAM green building certification scheme, is partnering with GRESB, an industry-driven global sustainability benchmark organisation.

The two bodies are collaborating to promote their shared goals of ‘advancing transparency and sustainability performance in the real estate industry’.

BRE’s BREEAM family of certification schemes is used in more than 60 countries.

As a partner of GRESB, BRE will serve on the GRESB Benchmark Committee, providing strategic, commercial and technical input regarding the GRESB assessment process and related products and services.

Hospital staff stop walkout More than 200 workers employed

by ISS at a London hospital as cleaners, security, ward hostesses, caterers, switchboard operators and porters suspended a strike they were planning over pay.

The 250 workers, members of trade union GMB, were to strike at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich on Monday 9 March to Friday 13 March.

They threatened the walkout because they want the same pay rates and weekend enhancements and unsocial hours rates as the staff directly employed by the NHS Trust.

Currently, ISS workers are paid between £7.10 and £7.32 an hour.

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PROJECT OF THE

FORTNIGHT Shortlist revealed for Nine Elms to Pimlico bridge competition Wandsworth Council has revealed its shortlist of designs for a new bridge linking Pimlico with the Nine Elms development in London.

The contest attracted 74 entries, with each entrant also submitting a proposal for a new pedestrian and cycle link across the Thames.

A TfL transport study supports the business case for a Nine Elms to Pimlico bridge, providing another route through Central London to support the shift towards zero emission, sustainable travel options.

The Nine Elms site is host to a £15 billion development, one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe. The area, which is home to Battersea Power Station, is to be developed to include new public squares, schools, underground stations, residential and commercial buildings. The new US Embassy is also to be situated in the area.

The next stage of the competition will see the shortlisted teams develop their initial ideas into detailed designs.

More information can be found at www.nepbridgecompetition.co.uk

THE SHORTLIST:

Buro Happold Limited – with Marks Barfield Architects, J&L Gibbons Landscape Architects, Gardiner and Theobald

Ove Arup & Partners Ltd – with AL_A, Gross Max, Equals Consulting and Movement Strategies

NEWS BULLETIN

Façade access body publishes safety guide SAEMA, the trade body representing the façade access systems sector, has published guidance aimed at anyone using components of existing building maintenance units (BMUs) as anchorage points for industrial rope access equipment.

The issue has increasingly concerned the association in recent months.

SAEMA member companies are responsible for the installation and maintenance of both temporary and permanent access systems at many of the UK’s landmark sites, including 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) and 122 Leadenhall Street (The Cheesegrater).

The seven-page document explains what to do in the event of a mechanical or electrical failure. It is one of three new guidance documents promoting safety and best practice, and is designed to provide information and guidance for the duty holders – building owners, main contractors and facilities managers – responsible for the management and safe use of both permanent and temporary façade access systems.

SAEMA chairman Barry Murphy said: “These are the first in a series of guidance documents being developed by the association’s technical committee.

In every case they reflect latest thinking and best practice.”

The documents can be downloaded from www.saema.org

BRE seeks comments on BREEAM fit-out scheme Consultation on an international version of a recently introduced environmental assessment and rating system for buildings is underway.

Using the UK Refurbishment and Fit-out 2014 scheme as its foundation, consultation on the BREEAM International Non-Domestic Refurbishment and Fit-Out 2015 scheme was launched at international property event MIPIM. The UK scheme has been reworked for an international market accounting for a range of local and regional standards, conditions and climates.

It uses the standards and weightings list used in the BREEAM International New Construction scheme, but with separate weightings, tuned to the environmental impacts of each country, its local standards and conditions.

The scheme is designed in four assessment parts. The first deals with building fabric and structure, the second with core services, the third with local services and the fourth with interior design.

The scheme has been structured to allow for refurbishment and fit-out projects to be assessed against one or all of these four parts, or in any combination, depending on relevance.

Consultation closes on 10 April. Views should be sent to breeam@bre.co.uk using the subject line “Comments on draft BREEAM International RFO 2015”.

FMs to evaluate companies for ‘Fairplace Award’

Bystrup Architecture Design and Engineering – with Robin Snell & Partners, Sven Ole Hansen ApS, Aarsleff and ÅF Lighting

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Ove Arup & Partners Ltd – with Hopkins Architects and Grant Associates

Five assessors including facilities managers have been appointed by the Ethical Property Foundation to evaluate the new ‘ethical’ workplace accreditation, the Fairplace Award.

Shaun Milner, director of York-based Milner Black Assocs; Rhiannon Vaughan Jones from Emcor UK; Michael Packham, a partner at construction, development and facilities management adviser Bernard Williams Associates; and two FMs from support services group Mitie and real estate company CBRE have been appointed as assessors for the accreditation, which was launched last September.

Assessors will undertake site visits, provide written evidence and interview relevant staff when considering which workplaces in the country should be awarded the accreditation.

The Fairplace Award was developed by UK property charity the Ethical Property Foundation and allows companies to put forward evidence of their concrete commitment to people in the building, and the community around the building as well as the environment for which they receive the standard.

The standard consists of a series of guidelines designed to encourage greater collaboration and alignment of policies and practices across finance, procurement, HR, and FM – with a view to boosting the body’s wider sustainability credentials.

The award has been in development since 2009. Its supporters include the BIFM. www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 16:23

FM NEWS

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THINK TANK

Offering training makes a big difference 25%

Money overrides all other motivations 34%

OUR READERS SAID… We asked our LinkedIn and mailing list members: What factors are most motivational for facilities service personnel?

Recent news of striking cleaners, security guards, ward hostesses, caterers, switchboard operators and porters goes to show that the issue of fair pay for facilities service personnel remains a hot topic.

Constraints imposed by contract price and TUPE transfers continue to cause problems for managers of outsourced service teams.

However, there are clearly other, non-financial factors that influence morale and performance – training and team structure.

So what’s the role of good FM team dynamics? Managers need to offer those in their charge the opportunity to shine, so in 2015 what’s the best practice in how teams are structured? What level of autonomy is given to departmental supervisors? Is it even possible to offer genuine career development

in what are often ‘high-churn’ situations? And to what extent is there a difference between the structure of in-house and outsourced teams?

We asked you what facilities personnel respond to best. More than a third of you – 34 per cent – said money overrides all other motivations. A respondent said: “For low-earning staff, money does come top of their list – it can mean taking many part-time jobs to achieve a basic living wage. So being offered a full-time role with the benefits employment brings is a step up. After that the employee needs to receive some respect for their efforts along with effective training and opportunities for overtime and bonus payments.”

But most of you – 41 per cent – thought good team structure makes

Good team structure makes a big difference 41%

the biggest difference. Only 25 per cent were convinced that offering training makes a big difference.

One respondent said this “gives the possibility of career progression, inside or outside their current organisation and possible increase in salary longer term”.

As ever, it’s far from a cut-anddried issue and some respondents said it required a blend of all three.

One said: “I don’t think it is as easy as ABC. I would say the most important thing is how individuals are treated. If the culture is one of mutual respect at all levels then the constraints imposed by any of the above become reduced.”

The respondent added: “I have seen teams on minimum wage with

little opportunity for formal training, excel and perform with good heart when led by someone who really cares about them as individuals and gives them clear directions and consequences to failure. I have seen teams who on the face of it have it all – above average wages, empowered team structure and big training budget, but who grumble incessantly and feel hard done by…

Leadership and culture transcend A B & C. Given that you have great leadership then Maslow’s hierarchy of needs dictates the Living Wage is the next most important area for those on the frontline.”

Join the FM World Think Tank: www.tinyurl.com/fmwthinktank

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Karren Brady and Ranulph Fiennes to speak during Facilities Show Baroness Karren Brady CBE has been announced as one of three keynote speakers at this year’s Protection & Management 2015 series of exhibitions, of which Facilities Show 2015 is part.

Brady will open the event on Tuesday 16 June at ExCeL London.

Baroness Brady became managing director of Birmingham City Football Club at the age of 23.

She is currently vice-chairman of West Ham United and a government small business adviser.

Media work includes BBC reality TV show The Apprentice, where she is one of Lord Alan Sugar’s assistants.

Brady will be using her keynote address to share some anecdotes from her rise in the business world, offering insights and advice www.fm-world.co.uk

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for women in business.

Event organiser UBM has also revealed that Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE is to speak on the conference’s second day.

Fiennes is the first person to

reach both North and South Poles by foot, and has completed seven marathons on seven continents.

His keynote speech will cover how teamwork, persistence, and ability to perform under pressure

have helped him through the most hazardous of situations.

A third keynote speaker is yet to be announced.

Facilities Show is part of UBM’s Protection & Management series, described by organisers as the UK’s largest event dedicated to protecting and managing property, people and information. As well as Facilities Show 2015, events running concurrently at London’s ExCel venue include Safety & Health Expo, IFSEC International, FIREX International and Service Management Expo.

Facilities Show runs from Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th June. Prospective visitors are invited to register for Facilities Show at www.facilitiesshow.com FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 09

19/03/2015 17:43

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“Osborne’s failure to extend the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance is disappointing”

BUDGET 2015

Budget brings good news for apprenticeships

GETTY

HERPREET GREWAL newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

Budget measures announced by George Osborne this month have been welcomed by those in the FM and built environment sectors.

The chancellor – who said his Budget would propel “a truly national recovery” – said he would abolish National Insurance contributions for employees under 21 years of age, including apprentices, from next year. The government will also introduce an Apprenticeship Voucher, which will put employers in control of the government funding for the training apprentices need.

These measures complement the National Minimum Wage increase for October (see page 6).

The new mechanism, to be developed and tested with employers and providers immediately and be fully implemented from 2017, “will give employers the purchasing power to have an even greater say in the quality, value for money and

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relevance of the training that their apprentices receive”.

Over the next Parliament, said Osborne, the government would change how it manages its significant land and property assets and shrink its estate. In 2014, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, revealed plans to reduce the number of government buildings in Central London from 143 in 2010 to 23 shortly after 2020 and relocate several workspaces to the suburbs. (www.fm-world. co.uk/news/fm-industry-news/ government-announces-plans-toshrink-its-estate)

Rationalising space To bolster these efforts, Osborne said the government would implement “a new commercially driven approach to land and property asset management across the central government estate, based on departments paying market-level rents for the freehold assets they own”.

The government is to create a new central body or bodies, which, working under the Treasury and the Government Property Unit of the Cabinet Office, will own and manage certain property and land assets, as well as leasehold assets.

This will help drive better estate management, and provide greater incentives for departments to rationalise the space they occupy, says the Budget 2015 document.

It will also deliver efficiencies, and release land and property for productive use, including building new homes. Implementation of the reform begins immediately, and the model could be operational by March 2017.

North growing faster Adrian Ringrose, Interserve CEO, welcomed the abolition of employers’ National Insurance contributions for employees under 21 and, from next year, the abolition of National Insurance contributions for apprentices.

Ringrose also lauded Osborne’s efforts to create jobs and growth nationwide. He said: “With a workforce of over 50,000 spread

all over the UK, we think it is right that the chancellor has emphasised creating jobs and growth throughout the country, and not just in London and the South-East. Over the past year the North actually grew faster than the South, and job creation in regions like Yorkshire, where Interserve is very active.”

Vicky Smith, head of public sector at Deloitte Real Estate, said plans for the government’s estate were positive. She said: “This new model will charge rent to government departments who occupy freehold properties owned by the government. This will encourage more efficient use of space and help the government in achieving its £5 billion disposals target by 2020.”

But others were not so pleased. John Alker, director of policy and communications and acting CEO of UK-GBC, said: “Osborne’s failure to extend the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance is disappointing, and will leave a major funding gap for landlords wanting to improve their properties to meet the new regulations for 2018.”

And Labour leader Ed Miliband said that if Labour gained power, it would replace ‘zero-hours’ contracts with ‘regular hours’ contracts, where workers are paid for exactly the work they do. He said a Labour government would raise the minimum wage to more than £8 an hour and ensure that every government contract created apprenticeships.

● Abolition of National Insurance contributions for employees under 21 years of age, including apprentices ● The government will also introduce an Apprenticeship Voucher, which will put employers in control of the government funding for the training apprentices need. ● The government would implement “a new commercially driven approach to land and property asset management across the central government estate, based on departments paying marketlevel rents for the freehold assets they own”.

www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 17:35

Partner approach

REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT

Place Partnership asset vehicle gears up

ALAMY

HERPREET GREWAL newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

Last July FM World reported that the idea of a new asset vehicle scheme was being touted as a way to manage various public sector properties across the West Midlands. In January this year, the Cabinet Office officially backed the scheme. This month it was given a name – the Place Partnership. There are also plans to expand the scheme to other regions in the second phase of what is named the One Public Estate – a scheme launched by the government and the Local Government Association in 2013.

The Place Partnership for the West Midlands comprises the six founding partner organisations – Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, Redditch Borough Council, Warwickshire Police, West Mercia Police, Worcester City Council and Worcestershire County Council.

The asset vehicle has been working to deliver economic and regeneration benefits by www.fm-world.co.uk

10-11_News analysis.indd 011

maximising the value of its estate portfolio, which includes 1,323 assets across the four counties.

For example, the shared fire and police station in Worcestershire is saving an estimated 18 per cent on building costs and will save 25 per cent on running costs, according to the Cabinet Office.

The vehicle is described as the first of its kind in public sector history and its approach is expected to make efficiencies, improve operational services and employ hundreds of staff. The company aims to create gross cost savings of about £58 million between 2015 and 2025.

Bruce Mann, executive director of GPU at the Cabinet Office, is overseeing creation of Place Partnership until the new management board is in place.

He said: “The potential regional and national impact of this trailblazing organisation is far-reaching and we’re looking forward to seeing the company’s progression over the next few months.”

The organisation is now setting up the new commercial company, owned by the public sector, to deliver the services required. It is not based on the traditional ‘shared services’ approach, says the Cabinet Office.

The organisations driving it forward have all agreed to own part of the company and work together to integrate the services they provide, boost regional economic growth and optimise the efficiency of the assets they manage. Each partner approved the development of a full business case, which was submitted for approval by each partner. These established how the JPV would be governed, developed and what its role and responsibilities would be. Originally, Herefordshire Council was a part of the JPV, but it has since pulled out. Jim Stobie, programme manager, said: “Place Partnership will bring a range of benefits to the partnership and the cities, towns and communities they represent, but it’s important each partner is sure it’s right for them at this stage. While Herefordshire Council has decided not to progress now, we recognise their appetite to further explore whether Place Partnership could ● The company aims to deliver gross cost savings of about £58 million (excluding school savings) between 2015 and 2025. ● For instance, the new shared fire and police station in Worcestershire are saving an estimated 18% on building costs and will save 25% on running costs, according to the Cabinet Office. ● The new vehicle would create “significant efficiencies, improve operational services and initially employ about 200 staff”.

“Place Partnership will bring a range of benefits to the partnership and the cities, towns and communities they represent”

be right for them at a later date.”

Formation of the company will bring the asset management functions together for the first time in UK public sector history. A spokesman for One Public Estate said the new vehicle would create “significant efficiencies, improve operational services and initially employ around 200 staff”.

The company aims to deliver gross cost savings of about £58 million (excluding school savings) between 2015 and 2025.

Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “The One Public Estate programme shows what can be done when central and local government work together. I hope other public sector bodies will learn from this groundbreaking approach in the West Midlands, which will help deliver better services by working more collaboratively.”

Last year Maude also said he believed that the One Public Estate programme “is changing the mindset of how we manage property in the public sector.

From an approach that was chaotic and fractured to one which is coordinated and coherent”.

At the time he said: “It’s time to stop thinking of government and local authorities as owners of land and buildings.

“The true owners are the public. Departments and local authorities are really just custodians on their behalf.”

FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 11

19/03/2015 17:35

FM BUSINESS SIGN UP FOR FM WORLD DAILY AT FM-WORLD.CO.UK

ANALYSIS

When will large outsourcers have to say ‘no’?

GRAEME DAVIES newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

Government outsourcing specialist Serco has tried to draw a line under its period in purgatory by reaching out to investors for a £550 million cash injection at the same time as it publishes results that could finally mark the nadir of its three years of suffering.

Under new chief executive Rupert Soames, Serco has revamped its management and

gone through its contracts with a fine-toothed comb, hence the £1.3 billion of provisions in the latest results against contracts that were agreed at prices that turned out to be uneconomic.

But even as the company prepared to draw a line under its financial struggles, fresh allegations emerged in February of poor treatment of detainees at the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, managed by

Serco. A three-month undercover probe filmed Serco employees talking disparagingly about detainees – representing another dent in the reputation of the company whose previous issues with government contracts include being found to have wrongly charged for tagging of prisoners, some of whom were dead or in prison already.

Employees have been suspended and Serco has promised a full investigation, but the reports could not have come at a worse time for a company trying to relaunch itself. Indeed, it was quite instructive to compare the recent results of Serco with those of fellow former pariah G4S, which itself managed to rebound more rapidly from its problems with government contracts in 2012.

While Serco was booking losses of £1.35 billion, G4S posted a profit of £148 million for 2014,

Contract wins

NEW BUSINESS Galliford Try’s FM division has been awarded a 25-year maintenance and life cycle contract for a school buildings programme in north-east England and Wales. The £56.6 million deal is in addition to a larger construction contract for the group worth more than £103 million with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) for the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) batch for north-east England.

Skanska will deliver operational services at the New Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. The public-private partnership between Skanska, fund manager Equitix and the NHS includes design, build, finance and hard and soft FM. The build contract is worth £140 million and set for completion in 12 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

12-13_BusinessNews.indd 12

2018. Skanska will also provide hard FM services at the hospital for 30 years.

Imtech Inviron has landed a contract for two new London buildings – Zig Zag and Kings Gate. Under Land Securities’ contract the company will carry out technical services at the 341,500 square feet site, which provides retail, residential and commercial services to London’s Victoria district.

OCS has won a cleaning deal with social housing providers Helm Housing and Choice Housing Ireland Limited, currently trading as OakleeTrinity, in Northern Ireland. OCS will clean more than 250 social housing schemes as well as OakleeTrinity’s head offices

Churchill has won a contract with Canary Wharf Management Limited (CWML) for cleaning services across link boxes, offices and mess rooms within the wharf’s financial nexus.

CWML manages the 97-acre estate, overseeing areas such as security, traffic management, health and safety, business continuity and facilities management. The estate comprises four million square feet of offices and 700,000 square feet of retail space.

Mitie has retained a multi-million pound security contract with Eurostar.

The three-year deal, which could be expanded to five years, will be delivered

by Mitie’s total security management arm. It will provide more than 250 highly trained security professionals, “who will continue to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Eurostar passengers”.

Bilfinger Europa is extending its relationship with McArthurGlen designer outlets in a new multi-million pound contract. The three-year deal to provide cleaning services will cover five UK McArthurGlen Designer Outlets in Swindon, Bridgend, York, East Midlands and Cheshire Oaks.

representing a significant aboutturn in performance from the previous year when it booked a loss of £190 million. But a common theme that ran across the results from both companies was a sense that both are still struggling to make government contracts work profitably. While a huge chunk of Serco’s writeoffs were down to mis-priced government contracts, G4S also announced a £45 million hit in its results owing mainly to a struggle to make the Compass asylum-seeker contract work profitably. The contract, run in conjunction with Serco, has been overwhelmed by the numbers of asylum seekers, which has meant the contractors having to rent out hotel rooms to house those falling under their care.

But the wider concern here is that even companies like Serco and G4S are still struggling to price and carry out government contracts profitably. Indeed G4S, which appears to be in ruder health than Serco, also wrote off £136 million last year against primarily UK government contracts. The fear is that there remain yet more unprofitable contracts among the private sector’s government deals that will need to be written down.

Both Serco and G4S have spoken of a desire to work more closely with the government to improve the profitability of their contracts, but it remains to be seen just what can done with contracts that are underway.

At some point the likes of G4S and Serco will have to simply say ‘no’ as the government looks to drive down margins on contracts to wafer-thin levels. Whether this means the government will simply look elsewhere remains to be seen. Indeed, are their rivals able to take on such contracts?

Graeme Davies writes for Investors Chronicle

www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 11:32

BUSINESS CBRE in £1bn bid to buy Johnson BRIEFS Controls’ workplace solutions arm Global real estate group CBRE is understood to be in talks to buy Johnson Controls Inc’s global workplace solutions business for an estimated $1 billion, according to news reports.

Recent stories by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal stated that CBRE had been the most successful in an auction for the business, which had attracted several private equity firms, according to people familiar with the matter.

The reports added, however, that negotiations between CBRE and Johnson Controls were ongoing and a deal was not certain.

A CBRE spokeswoman, told FM World: “As a matter of company policy, CBRE does not comment on market rumours or speculation about our activities or business strategy.”

Wigley opens FM division

CBRE Group is the world’s largest commercial real estate services company by revenue

Johnson Controls announced in October that it planned to divest itself of its Global Workplace Solutions business.

Earlier this year, international property firm Brookfield Asset

Management Inc. said it would buy the remaining 50 per cent of the Canadian and Australian FM businesses from Johnson Controls Inc, which was the firm’s move towards divestment.

SHUTTERSTOCK/ALAMY

Levy Restaurants scores goal at Millennium Stadium Levy Restaurants UK and the Welsh Rugby Union Group (WRU Group) have joined forces to create a company to provide high-quality catering, conference and hospitality services at the Millennium Stadium.

The venture, the Millennium Stadium Experience Limited (MSEL), combines the expertise of WRU Official Hospitality and Compass Group UK & Ireland’s Levy Restaurants UK. MSEL is owned 83.5 per cent by the WRU Group and 16.5 per cent

by Compass Group UK & Ireland and is based at the revamped hospitality headquarters inside the Millennium Stadium.

On the board of MSEL, finance www.fm-world.co.uk

12-13_BusinessNews.indd 13

MSEL could open up more opportunities in the hospitality market, says the partnership

director Paul Galvin represents Compass Group UK & Ireland.

The WRU Group is represented by group finance director, Steve Phillips; head of sales and marketing, Craig Maxwell; and Millennium Stadium manager Mark Williams.

Colin Bailey, managing director of Levy Restaurants UK, the sports, leisure and hospitality sector of Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “The creation of the Millennium Stadium Experience Limited is testament to the success of our partnership with the Millennium Stadium team to date.

“This will be taking the best of our expertise to further enhance the guests’ experience when they visit the stadium.”

Steve Phillips, chair of MSEL, welcomed the conclusion of the MSEL deal with Compass and he said: “This is an exciting venture for all involved as we work together to deliver an exceptional service for our guests.”

Midlands-based property firm The Wigley Group has launched a facilities management division.

Over the past 50 years, the company has built a network of service engineers to undertake building and maintenance work across the Wigley Group portfolio. The team, led by asset manager James Ellerington, carries out building, grounds maintenance, health and safety, security and utilities infrastructure projects.

The new division will now seek work with landlords, property owners and agents in the region.

Cordant extends tech offer Cordant Services has bought two specialist companies from the UKFM Group.

Air conditioning businesses Thermotech Engineering Services and G8 Environmental Solutions will join Cordant’s new technical projects division to enhance its HVAC engineering capacity.

About 60 staff will move to Cordant Services under TUPE rules, and the existing management team across both businesses will remain.

Kingdom buys CDO Group Kingdom Security has acquired Wirral-based food security business CDO Group Ltd. CDO employs 160 people and has a turnover of more than £4 million. The acquisition continues Kingdom’s expansion to a £90 million turnover and 4,000 staff.

Terry Barton, managing director at Kingdom, said the purchase enhanced the firm’s food sector portfolio and represented its desire to increase market share and to develop its extensive customer base.

FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 13

19/03/2015 11:32

FM BUSINESS

IN FOCUS

The interviewee: Aileen Peverell, head of facilities at Oxfam GB The issue: FM in charity properties

Charity must be business-savvy A third of charities have not paid for any property advice in the past three years, according to a survey by the Ethical Property Foundation.

The Charity Property Matters Survey 2014 reported that 40 per cent of charities rely on informal advice from friends and contacts.

The survey also reports that 45 per cent of acharities now consider that their property poses the greatest risk to their long-term survival, which is a 4 per cent rise on 2012 figures.

These may not be surprising figures, but they are certainly concerning. Antonia Swinson, director of the Ethical Property Foundation, says: “This survey paints a stark picture of a worried and hard-pressed third sector squeezed between fear and ignorance, balancing austerity conditions against growing demand for their services.”

She says it also reveals “the impact of property management on a charity’s work and on their bottom line. Property is the largest budget line but, as the survey shows, also poses the biggest threat to long-term survival. Relying on friends and colleagues for property advice is a risky business, not least for the beneficiaries charities serve”.

Aileen Peverell, head of facilities at charity Oxfam, says 14 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

14_BusinessFocus.indd 14

her organisation is lucky enough to have a whole facilities team and that sometimes smaller charities, which are not so fortunate, approach her for advice although, she points out, “we do what we can when we can, but we are also stretched”.

Peverell says: “Small charities often fall into ‘bear traps’ such as deals done with the more unscrupulous landlords. Many small charities don’t even know where to get property and what kinds of building controls to consider.”

She adds: “Many of them do not understand that a building needs fire exits, fire detection systems and special glass in the windows, but they have no idea of these things when considering a property… smaller charities do not always consider what they need in a property.”

Seeking advice “Charities will also sometimes overbuy space because it’s a nice area, but then realise they cannot afford it,” says Peverill. ”Or many might get the right property but

discover that the rates they have to pay are extortionate – or they haven’t properly considered the cost of utilities such as heating”.

She feels the way forward is to educate the profession. The solution is not necessarily “a full-time building manager,” but “there should be advice” for smaller charities, she says.

Need to professionalise Those who are advisers need to also market themselves better to the sector, she says. The Ethical Property Foundation has recently been named as one of these advisers – it will be the primary supplier of property advice to charities contacting the government’s Charity Commission.

But Swinson concurs with Peverell’s point. “There’s a job to do to raise awareness about the support available, but there are also opportunities for the commercial property industry, charity grant funders and trustees to get involved.”

The report also reveals that more than 40 per cent of charities experience difficulty in obtaining

“Small charities often fall into ‘bear traps’ such as deals done with unscrupulous landlords”

core funding to cover premises costs; that more than a quarter cannot borrow to buy a building; 57 per cent are either planning or would consider sharing space to reduce costs; and that 80 per cent do not consider that their voice is heard by local authorities in local strategic planning.

For larger charities, such as £50 million Catholic aid charity CAFOD, things are a little different. Al Lewis, FM at CAFOD, said the altruistic aims of third sector work often means other areas get overlooked.

“Charities are more externally focused than businesses,” he says. “We are focused on our supporters, getting them engaged and supporting us with time and money. And then we are focused on our recipients, giving away our money and ensuring it is well used and does the most benefit.

The profit driver does not exist in the same way in charities, it is not about the bottom line, it is about serving others.”

Lewis says this can mean “the physical building, working environment and so on, are harder to make a priority. We want to give away as much of our money as we can, so sometimes we do not invest where we should. There is always a tension here”.

Charities must professionalise, says Lewis. “Most are already doing so, both in FM and other areas. CAFOD is a £50 million organisation, so it cannot be run purely by volunteers and goodwill. This is not the 1970s, when charity amateur was an acceptable ethos. We need trained professionals to follow best practice in FM and ensure that we get best life cycle value for our money, not just the cheapest products or services available.”

The foundation’s charity property survey can be found here: www.bit.ly/1FI65WS HERPREET GREWAL newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 11:33

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18/03/2015 15:15

FM FEATURE

THE WORKPLACE CONVERSATION

WORKPLACECONVERSATION.COM

TALKING SHOP

STAGE 3: THE CHALLENGE

“ALIGNING WORKPLACE WITH OVERALL STRATEGY” After five weeks, 250 contributors, 100 ideas and more than 500 comments, the Workplace Conversation has reached stage 3 - and the key challenge to be resolved in the remainder of the process has been identified as the alignment of workplace with overall organisational strategy. Here’s what needs to be addressed: Strategic status – how can we ensure that workplace strategy has the same status within organisations as marketing, people and sales strategy?

Sundering silos - how can we break down departmental barriers to ensure that the workplace is always a primary organisational focus?

Senior sign-off – how do we ensure that senior business leaders credit the workplace with the strategic status it deserves?

You’re now invited to suggest your idea for how to solve this specific challenge by visiting workplaceconversation. com. The 20 best ideas (as voted for by you and other workplaceconversation.com visitors) will then go through to stage 4, where they will be whittled down to 10.

Meanwhile, below are some of the topics of Workplace Conversation over the past two weeks. Have your say!

ADOPTING A WORKPLACE COMMUNITIES MODEL “I’m proposing that we adopt a ‘community’ perspective on workplaces. Membership of a community provides security, creates a sense of identification and helps fulfil individual needs around social interaction. People can belong to more than one community, depending on the breadth of their role.

We need workplaces that allow us to socialise and collaborate productively. We need to feel we belong to a community, free to express our interests through membership of multiple communities. Communities will be organic, evolving in size and form.”

Sandy Wilkie

WORKPLACE OWNERSHIP

“Doesn’t everyone need to own the workplace? Delivering great space, understanding culture, enabled technology etc., are key ingredients to delivering a fabulous workplace.

But the people using the workplace have to own it, respect it and take responsibility for it. Perhaps a focus on the wider audience, the consumers of the workplace, should determine how we deliver it.”

Jennifer Pigden

“I am all for taking an holistic approach and to involve entire communities in the determination of their workplace experience, which should pay off with enhanced engagement of people with their organisation.

A serious attempt at defining a shared future vision of work and the appropriate working environment determined by workers, managers, FM, HR and IT would act as a foundation for enabling strategies for FM,HR and IT. The question then is ‘who leads such a development?’. My view is that it doesn’t matter as long as it is sponsored by the business executive.”

THE WORKPLACE CONVERSATION PROCESS 1) (Stage complete) Thoughts on how best to improve the current workplace were sought (quotes on these pages come from that process).

2) (Stage complete) Now’s your chance to shape the rest of the conversation by deciding what key challenge the project should be trying to solve.

The challenge that gets the most votes goes forward to Stage 3.

3) 19th March-6th April The single challenge set at Stage 2 is opened up for debate on the Workplace Conversation site (see challenge details, left). Read everyone’s ideas for solving it and give a thumbs-up if you like them. The 20 ideas with most support from participants will form a shortlist for discussion in Stage 4.

4) 7th-30th April The top 20 ideas for resolving the challenge are now opened up for a focused debate. Have another read of them. Would they work in the real world?

They might need developing, but are they practical enough to actually work? The 10 ideas with most support from participants go on to Stage 5.

5) 21st April-4th May The Workplace Conversation’s panel of experts from the world of FM and HR examine the 10 remaining ideas, deciding which they think should be declared the winner. (You’ll be able to continue the debate at workplaceconversation.com while the panel discusses the ideas offline.)

6) 5th May The winning idea is announced.

Graham Jervis www.fm-world.co.uk

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FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 17

19/03/2015 17:47

FM OPINION

THE DIARISTS

NEW CHALLENGES IN DELIVERING STUDENT SERVICES

‘

SIMON FRANCIS

is head of estate services at London South Bank University (LSBU)

I wrote in my last column how I was moving on from University of the Arts London to London South Bank University (LSBU).

In the mid to late ’90s I was an undergraduate at LSBU. It has brought memories flooding back, but my experience of undergraduate life at LSBU will set me in good stead to deliver student services.

I head the estates services team at LSBU. My team is not only responsible for a range of FM functions (cleaning, security, space management and reception services), but will also soon be responsible for services rarely seen under the FM umbrella, such as the timetabling of all teaching and learning activities. There are some interesting benefits in my team running this service that I

am exploring, particularly with regard to use of space.

My team also manages campus catering. This currently consists of a large canteen, six coffee shop and grab-and-go-type offerings and the delivery of an internal hospitality service. It’s been years since catering fell within my remit so it has been interesting to get back into it. I’m pleased to be responsible for a service that delivers directly to students on a daily basis. My team has some significant works planned

“IT’S BEEN YEARS SINCE CATERING FELL WITHIN MY REMIT SO IT HAS BEEN INTERESTING TO GET STUCK BACK INTO CATERING AND RETAIL MANAGEMENT”

to deliver improvements to our catering environments, while a recent student satisfaction survey (run with the Institute of Customer Service) has prompted plans to improve catering services.

The university too is going through significant change, moving from a structure of four distinct faculties with their own administration functions to one of seven schools that will share a unified support structure with centralised administration. I am working with senior colleagues to manage this transition.

My team’s services have a direct impact on the student journey so I am keen to develop a culture of service excellence. My task is to provide high-quality, sustainable catering at a price suited to their budgets. We don’t quite have this right yet.

HELPING TO MAINTAIN PARTNERSHIPS

‘

EMMA VINCENT

is facilities manager at Sevenoaks District Council

18 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

18_Opinion.indd 18

Partnership working is popular at Sevenoaks District Council.

We have partnerships for building control, environmental health, licensing and revenues & benefits. Although it would be difficult to form a partnership for property & facilities management, we help in many different ways. Sometimes they are only small contributions.

Other contributions have a higher impact, such as annual billing.

Each year in February and March we help revenues & benefits to send out more than 116,000 letters to residents in the Sevenoaks District and Dartford Borough. Over the past couple of years we have started to outsource 95,000 of these letters to a mailing company as there was too much impact on the team to keep it in-house. But FM is

still involved in the process, as the print studio (which comes under FM) has to print the bills off over a three/four-day period (including weekends) and our courier has to deliver them to the mailing company. It involves close working with the revenues & benefits teams to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

The print studio also prints all the benefit letters while the rest of the FM team helps to envelope them. That’s more than 15,000 letters that the FM team

“EACH YEAR IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH WE HELP REVENUES & BENEFITS TO SEND OUT MORE THAN 116,000 LETTERS TO RESIDENTS”

has to hand-envelope, count and send out in two weeks. Over the years we have become quicker, completing one authority (about 6,700 letters) in two-and-a-half days. We have a rota, we all have our own systems on enveloping and we are all willing to help.

As well as helping to handenvelope the benefit letters, the post room also uses its machines to insert 6,000 business rate bills.

All this is done while we carry on general FM duties – keeping our SLA target above 95 per cent.

Our mailing company once asked why we keep the hand enveloping in-house when they could take the whole annual billing from us. I took the idea to the revenues & benefits team.

I was given a simple answer – quality of in-house service. I can’t argue with that! www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 17:06

You can follow us at twitter.com/FM_World www.tinyurl.com/fmthinktank

BEST OF THE

FMWORLD BLOGS Open-plan offices: seven tips from Siemens real estate Anne Vazquez, Facility Executive More than 70 per cent of employees in the US work in open-plan offices, says the International Management Facility Association. Over the last two years Siemens Real Estate (SRE) has rolled out its New Way of Working (NewWow) arrangement to more than 80 sites in 35 countries. Here are seven tips for success from the SRE NewWow playbook from Michael Kruklinski, head of SRE for the Americas.

1. Balance at-home with in-office working: Have open discussions with employees about the best approach to mobile working on a case-by-case basis.

2. Find the right desk-sharing ratio: For SRE, the ratio is typically one desk for every 1.5 employees, but this varies based on the type of jobs performed at each site.

3. Ensure sufficient private space: Make sure your space includes enough conference rooms, think tanks, or ‘phone booths’ for private meetings and conversations.

4. Be sensitive to employees: Veteran staff may resent giving up private offices.

5. Foster collaboration: Leverage your flexible work environment to gather staff in ‘neighbourhoods’ in the office on a regular basis and encourage regular interaction.

6. Build a culture of trust: Managers should focus less on controlling daily tasks and more on empowering individual time management.

7. Begin the change process early: Six months before implementation there is an education and training component, and then there’s a dialogue with the employees about finding the best setup there. And the HR policy has to be in place. Avoid a onesize-fits-all approach; tailor the open office plan to the needs of each workplace.

Read the full article at www.tinyurl.com/mtc3j2v

FM beyond the building – three key trends to watch for Erik Jaspers, Planon As the field of FM and corporate real estate evolves, the responsibilities of FMs change too. What trends change our perspectives on buildings and the profession of FM? 1. Technology is a key factor in change for buildings: Technology is a potentially disruptive driver of change for buildings: adding technology to the built environment will change how we use and operate buildings. Bell-boys once went through the building to spread messages. Once the phone was created people could contact each other, enabling the creation of high-rise buildings. Now social networks connect multiple people. New generations of information systems will enable users to share workplace information in real-time. This increases the ease of working from home.

2. Emerging workplace types: Co-work places allow people to meet and collaborate, with people paying on an actual use basis. In his research paper Work & Workplaces In The Digital City, Andrew Laing prompts the notion of WAAS, workplace as a service, indicating that access to property is becoming more important than owning it.

3. The city as a workplace: The UN says the urban population will double by 2050.

This challenges effectively sharing urban infrastructures. Scaling up the infrastructure is no solution, so sharing should become second nature and research is finding out how we can manage that. The quest to design urban environments that can cope with higher densities of population is also known as ‘Smart Cities’. These aim to minimise friction between people while spaces are shared more often. Technology to measure behaviour in the workplace is becoming available. These key trends will influence FM. The profession faces both a great opportunity as well as challenges to understand how we can leverage these developments. Is your organisation tackling these trends?

Read the full article at www.tinyurl.com/l3dqon8

www.fm-world.co.uk

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FIVE MINUTES WITH NAME: Munish Datta JOB TITLE: Head of Plan A and FM, Marks & Spencer

When your business focus is on sustainability and becoming more energy and water efficient, when you’re looking to make your refrigeration assets more fuel efficient, then you have to provide prioritisation for those projects – and that’s what we have done with our FM team. it is now the most critical component of the M&S property team in achieving our property commitments. Soon after we launched Plan A in 2008 and started to look at how we reached that original target of being 25 per cent more energy efficient, we realised that without our FM team we were not going to get anywhere with it.

When we started realising not just the carbon benefits, but also the commercial benefits of Plan A, and when there started to emerge a very strong business case, it became really clear that FM was going to be right at the very centre of it.

Sometimes when you don’t get invited to the table you have to force yourself upon it. What’s disappointing for the industry as a whole, is that the FM team is only thought about right at the very end of the process; it’s typically not involved in the design of the building, its commissioning.

Become better at marketing yourselves – individual FMs and the sector as a whole, to BIFM – everyone needs to become better to be at that table, actually influencing decision-making.

Post-occupancy evaluation and soft landings – that continuous loop of learning through a building’s life cycle – gives a chance for every stakeholder to be involved, in theory. But that’s where we need the FM industry, our £110 billion industry, to show some teeth. If you’re not invited, invite yourself.

Change is in our hands. There’s a huge opportunity staring in the face of every FM to become the most vital stakeholder in the life cycle of every building we’re involved in. We just have to seize it.

FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 19

19/03/2015 11:35

FM FEATURE

LOCAL AUTHORITY FM

NICK MARTINDALE

WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL

HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM

TRI IT AND SEE?

KENSINGTON & CHELSEA

In October 2010, Westminster City Council, Hammersmith & Fulham London Borough Council, and Kensington & Chelsea London Borough Council combined specific areas of service delivery as a response to financial pressures facing local government. It was a gutsy answer to challenging times – but should this model be adopted more widely? Nick Martindale investigates

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LOCAL AUTHORITY FM

HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM COUNCIL, THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA, AND WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL PARTNERED WITH AMEY TO COMBINE A NUMBER OF SERVICES, WHICH CURRENT ESTIMATES SUGGEST WILL SAVE

£43M A YEAR BY 2015-16.

T

he forthcoming general election will see the usual jockeying over finances as the various parties set out their plans for the next five years, should they be elected.

Yet the arguments are not so much around levels of spending as about which areas will be least affected by savage cuts that are likely to continue regardless of the result of 7 May. Local authorities have been particularly hard-hit by the cuts in public spending over recent years, coupled with freezes in council tax, forcing a greater focus on operational efficiency. For many, this has seen a re-evaluation of how authorities are run and managed, including the delivery of facilities management services as part of a broader approach that questions traditional ways of operating.

The most radical initiative remains the Tri-borough agreement, under which Hammersmith & Fulham Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster City Council partnered with Amey to combine a number of www.fm-world.co.uk

20_23_Local authority FM.indd 25

services, which current estimates suggest will save £43 million a year by 2015-16.

Much of the initial impetus stemmed from Glenn Woodhead, currently framework development manager at Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and previously assistant director of building operations at Westminster City Council.

“At Westminster we originally went out to market, worked out of single services, looking for best value and for savings,” he recalls. “We had some services such as cleaning out on third or fourth generation, but the amount of savings that were coming were limited. We could prove best price but it didn’t take the services any further forward.

At some point there comes a point where you can’t go any further.”

The shared services contract has now been running for around 18 months, he says, and has entered what Woodhead terms the “contract management” phase. “It’s a core piece of work which the Link – or the client function – has to undertake in making sure that the contract is doing exactly what it says and is fit for purpose,” he says. In reality, this has meant moving away from more financial-based KPIs, which are less relevant in a fixed-price contract, and towards metrics around performance.

Educating the user-base Another focus has been on explaining the new arrangement to different parts of the authority. “Some people have been more attuned to what an outsourced contract is, but for others it’s been a new experience, and we’ve had to do a lot of work around understanding what the changes are,” he adds. “We’re not going to get the level of savings we’ve put up by doing things in

the same way, so there has been a lot of educating the user-base around what this contract is for, and to define the objectives.”

There have been practical lessons for Amey too, says Iain Chalmers, business director for London Boroughs, particularly around some of the more publicfacing aspects.

“When you’re looking across the estate, people’s needs can be significantly different to anything it might say in a blackand-white service matrix,” he says. “If we have a broken front door at Kensington Town Hall we can put another security guard on it and monitor it through CCTV. But in a children’s home or a home with vulnerable adults in it, it’s important that it’s dealt with immediately. One of the lessons I have learned is that, although we’re dealing with three councils, we’re actually working with a number of departments which themselves have customers with very significant needs and which the FM community has a direct impact on.”

Other authorities are also interested in the idea, he adds – FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 21

19/03/2015 11:36

FM FEATURE

LOCAL AUTHORITY FM

NICK MARTINDALE

NORFOLK

the framework agreement means any London borough can buy any of the services provided by Amey through a standard process without the need to tender – and the London Borough of Camden also joined the grouping in January 2015, in a £10 million total facilities management contract. Flexibility is essential in such arrangements, adds Chalmers, ensuring that contracts can evolve over time.

“If we think about day one of the contract and delivering the same thing in year five, then from a service provider point of view we’re on to a loser,” he says.

Other authorities are also making efforts to consolidate their FM services in a single contract and to achieve greater economies of scale, even if this is just confined to the single authority. “Local authorities are driven initially by the need to save cost now,” says Andy Fontana, director for local government at Interserve.

“They’ve done what they can to work with us and other organisations to save cost from their existing frameworks; now they’re really hitting the more difficult time, so they need to be a little bit more radical in what they’re doing.”

One example is Croydon Council, which has reduced FM costs by 40 per cent over the past 10 years as a result of economies of scale, he says, but others have been constrained by existing contracts and may only just be getting to a point where they can take advantage of such arrangements.

At Southwark Council, the emphasis has been on rationalising its own setup, by centralising contracts over a number of years.

“It’s taken 10 years to get to this point, but by the end of this year we will have centralised 22 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

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all the budgets, be directly responsible for 300 buildings and providing services to an additional 118, and have reduced the number of suppliers from over 40 to two,” says Matthew Hunt, head of corporate facilities management. A total facilities management contract with Interserve started with its new headquarters and has now spread to a further 40 buildings, he adds.

Innovative solutions Another approach for some councils has been to free up their in-house team, with the view to it becoming a revenuegenerator. Norse Commercial Services grew out of Norfolk County Council, which remains its main shareholder, but about 80 per cent of its work is now for other authorities based around the country, including Medway Council and Norwich City Council, operating as joint ventures with Norse.

“We offer a slightly different model than either in-house or traditional outsourcing,” suggests Mike Britch, managing director of Norse Group. “We provide the option of keeping the local authority strategically involved and sharing in the success of that organisation, but bringing in a commercial focus around the delivery of those services.”

Suffolk County Council envisaged a similar model when it divested Eastern Facilities Management Solutions four years ago. Here, though, the business initially struggled to establish itself as a commercial operator.

“One of the challenges was that all of the people that were part of the organisation when it was completely Suffolk County Council then found themselves in this standalone commercial entity,” says Jo Lardent. “But they were public servants and that commercial mindset just

NORSE COMMERCIAL SERVICES GREW OUT OF NORFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL, WHICH REMAINS ITS MAIN SHAREHOLDER, BUT ABOUT

80% OF ITS WORK IS NOW FOR OTHER AUTHORITIES BASED AROUND THE COUNTRY

CROYDON

CROYDON COUNCIL HAS REDUCED FM COSTS BY

40% OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS AS A RESULT OF ECONOMIES OF SCALE

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19/03/2015 11:37

LOCAL AUTHORITY FM

SOUTHWARK

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR

300 118 BUILDINGS, PROVIDES SERVICES TO AN ADDITIONAL

AND HAS REDUCED THE NUMBER OF SUPPLIERS FROM MORE THAN

40 TO 2 www.fm-world.co.uk

20_23_Local authority FM.indd 27

wasn’t something they had.”

A consultant review last year saw a new team, including Lardent, brought in, with a view to growing the client base.

“We’ve won a new contract with Southend Borough Council, and we’re currently looking at forming joint ventures with a couple of other local authorities,” says Lardent.

“But we’re also looking to bring private clients into the organisation.”

Some authorities are also starting to merge the delivery of hard and soft services, including the provision of IT, says Wilfred Petrie, chief executive of Cofely, which provides a range of services to North East Lincolnshire Council and North Tyneside Council, and recently secured an agreement with Cheshire West and Chester Council.

“The hard, the soft and the facilities management distinction still exists, but you also have more innovative solutions, where they go back to their fundamentals around delivering a certain amount of urban regeneration or improving a certain number of services to schools, and they go out to the market and ask for these bigger solutions,” he says.

One-estate model Yet there is debate over how far such initiatives can go, particularly when it involves more than one authority, as with Tri-borough. Hunt, for one, is wary of the idea of teaming up with other authorities.

“I was engaged in the very early stages of the Tri-borough, and asked if Southwark wanted to put our hat in the ring, and the short answer was no,” he says. “In the next two years I’ll be starting a very clear review to assess what the options

are for our services from 2020 onwards. But it will be from a position of strength, not from a supply-led perspective, where the client doesn’t really have a true understanding of what the contract is delivering. That could be one overarching contract, it could be a contract that includes other boroughs, it could be keeping it in two distinct areas, but all of those options will be open for us.”

Fontana, meanwhile, believes the one-estate model – examining an authority’s entire building portfolio and looking to allocate resources and services as efficiently as possible – will come to the fore after the election.

“That still keeps everything in the possession of the local authority,” he says. “It allows them to look at who has estate in their area and might want to share it with other parts of the public sector, be they emergency services, schools or parent support facilities.”

But Woodhead believes that any kind of wider initiative such as that deployed under the Triborough arrangement at least needs to be seriously considered by authorities.

“With public sector procurement you are dutybound to go through an options appraisal to start with,” he points out. “You start with a long list of options and work your way through to a shortlist and eventually to the option that best suits the organisation. It’s now a given that if you’re looking to outsource any significant element of FM you would have to consider a shared service and probably a total facilities management model. A few years ago you may have considered it but it would probably have got cut at the first stage; now it’s got to be something that’s seen as a serious opportunity.” FM FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 23

19/03/2015 11:37

FM FEATURE

WEST BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

MARTIN READ

SHARE IN THE COMMUNITY

At West Berkshire Community Hospital, the sharing of day-to-day and project information between the facilities team and its Trust clients is critical, as Martin Read reports

T

he story of the West Berkshire Community Hospital began in the late 1990s when a local GP and a vet, unhappy with healthcare facilities available in Newbury at that time, started to lobby for a new hospital.

In promoting the idea to patients, they became the beneficiaries of one of the GP’s millionaire patient’s wills, the millions they received going in to the setting up of the West Berkshire Community Hospital Trust.

The hospital, set up as a PFI project, was subsequently built 24 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

24_27_West berks hospital.indd 20

on greenfield land between Newbury to its west and Thatcham to the east. Opening in 2004, it was – at the time – the only charitable PFI project in the country.

Today, the 60-bed hospital provides healthcare services to more than 100,000 people in Newbury and its surrounding areas. But in the course of the hospital PFI’s first 10 years’ operation, much has changed.

Jarvis plc had been the original build-and-maintain PFI partner on the project with its FM arm, Jarvis Accommodation Services, providing facilities

services. But when Jarvis went into administration in 2010, the then SGP (now Bellrock) was appointed to pick up the pieces.

Bellrock is now in the 11th year of its 30-year PFI contract.

Ifor Sheldon has been the on-site facilities contract manager through all of this. A former town councillor with Newbury Council, Sheldon transferred to Bellrock from Jarvis in 2010, together with 42 other facilities staff.

Following the shift to Bellrock, an efficiency review was conducted and some services previously handled internally, including the estates

management and night security functions, were outsourced (night portering was deemed inappropriate, so portering was reduced from six to four daytime personnel, with two night security staff employed through a contractor).

Services on site include a minor injuries unit, two daysurgery theatres, a radiology unit, as well as an out-patient department run by the Royal Berkshire Hospital Trust. The hospital is also the base for local community health teams and out-of-hours GP services.

Sheldon is celebrating 10 www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 15:51

WEST BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

“In my time here there’s always been some form of major project going on. Some we pay for, some the NHS pays for.

It varies”

SERVICE SUPPLIERS: MANNED SECURITY: WARD SECURITY MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL: PLANNED ENGINEERING SERVICES (PES) WASTE MANAGEMENT: SELECT ENVIRONMENTAL IN-HOUSE FM TEAM SIZE: 42 SITE SIZE: 8,500M2

op operations team. Indeed, the su success of its facilities services ac activity is put down to close co communication between Sheldon an and other stakeholders on site.

Dr Robert Tayton is the Newbury & Thatcham Hospital Building Tr Trust’s director with the most ro routine communication with Sh Sheldon and his on-site FM team.

The West Berkshire Co Community Hospital has pi picked up several plaudits. The Pa Patient Environment Action Te Team audit scored it highest of all community hospitals in Be Berkshire, while the Care Quality Co Commission rated the hospital’s cle cleaning and building fabric sta standard as high.

Project focus P

The community hospital is a bright and efficient space with a contented air

Caption to go in this space in here please about pics in here please

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24_27_West berks hospital.indd 21

ye years in the job, his team pr providing estates and grounds ma maintenance, catering, laundry an and linen services, cleaning, po portering, security, waste and en energy management. As with mo most hospital environments there are multiple customers from the va various trusts (see box) to endus users including patients, visitors an and clinicians.

West Berks is not the biggest of hospitals, but it is a bright an and efficient space and there’s a ccontented air to it. The size of hospital makes it ‘just right’ in terms of the relationship be between the client trust and the

W Work carried out by Sheldon’s te team includes management of works done through the PF PFI life cycle fund, while Be Bellrock has also taken on the pr project management of several co construction and refurbishment sc schemes. Projects funded from th the life cycle fund have included: ne new lift controls to the main lif lifts, refurbishment of two wards an and management suite kitchens; re replacement of fire doors; and re refurbishment of the bus stop an and surrounding area including re replacement kerbs.

Other projects have included ne new hard-standing to enable ne new mobile screening units to be accommodated, and an en endoscopy unit.

The recent refurbishments of th the café area were undertaken wi with money from the PFI life cy cycle fund following agreement am among the trust partners. A pr project to switch all lighting in th the hospital to LED is continuing, as is the roofing, painting, cla cladding and roof-capping work.

For building engineering pr projects, such as the endoscopy un unit completed recently, Sheldon ca can call on the services of FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 25

19/03/2015 15:51

FM FEATURE

WEST BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

MARTIN READ

Reception (right) and (left) the main corridor linking the various medical departments

Bellrock’s project team based in Leicester.

Sheldon explains: “The Bellrock engineering team in Leicester performs two roles for me. Our project team is frequently appointed by the trust as an independent project manager, but they also supply me with my routine technical support on site as well. On this site we’ve got a dedicated person, backed with air conditioning engineers. We have people from Leicester come in to provide advice. So when we’re monitoring our contractors, such as PES (the local M&E subcontractor), we 26 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

24_27_West berks hospital.indd 22

have a big team behind us.”

Redevelopment of the hospital’s day surgery unit to allow for the segregation of male and female patients is another project likely to test the partnering relationships between the NHS and its hospital management teams.

Tayton explains that the continuing aim of the Newbury & Thatcham Hospital Building Trust is to provide “anything that will improve the health in any way of the population of people in the Newbury and Thatcsham area.”

This can mean improving conditions in the hospital

generally, or the addition of an entirely new building such as the £2 million renal dialysis unit currently in the pipeline.

Ideas for how the trust’s money could be spent come from all sides, including the hospital staff, and projects that involve trust money can also be part-funded by other partner charities. One recent example saw the Newbury and District Cancer Care Trust invest in refurbishing the hospital’s Rainbow Rooms, which allow family members of cancer patients to stay overnight.

Bellrock’s Leicester-based project management team was www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 15:51

WEST BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL

“Our theatre capacity is up to 90 per cent and our outpatient capacity at 95 per cent– the hospital is incredibly heavily used now”

The gardens, opened by the Princess Royal last summer, provide space for patients to relax and socialise

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24_27_West berks hospital.indd 23

brought in to oversee this as well as many other projects – and it’s the relationship between Bellrock’s on-site FM team and its project team that is important, says Tayton.

The trust appoints Bellrock to project-manage and liaise with relevant NHS teams on project design and internal fit-out, seeking the planning permissions and awarding contracts for construction and fit-out works.

“In my time here there’s always been some form of major project going on,” says Tayton. “Some we pay for, some the NHS pays for.

It varies. But when we manage these things, we ask Ifor to get the Bellrock project team in. The key to their success is in having frequent meetings.”

Tayton points to the recent project to upgrade fire-stopping systems to meet fire regulations.

The two trusts, together with Bellrock, agreed to split the cost of the work three ways.

It’s an example of the constant collaboration between Sheldon, Tayton and other interested parties. Sheldon says: “We had a fire survey and our fire-stopping was deemed inadequate, so in collaboration with the NHS fire officer we conducted a survey of what it would cost to upgrade in

our in-patient areas, got a quote from our contractor; agreed it with the two trusts.”

Another project came as the result of an NHS survey, which highlighted the potential of voltage optimisation. Hopes are that between five and 8 per cent savings in electricity will now be obtained following the introduction of voltage optimisation and sub-metering equipment across the hospital and in the operating theatres over the Christmas maintenance shutdown period.

Should the renal dialysis unit, an extension to the hospital building, get the go-ahead, then the Building Trust will pay around £1 million, the hospital trust a further £450,000, while another local trust (not operating on site) hopes to add the remainder.

A busy future Tayton says: “Over the last four years the Royal Berkshire Healthcare Trust has realised the potential of this hospital and begun to use it more; now our theatre capacity is up to 90 per cent and our outpatient capacity at 95 per cent – the hospital is incredibly heavily used now.”

Overall staff churn is low (“It’s a nice place to work,” says Sheldon), and there’s a settled internal facilities team. Sheldon employs a cleaning supervisor and a chef manager for both the public and patient catering service, while his deputy Kenny manages reception and portering.

“The model hasn’t changed much,” concedes Sheldon. “It’s probably as lean as it can get without compromising service.”

Sheldon sees plenty of new developments in the pipeline and further reason for maintaining that steady, day-to-day communication stream with the hospital’s stakeholders. “It’s how we operate,” he concludes. FM

STAKEHOLDERS

A QUESTION OF TRUSTS. THREE OF THEM The stakeholders on this site need a bit of explaining: The Newbury & Thatcham Hospital Building Trust was set up to build and maintain the West Berkshire Community Hospital.

It continues in the role of special purpose vehicle for this PFI project.

When the latest changes to the NHS were introduced in 2013, management of the hospital was taken over by the local Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (which runs other hospitals in the region).

This makes the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust the hospital’s main tenant, but it’s The Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation Trust – not to be confused with the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – that provides all of the acute services on site. It’s this trust that runs the outpatients, x-ray and physiotherapy departments, as well as the operating theatres – the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs everything else.

So, to recap: the Royal Berkshire Hospital Foundation Trust rents space at the West Berkshire Community Hospital from the Berkshire Healthcare Trust, while it is the Newbury & Thatcham Hospital Building Trust that is the PFI partner.

FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 27

19/03/2015 15:52

FM FEATURE

CITY OF LONDON

MARTIN READ

Agile working, changing demographics, corporate flexibility and the quality of public realm are all factors at play in an evolving City of London, as a new report reveals. Martin Read picks out some key findings

THE CITY, SLICKER

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CITY OF LONDON

Economy The City’s growing economy is likely to see more than 50,100 jobs added between 2013

and 2023. The three sectors providing these new jobs will be: professional; scientific and technical services; information and communications. The report’s research suggests a narrowing of differences between sectors in workplace requirements as workers and work processes increasingly overlap.

In 2005 the City comprised 300,000 employees; in 2009 that figure was 331,900, in 2013 more than 390,000. Perhaps surprisingly, 14,900 City-based businesses are classified as SMEs (fewer than 250 employees) – 98.6 per cent of all City-based businesses.

Workforce Compared with London and the UK in general, the City has a notably youthful workforce.

Almost half of its workforce is formed of people born between 1979 and 2000 (Generation Y); 20 to 29-year-olds account for a quarter (26 per cent) of the total.

The report notes an increasing focus on wellbeing among employers and employees as well as an increasing need for offices to accommodate up to four generations of worker, each one seeking flexibility and choice.

Interviews for the report highlight concerns about both physical and mental health of

CHANGING WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS IN THE CITY OF LONDON, 1991 TO 2011 150,000

% change

120,000

+2

90,000

Age category

+91

Aged 16 to 19 Aged 20 to 29

EMPLOYMENT

+80

Aged 30 to 39 Aged 40 to 49

+52

Aged 50 to 59 Aged 60+

-70 1991

60,000

30,000

0

2011

Source: 1991 Census – Special Workplace Statistics (data based on a 10% sample), 2011 Census – Industry by age (Workplace population)

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workers and the importance of encouraging employee wellness through workplace design.

Authors hypothesise that the increased focus on wellbeing and stress reduction might encourage employers to rethink the interiors of buildings in the City ‘to provide breakout green oases for contemplation and recharging with elements such as living walls, internal winter gardens and roof garden terraces’.

Agility is the watchword in organisational structure.

Occupier interviews reported flatter structures and continuous change in response to market pressures. The evolving pattern of work is increasingly mobile, collaborative and technologyenabled. As a result, workplaces are increasingly designed to support organisational agility and connectivity.

Use of non-core workers is rising. Interviewees estimate that use of contractors, freelancers, supply chain and business partners and so on, could reach 30 to 40 per cent of the workforce at certain times. This suggests agile team structures supported by hired contractors are becoming the norm.

Report authors wonder – how should these non-core staff be accommodated and motivated?

What facilities should they have?

Interviewees called these key considerations influencing their workplace planning.

Workspace With notable exceptions (such as dealing floors), workplace styles are converging and differences between sectors are eroding.

Agile working in the City is becoming the norm for many more workers and organisations.

As well as implications for space allocation, there are implications for property in the City. Report authors predict that the ‘traditional binary

GETTY

I

n some ways the City of London is far from unique.

Cities across the world have thriving business districts with a concentrated business activity mix that varies from the national norm. London’s, however, is one of the best known – and the workplace decisions made here can indicate trends likely to develop elsewhere in the UK. Future Workstyles And Future Workplaces In The City Of London was recently published by the City of London Corporation and the City Property Association, authored by Ramidus Consulting. It brings together existing research on workforce and workplace design, data on the City’s economy and demographics, and new research interviews with City occupiers, owners, developers, consultants and property advisers. It takes a snapshot of the City today, looking at the likely impact of economic, demographic and technological changes on the size, nature and design of the City workplace.

And its findings are revealing.

FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 29

19/03/2015 15:19

FM FEATURE

CITY OF LONDON

MARTIN READ

Source: Ramidus

CHANGING TENANT SPACE

relationship’ between growth in headcount growth and demand for space is likely to become more complex: “We need to use a more balanced scorecard set of metrics that acknowledges the multidisciplinary input necessary to create the workplace experience.”

While the authors suggest that pressures on infrastructure, cost and travel time will encourage more agile working, interviews with City firms for this report suggest that agile working may be growing, it is by no means accepted by all organisations and level of take-up varies across sectors. Levels of agile working are ‘contingent on the culture and function of the organisation’.

The report further notes the increase in City building stock now used for serviced offices; such space has quadrupled over the past 20 years – two million square feet of service offices are home to an estimated 2,250 businesses and 18,000 workers.

This is 3 per cent of the City’s current building stock; estimates suggest a rise to 10 per cent soon.

As well as more co-working (a response to the growth of tech businesses, generational change, micro businesses and independent workers), the City’s large corporates are rethinking

Occupier A

Occupier A

Residential

Occupier A

Occupier A

Occupier A

Occupier A

Occupier B

Occupier A

Occupier B

Serviced Office

Occupier A

Occupier B

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C0-working

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Traditional Sole Company

Retail

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Multi-tenant and mixed use

real estate portfolios to reduce space. Agile working and new contractual relationships are changing the amount of core space required.

The report cites Liquidspace as a company providing temporary and longer-term office spaces of different types for rent that can be shared by small and ‘nimble’ organisations.

Authors also believe the City can provide ‘incubator hubs’ in underused buildings “to attract a greater diversity of users”.

They also believe it likely that developers will increasingly provide co-working facilities in their buildings (citing as examples how the developer British Land has leased space to WeWork at 199 Bishopsgate and ServCorp on Leadenhall Street).

Occupier A

Retail

Serviced Office

Retail

Co-work and residential

Workplaces are increasingly designed and managed as ‘hotelstyle’ facilities, where ‘guests’ demand a high level of service and experience.

Report authors believe a shift to higher densities and use show how City organisations are achieving ‘spaceless growth’ – accommodating a growing headcount without acquiring additional real estate. Many are working within total occupancy limits derived from rent, property tax, maintenance and operations budgets.

‘Spaceless growth’ could mean that those additional 50,100 City jobs for 2023 might not lead to demand for an extra six million sq ft. Although difficult to predict the exact impact, authors warn that “the traditional

approach to headcount and space demand forecasts should be treated with caution”.

Finally, there’s a question of devolving workplace customisation to individual work groups. From their interviews, report authors have concluded that experimentation within businesses will profit those firms bold enough to allow employees to ‘hack’ or reconfigure their own workplace environments.

This, they suggest, will allow the City workplace to become all the more productive. More detail is available in the full report. FM ‘Future Workstyles And Future Workplaces In The City Of London’ was co-authored by Rob Harris, Nigel Oseland and Despina Katsikakis. To download the complete report, visit tinyurl.com/FutureWorkstyles

Future Workstyles and Future Workplaces in the City of London RESEARCH REPORT PUBLISHED BY THE CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION AND THE CITY PROPERTY ASSOCIATION

PREMIER

Commercial relocation

workplace services

Specialist IT services

Business class moves and changes

Library & specialist relocations

Interior refurbishment

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WINNER Service Provider of the Year (SME) HIGHLY COMMENDED Sustainability and Environmental Impact

T | 020 8976 2100 E | info@premierworkplaceservices.co.uk W | www.premierworkplaceservices.co.uk Premier Workplace Services is a trading name of Premier Moves Limited registered in England No 3250579

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19/03/2015 15:21

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2/8/10 12:21:43 FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 31

18/03/2015 15:15

FM MONITOR

MARKET INTELLIGENCE

INSIGHT ECONOMY

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.

EU COMPANIES FIRE SAFETY RECORDS

VAT rates: Standard rate – 20% Reduced rate – 5% Source: HM Treasury (hmrc.gov.uk)

25%

Bank of England base rate: 0.5% as of 5 March 2015.

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

Consumer Price Index (CPI): This grew by 0.3% in the year to January 2015, down from 0.5% in December 2014.

Falling prices for motor fuels and food were the main contributors to the slowdown in the rate of inflation. Smaller price falls than a year ago for clothing partially offset the slowdown.

Source: (www.ons.gov.uk)

17%

EQUAL LEVELS

(34%)

OF BUSINESSES’ SYSTEMS STILL HAVE FALSE ALARMS

ONE THIRD

ONLY 15% USE LED TECHNOLOGY

(33%)

ONE QUARTER (25 %) OF EUROPEAN BUSINESSES ARE RISKING EMPLOYEE SAFETY BECAUSE OF POOR MAINTENANCE OF THEIR BUILDINGS’ FIRE OR EMERGENCY LIGHTING SYSTEMS, ACCORDING TO FINDINGS OF A 150-PERSON STUDY OF EUROPEAN FIRE EQUIPMENT INSTALLERS BY HOCHIKI EUROPE.

DO NOT ACCURATELY MONITOR EMERGENCY LIGHTING PERFORMANCE USING A LOGBOOK

OF CUSTOMERS DO NOT POSSESS UP-TO-DATE FIRE DETECTION RECORDS ON SITE

15% SOURCE: HOCHIKI EUROPE

EMPLOYMENT

Category of worker

Aged 21 and above Aged 18 to 20 inclusive

Hourly rate from 1 Oct 2014 £6.50 (up from £6.31) £5.13 (up from £5.03)

Aged under 18 (but above compulsory school age)

£3.79 (up from £3.72)

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

£2.73 (up from £2.68)

UK Living Wage: NOTE: The following rates are set by the Living Wage Foundation: Category of worker

Hourly rate from Nov 2014

UK Living Wage

£7.85 per hour

London Living Wage

£9.15 per hour

32 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

32_Insight.indd 32

UK HEALTHCARE

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OUTPUT

HEALTHCARE CONSTRUCTION MARKET 2015-19

JANUARY 2015 AND NEW ORDERS Q4 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014

VALUE - £BN AT CURRENT PRICES

National Minimum Wage NOTE: The following rates came into effect on 1 October 2014:

SOURCE: AMA RESEARCH

5

In January 2015, construction output fell by 2.6 PER CENT compared with December 2014, after

●

4 3 2 1 0 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014 EST

2015 FCST

2016 FCST

The period of general hospitals is ending as more emphasis is placed on smaller community hospitals, and combined GP surgeries/health centres. Having reached its peak at £5.9 billion in 2008, health sector construction output fell 48 per cent to £3bn in 2014.

Cuts in the capital budget since April 2011 have had a big effect and the outlook is one of moderate output improvements to 2019. The mix between public and private sector output has changed; the public sector share has seen fluctuations owing to budget cuts and changing attitudes to PFI contracts.

Output is forecast to pick up in 2015 with value increases of 4 per cent, but forecasts show moderate growth to 2019, when output could reach £3.6 bn.

increasing by 0.6 per cent in December. New work fell 4.2 PER CENT and maintenance did not grow. ● Compared with January 2014, industry output fell by 3.1 PER CENT – the first year-on-year drop since May 2013, when it fell by 2.8 PER CENT. ● Private commercial work fell by 6.6 PER CENT and infrastructure by 2.7 PER CENT. ● All new work and repair and maintenance fell by 2.7 PER CENT and 3.7 PER CENT respectively on the year. Within all new work, private commercial made the largest contribution to the decrease compared with January 2014, falling by 8.9 PER CENT. Smaller falls were reported by infrastructure (-2.4 per cent) and public other new work (-2.3 per cent). The drop in repairs was mainly because of total housing repair, which fell by 7 PER CENT. Output is defined as the amount charged by building firms to customers for value of work (produced during the reporting period) excluding VAT and payments to sub-contractors. SOURCE: WWW.ONS.GOV.UK www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 12:15

FM MONITOR TOM WATKINS

LEGAL UPDATE

Tom Watkins is an associate at Shulmans LLP solicitors specialising in employment and HR

ZERO-HOU R S CO N T R ACT S

ero-hours contracts are here to stay for Z the foreseeable future. Tom Watkins looks at the key considerations for employers when weighing up their pros and cons The debate on zero-hours contracts continues; figures published last month by the Office for National Statistics showed that 2.3 per cent of the workforce, or 697,000 people are on such contracts. This is an increase of 450,000 since 2012, sparking condemnation from employee groups and a vigorous defence from employer bodies.

The Labour Party has called for them to be banned. Conversely, the Institute of Directors has lauded the use of such contracts and the flexibility they bring as a key component of the UK’s success in bucking the trend of the much higher unemployment levels elsewhere in Europe.

What are zero-hours contracts?

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill 2014-15 gives the first legal definition of the term zero-hours contracts.

It defines such arrangements as a contract of employment or a worker’s contract under which a worker undertakes to perform work when that work is offered by an employer, but there is no certainty of work.

From an employer’s perspective there are two key benefits. First, flexibility as such contracts give them the option of bringing in workers at very short notice to deal with last-minute or urgent events, temporary work shortages or to cover absences. www.fm-world.co.uk

33 Legal update.indd 34

Second, limited rights for those working under such contracts as most zero-hours contracts give the person working under them only ‘worker’ rather than ‘employee’ status. In practice this means while a worker is entitled to annual leave and the national minimum wage, they do not have the same rights as employees such as protection against unfair dismissal, maternity rights, redundancy rights and rights under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.

From a worker’s perspective, the primary benefit is a basic one, namely that of paid work. In the absence of the flexibility such contracts bring it is questionable whether employers, nervous about over-committing, would have the confidence to recruit.

Are people working under them workers or employees?

On paper, almost all have ‘worker’ status. Appropriately drafted zero-hours contracts do not outwardly provide the mutuality required for contracts of employment, as on the face of it the people working under them are normally not obliged to work, nor is the employer obliged to provide paid work.

Is the wording of the contract definitive?

No. An employment tribunal will always look to establish the reality of a day-to-day working

arrangement. It can and will disregard written terms should it consider it appropriate to do so, taking into account the fact that parties to an employment contract are not of equal bargaining power and the employer is often in a position to dictate terms.

For example, in the case of Pulse Healthcare v Carewatch Care Services Ltd, despite the claimants working under a contract entitled ‘zero-hours’ which clearly set out that the employer was not required to offer any work, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that they were in fact employees. This conclusion was reached on a number of factors to include a finding that once the work rota had been prepared the claimants were required to work and the employer was required to provide that work; that the claimants were subject to control and discipline, had to provide personal services, were given uniforms and equipment, were paid on a PAYE basis and had worked regularly over a number of years and had only taken time off for holidays or sickness, for which they received payment.

Such an approach also applies to the consideration of ‘substitution clauses’. Such clauses, often contained within zero-hours contracts, allow the worker to send a substitute in their place to discharge the role. They therefore suggest self-employed status but will only be effective if a tribunal is satisfied that there was a realistic expectation by the parties that it may actually be used.

Therefore, where a worker is employed on a zero-hours contract and provided with regular work, regularly accepted,

it is possible the contract will be deemed one of employment even if the wording suggests otherwise. This means the person working under it would have the status of employee – with all of the associated protections and entitlements.

Misjudging the situation could leave an employer facing an unfair dismissal claim.

Practical tips Employers relying upon such contracts should ensure that there are written terms of agreement which attribute appropriate status to the worker and which are regularly reviewed. The employer should then consider whether the dayto-day reality of the working relationship could give rise to its zero-hours workers attaining employee status, e.g. how long have the workers worked under the contract, how are they paid, do they receive sick pay, have they ever refused work, how regularly are they offered work, have they ever been disciplined?

Employers should keep a clear distinction between those working under zerohours contracts and genuine employees; it would be unwise, for example, to refer to the aforementioned for internal purposes as employees or provide the same benefits as given to employees.

Employers should be mindful of the impending ban on exclusivity clauses within zero-hours contracts (stopping the worker from working for other employers), as detailed in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill and should update their contractual documentation accordingly. FM FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 33

19/03/2015 15:52

FM MONITOR TONY LUCK AND GEOFF PRUDENCE

HOW TO...

Tony Luck is SFG20 product manager at B&ES publications, and Geoff Prudence is chair of the CIBSE FM group

A N EW ER A OF M A I N T ENA N CE

uilding Information Modelling and initiatives such as CIBSE Guide M and SFG20 herald a new era for building maintenance. Tony Luck and Geoff Prudence explain why

B

All those involved in the building and engineering services sector are becoming increasingly aware of their duties to reduce the environmental impact of buildings in all sectors.

Soft Landings and Construction 2025 Pressure is mounting on the sector to become more sustainable, while ensuring value for money, especially on public sector projects. The government launched its industrial strategy, Construction 2025, in July 2013 with a promise to develop a charter to provide leadership from industry and government and to improve the industry’s image to attract the next generation of workers. The charter pledges to cut initial construction costs and whole-life asset costs by a third, as well as halving built environment greenhouse gases.

Both Construction 2025 and Government Soft Landings (GSL) champion better outcomes for built assets during the design and construction stage to ensure that value is achieved in the operational life of an asset. Under GSL, government departments will be required to define a series of high-level outcomes of sustainability – environmental, economic and social – at the start of a project.

34 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

34_HowTo.indd 34

The designer will also have a continuing role to play once the building is handed to the new owner – ensuring that decisions taken in the design phase are taken with the long-term cost and effectiveness in mind.

To achieve the government’s environmental energy targets for existing buildings, awareness of the advantages of energysaving measures and effective management and maintenance has to start at boardroom level.

The definitive standard for maintenance, SFG20, and Guide M both have a role in identifying good practice relevant to all construction industry disciplines.

CIBSE Guide M CIBSE has launched a new edition of CIBSE Guide M: Maintenance Engineering And Management, which brings together everything designers and FMs must know to maintain and operate buildings. It updates BIM and the RICS NRM: New Rules Of Measurement offers guidance on six key areas: 1. The effective maintenance and operation for the life of the building; 2. The provision of a safe, comfortable environment for occupants to achieve their maximum performance potential; 3. The introduction of the principles of BIM in an

existing building maintenance management; 4. The assistance of building services designers to provide installations that are safe to maintain and operate over their full lifespan; 5. The revision of legal changes and changes in best practice; and 6. Its interaction with other standards, and sets the framework for effective maintenance strategies ( SFG20 provides the detail, NRM 3 provides the costing).

Feedback has been positive as Guide M comprehensively covers greater definitions for implementation of life cycle maintenance for existing properties and to influence new building designs in line with British Standards Institution BS 8544:2013.

SFG20 complements Guide M as it provides the definitive standard for building maintenance for use by FMs, installers, designers, architects, service providers, operators, contractors and building consultants. Developed by the Building and Engineering Services Association (B&ES), it enables asset maintenance benchmarking, service level remodelling and auditing. The maintenance schedules have become the industry standard, with many public and private organisations specifying SFG20 as a standard in tender proposals.

The dynamic SFG20 web service strategically complements the CIBSE Guide M framework for building guidelines. It provides the clarity required to strategically maximise the

economic life span of existing and new building assets.

To secure essential budgets needed to effectively take care of all equipment and units, the SFG20 standard enables FMs to understand the capital versus operational spend requirements.

This not only enables them to defend budgets, but it can also save money as it allows users to make informed decisions on the discretionary tasks. An effective strategy can help businesses to stabilise the optimium level of maintenance – saving money and wear and tear on assets.

Compliant SFG20 SFG20 was updated in January to include benchmark service times, enabling tenders to be costed more accurately. The system allows users to produce reports that detail individual equipment schedules for weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual and annual unit maintenance. Users can also customise schedule timings.

Ultimately, this supports the CIBSE Guide M framework by providing clear guidance on service and maintenance procedures for building assets.

The dynamic online platform is useful to FMs in education, commercial, retail, financial and professional services, public sector, hospitality and transport.

The online SFG20 platform is kept current by the technical committee to ensure that that all schedules are legal and compliant with industry best practice. Users receive update emails in line with the latest legislation. FM For more information, visit www.sfg20.co.uk

www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 14:44

FM MONITOR GRAHAM WRIGHT

TECHNICAL

Graham Wright is legislation specialist at Daikin UK

LOW CAR B ON AI R CO N DI T I O N I N G

he dynamic nature of energy efficiency legislation means FMs must consider climate control requirements over the entire life of a building before specifying a system, says Graham Wright

T

Last year saw a number of changes to legislation, codes of practice and standards covering energy efficiency of buildings, including the new Part L of the Building Regulations in April, updating of the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive in May and an 33 per cent increase in the cost of carbon allowances under CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme for 2014-15.

From 2019, all new nondomestic buildings in England will also have to be built to zerocarbon standards, as part of the government’s commitments under the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

Additionally, the EPBD will require new non-domestic buildings to be issued with an energy performance certificate.

Part L (which already sets limits on the emissions of new buildings) is expected to be the regulatory vehicle for achieving zero-carbon standards.

Part L requires energyefficiency standards of new nondomestic buildings to improve by 9 per cent on the 2010 regulations. The rules also apply when specific building services work – including climate control – is carried out.

Energy strategies Energy strategies must consider a building’s multiple requirements www.fm-world.co.uk

35 Technical.indd 35

and any likely changes to use and occupancy levels over its lifetime, which is the approach taken during a BREEAM assessment.

As climate control and ventilation are responsible for nearly half the energy consumption in nonresidential buildings, it follows that it is essential to choose a highly efficient climate control system that not only delivers environmental and cost benefits today, but will continue to do so over the life of a building.

Financial incentives One of the best ways to improve energy efficiency and lower CO2 emissions, is to opt for a whole building climate control solution incorporating heat recovery As well as running cost savings, some heat recovery systems are eligible for financial incentives, in the form of tariff payments through the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (revised in May 2014 to include air source and ground source heat pumps), and the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme.

The ECA scheme, run by the

Carbon Trust on behalf of the UK Government, gives enhanced tax relief for investment in equipment meeting published energy-saving criteria. Under the scheme, 100 per cent of the investment can be written off against taxable profit in the year the equipment is purchased. Only the top 20 per cent most efficient products are eligible, however.

These are included on the Energy Technology List to be found on the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s website.

Unfortunately, currently neither the ECA scheme, nor Part L, consider the full benefits of a heat recovery system. ECA only considers the efficiency of heating and cooling part of performance at nominal conditions in heating and cooling, while Part L calculations are based on fixed temperatures and factors that relate to systems operating in either heating or cooling modes.

Despite the absence of formal incentives, the benefits of whole building solutions are clear and the financial argument remains very strong – running costs are typically 40 per cent lower than systems without heat recovery.

Easy upgrades The modular nature of these systems allows them to be upgraded easily, which could be important, particularly in light of the European phase-out of HFCs (which began with the

“Energy strategies must consider a building’s multiple requirements and any likely changes to use and occupancy levels over its lifetime”

introduction of the new F-gas regulation and the total ban of R22 in January). The issue is that some new refrigerants will require changes in system design, meaning some becoming obsolete before the end of their working life.

And while the current refrigerant of choice for HVAC systems, R410A, will not be banned under the HFC phasedown, new global warming potential (GWP) limits – plus the fact that it represents 15 per cent of all HFCs – means its use should be reviewed wherever possible.

The likely next-generation refrigerant candidates are R32, HFO blends, and CO2. R32 is already used in HVAC equipment, as it makes up 50 per cent of R410A. But it has a GWP of 675 – one-third that of R410A (2,088) – and is also more energy-efficient, resulting in lower refrigerant charge and the potential to manufacture smaller units. As a single component refrigerant R32 is also easier to reuse and recycle.

Manufacturers are starting to introduce new products and developing ways of adapting existing systems to use the next-generation refrigerants and extend their life span.

Low carbon heating (including air source and ground source heat pumps, biomass and heat recovery systems) will form a key part of any energy strategy for creating sustainable buildings – both new-build and refurbished.

Keeping on top of rapidly changing legislation, while also considering the latest climate control technology, will certainly help owners and FMs to ensure that buildings are sustainable, energy-efficient. FM FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 35

19/03/2015 14:44

FM MONITOR DAVID HILTON

TECHNICAL

David Hilton is managing director of Vickers Energy Group

SET U P AN EN V I RO N M EN TA L P O L I CY

s pressure increases on businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, David Hilton explains how to set up an environmental policy

A

Vickers’ latest research shows that British industry is wasting half a billion pounds on energy over the winter months, emitting 7.4 million tonnes of unnecessary C02. It’s never been more important for businesses to reduce energy use, particularly with the incentives and pressure to consider corporate social responsibility and their carbon footprint.

Too many companies don’t understand the wider impact of not assessing their energy use, and how this should fall within a long-term environmental policy. This is the first step towards ensuring sustainability is central to the business. Your environmental policy should be a written commitment to cut the carbon footprint of your business and should highlight areas of the processes that can be adapted to reduce consumption.

It should be incorporated into the business as part of the everyday systems and processes that take place. It also needs to be understood by the entire workforce – and that means from board level down. Ensuring the ‘buy in’ from all members of staff will ensure that everyone implements it. There’s no point in paying lip service to it, that’s just a waste of time. The prospect of a detailed strategy can be daunting, but some key points can be implemented and enhanced over time to 36 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

36 Technical.indd 36

develop into a sophisticated and successful operation.

Implementing an environmental policy can bring benefits to any company.

These include ensuring that the company stays within the law and the various regulations in place, reducing energy output, and thus costs and improving the efficiency of the company.

You will also see the benefits from an external point of view.

Demonstrating that you have an environmental policy in place, and that it is being adhered to and generating positive results, can improve relationships with external investors, stakeholders and help with new business as many companies now expect their suppliers to have a functioning policy in place.

It can also help to improve a positive profile within the local community and help with any marketing campaigns that are being carried out.

How to start a plan.

To support your social corporate responsibility, develop a plan that will be effective in reducing carbon emissions in your sector.

Consider how you want the policy to affect the business and your key targets for energy reduction. It’s important to think about what activity is realistic and if you will meet your targets. Think about setting specific goals each year

– and don’t run before you can walk – easy-to-achieve steps are the best way to launch a policy and ensure buy-in from the whole company. Include key performance indicators, regular assessments and consider if these need to be accredited by an independent body.

considered in all areas. The plan can take any format, but must be presented to the whole of the workforce and be continually visible whether this is through internal newsletters, company updates or staff meetings.

How do you identify the weaknesses?

It’s important to commit to the strategy on a long-term basis.

Some key simple measures to target are minimising waste in all operations and ensuring that all processes are as efficient as possible. Simple low-cost measures such as toxic emissions, recycling and environmentally friendly produce are also extremely significant areas of an environmental policy.

Committing to technology and policies to target energy use can then be addressed by installing an energy management system, for example. Long-term strategies such as insulation, doubleglazing, removing draughts and adapting heating and lighting systems are also essential for the next stage of implementing the policy.

It’s important to look at processes within the business and where the issues lie, as these need to be addressed directly for the plan to be implemented effectively.

Tackle the worst issues head-on, i.e. elements of the business that have huge energy consumption are the areas that can have the most drastic reduction and are generally easy to implement. If you’re not sure how to start this there is help out there – bodies such as The Carbon Trust, and companies such as Vickers work with businesses to identify the issues, and how to solve them.

One of the main areas in most companies that needs to be addressed is how to correctly analyse energy use and understand bills. No two sites are the same and for this reason, companies must look at their individual business and monitor specific needs. One of the most important things to do is to review all energy bills and challenge any errors or complexities – and incorporate this into the policy.

The plan Staff need to buy into the environmental policy and be fully committed for it to be implemented fully and long term.

Motivation and awareness are key, ensuring that the strategy is

Continuing the strategy

How will this affect your business?

Be thorough and address all areas of energy use whether it’s heating and ventilation, lighting, electrical equipment or recycling.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important with more incentives and guidance for businesses on how best to tackle their individual issues.

But only when a company has a dedicated environmental policy and a strategy across all aspects of the business aimed at reducing consumption on a large scale, is it considered truly sustainable. FM www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 18:26

FM MONITOR MIKE MAHONY

HOW TO...

Mike Mahony is managing director of Andrew Reid & Partners

U N D ER STAN D YO UR BUI L DI N G’S DNA

nergy wastage and discomfort can both affect a company’s bottom line, but it is not always obvious where the losses are happening. Time to go ‘CSI’ and look into your building’s ‘DNA’, says Mike Mahony

E

At the post occupancy stage, with a building up and running, and the FM team in full control of its systems, it is normal practice to implement finetuning of the control systems and undertake seasonal commissioning. Buildings are rarely perfect from the off, and issues will need to be ironed out.

Despite thorough planning and well-executed commissioning, buildings do not always perform at optimal efficiency. Let’s face it, buildings are designed to a given criteria, and in practice the result may not exactly match the actual user requirements once handed over, occupied, used over time and almost certainly changed.

Buildings can subsequently create their own set of challenges – undesirable levels of carbon emission, expensive and greedy energy use, or avoidable inefficiencies in the workplace itself. Often the biggest challenges are hidden from view, and the only way to fathom them is to forensically explore the very DNA of the building.

This is where ‘continuous commissioning’ comes in. This is a process that is well understood in the US, and is becoming a popular practice elsewhere.

The increasing flexibility in the workplace required by many companies means that building services need to be www.fm-world.co.uk

37_HowTo.indd 37

routinely reviewed. The process involves regular analysis of a building’s systems, and determines whether aspects of those systems should be altered or even recommissioned. How should a facilities team approach a potential requirement for continuous commissioning?

1⁄

Look for the evidence

Are there telltale signs that your building is not performing adequately? Are personnel uncomfortable during their daily duties? Are utility costs higher than they should be?

Energy wastage and discomfort can both affect the bottom line, though it’s not often not only the (easily resolvable) ‘low-hanging fruit’ issues, such as checking lighting systems, that need to be addressed. Sometimes problems buried within a building’s mechanical and electrical control systems contribute greatly to day-to-day issues.

2⁄

Is an investigation warranted?

If you have evidence that your building could be performing more efficiently, a thorough investigation is required. You are likely to benefit from continuous commissioning if: your facility suffers from high energy use or

has been subject to changes in layout since the original design was undertaken; variations in occupational densities since the original design was undertaken; regular user complaints about environmental matters; or failure to meet legal requirements.

3⁄

Delve into the controls

Focusing on design/ occupation alignment and commissioning expertise, the process will ultimately delve into the control loops that manage a building’s systems, analysing the input data that ultimately forces a reaction from the mechanical and electrical systems. This process will involve detailed planning to determine the objectives and define a building’s current operating criteria, which is then followed by a forensic investigation undertaking detailed surveys and diagnostic monitoring, simple repairs and ultimately definitive findings and recommendations.

4⁄

Follow the clues carefully

Be clear that the process is more than a box-ticking exercise and when properly applied the recommendations will immediately address operational improvements.

5⁄

Ensure the benefits work for you

And that means internally and externally. Make sure that you demonstrate return on investment to senior leadership following a continuous

commissioning exercise. As well as reducing CO2 and implementing better value energy use, successful continuous commissioning can also improve a facility asset value, which is surely a good message for the FM team to take to the boardroom.

More efficient building systems also improve PR by more ably demonstrating compliance with CSR policies, while maintenance strategies may become more coordinated and efficient.

Investigations into a building’s DNA have unearthed some fascinating, albeit costly, anomalies that have needed to be corrected, from the building designed and optimised for 1,000 employees that only housed 500, yet continued to apportion heated or cooled fresh air for maximum occupancy, to the inappropriate building temperature that was originally calibrated incorrectly, and continued to read (erroneously) as the optimum desirable temperature in data. These examples show issues that clearly hit energy cost, sustainability considerations and the comfort of a building’s users, and so are operational considerations that need to be addressed.

Then there are the lighting controllers that have been found to be uncontrollable, and pumps busily and continuously pushing water through pipework to a section of a building that simply did not need it, burning energy to continuously guide water in an endless and unnecessary circuit.

A thorough ‘health check’ is sometimes the only way to identify and deal with all of these issues. FM FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 37

19/03/2015 12:14

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

Members of the Midlands region discussed the benefits of collaborative working in FM at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham

RESEARCH

Sustainability in FM survey

including those within in-house teams, full and single-line service providers, suppliers and consultants. i Take the survey now at www.bifm.org.uk/fmsustainability

BIFM has launched its annual sustainability survey that looks at the way that FM professionals are engaging with the sustainability agenda. Developed in conjunction with the BIFM Sustainability SIG, the survey explores what sustainability means to organisations and its scope, which teams take the lead, the role that FM plays and how initiatives are measured and reported. The survey is now open and closes on 10 April.

The survey is now in its ninth year, and BIFM framed the final questions for this year’s online survey following qualitative telephone research with representatives from all aspects of the profession. This initial research helped to identify a number of key themes that are being further explored in the formal online survey. These include the role of collaborative cross-functional working, levels of innovation, use of systems and processes and the barriers that might exist to the development of sustainable business practices.

The Sustainability in FM survey is open to all FM practitioners, 38 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

38_40_BIFMNews.indd 38

BIFM MIDLANDS REGION

Collaborative FM takes centre stage If ever there was a project that epitomises the benefits of collaborative working in FM, it’s the £26 million refurbishment of the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, and this subject was explored recently by the BIFM Midlands region at the entertainment venue.

The event, sponsored by recruitment expert Hays, was not only the chance for delegates to take an exclusive, behind-thescenes tour of the entertainment venue, but an opportunity to find out how the various companies involved in the project worked with a ‘one team ethos’ to ensure the redevelopment met all of the client’s objectives.

NEC Group Arenas’ general manager Guy Dunstan explained that project’s mission had been to

transform the former NIA into an internationally competitive venue. With funding from Birmingham City Council in place, the ambitious project got underway in 2013 with a team comprising NEC Group Arenas, BAM Construction, Novus Project Management, EIC, Norland and OCS. EIC’s marketing director, Campbell Murdoch, said: “The key challenge was that there were 15,000 people coming through to events while 137 of our engineers worked in 20 different parts of the building.

Everyone involved had to become extremely customercentric and we all had to engage together early on to be really clear on what we were trying to achieve.

Darren Smith, business unit director of Norland, spoke about the close working relationship his team maintained with main contractor BAM Construction and EIC. i For details on all forthcoming BIFM events go to www.bifm.org. uk/events. You can see all BIFM groups at www.bifm.org.uk/groups

KNOWLEDGE

Flood risk management and clean-up guidance BIFM, in association with RiskCentric, has updated the previously published guidance on flood risk management and clean-up.

The risk management checklist aims to ensure that all businesses have comprehensive plans in place so they are prepared and will minimise the impact of floods on their premises and commercial activities. The clean-up guidance

will also help you prepare a flood clean-up plan and keep your staff safe during the process.

The risk management guidance offers a checklist on: ● Flood mitigation; ● Flood response plan; and ● Post flood plan.

The clean-up guidance divides the process into five key stages: ● Personal safety during cleanup; ● Securing buildings and utilities; ● Identifying damage and initial clean-up of building contents; ● Decontaminating buildings and contents; and ● Worker safety during clean-up. i BIFM members can download the updated guidance notes at www.bifm.org.uk/floodcleanup and www.bifm.org.uk/flooding

THINKFM CONFERENCE

Get an edge ThinkFM, the conference from BIFM, takes place on 13 May at Kings Place, London. This year the conference debates ‘The Competitive Edge: Gaining competitive advantage through the workplace’.

ThinkFM will showcase organisations that are rethinking the world of work and creating spaces designed to inspire, build and deliver success. Delegates will be taken on a journey in considering the role that the workplace plays in enhancing corporate brand and making it easier to attract and retain the right talent.Speakers will be sharing insights and exploring how compelling workplace environments can result in higher levels of productivity, efficiencies and contribute to the bottom line.

Once again, ThinkFM will be hosted by Daisy McAndrew, and the programme includes: Dave Coplin, chief envisaging officer, Microsoft: ‘The Rise Of

●

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Please send your news items to communications@bifm.org.uk or call +44 (0)1279 712 620

The Humans: How to outsmart the digital deluge’.

Key message: How the rapidly rising volume of information is affecting all aspects of our lives as individuals, as consumers and customers, as workers, and in business. ● Frank Van Massenhove, chairman of the board of directors, Federal Public Service Social Security, Belgium: ‘Shift or Shrink’.

Key message: How do you motivate your employees and how do you convince them that they can decide for themselves when and where they work? ● Monica Parker, founder, HATCH: ‘Return on Emotion and Engagement’.

Key message: Creating value isn’t just about pounds and pence.

Don’t forget the importance of the human element when looking to create value from a workplace transformation. ● Munish Datta, head of Plan A & FM, Marks & Spencer: Applying M&S’s sustainability programme, Plan A, to its property estate.

Key message: Operating M&S buildings sustainability is critical to the success of Plan A. ● Jim Hood, director of customer services, Wellcome Genome Campus: ‘After the Human Genome Project’.

Key message: Facilities managers can apply capabilities in scientific facilities and services to meet the needs of the fast changing world of genomic research.

ThinkFM also includes a networking breakfast, drinks reception and ITN presenting its new FM news and feature programme, which expands on the ThinkFM theme. i For more details on the programme go to www.thinkfm.com/programme, or to book go to www.thinkfm.com/ book. BIFM members save on the delegate fee.

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GUEST COMMENT

Jane Sansome is lead judge for the Impact on Customer Experience category for the BIFM Awards

IMPACT IN FM

f you look at dictionary definitions you will see that impact can be a high force or shock in mechanics, a collision of a meteoroid is an impact event, and an impact factor is a measure in science. But what does it mean for FM? In my view ‘impact in FM’ is where you or your organisation can have an effect on space, infrastructure, people, or even the wider organisation and society.

For the 2015 BIFM Awards we will be seeking the very best examples of impact, the categories are as follows: ● Societal Impact: Can you demonstrate the impact your organisation is making on society? For example, do you recruit staff from the local community, are you committed and delivering social and corporate responsibility initiatives, how do your neighbours react when large vehicles bring deliveries to your site? ● Brand Impact: how do customers view your brand? Why is it so important to your business? How does it represent your organisation’s vision, values and ethics? Have you changed your brand recently and, if so, why and what difference has it made?

We are seeking the very best examples of how a company has worked to develop and promote the brand of their organisation. ● Impact on the Workplace: there are so many ways that FM can influence the workplace; the services delivered, the maintained environment, customer’s first impressions. What have you done, why and what difference has it made? Have you created a positive workplace that drives increases job satisfaction, employee productivity and organisational performance? ● Impact on Customer Experience: customer experience is created from a multitude of customer touch points throughout the customer journey. What do you do, how do you know that you are making a positive impression your customers? Are you delighting your customers and delivering your business objectives at the same time? ● Impact on Sustainability: with so much emphasis on looking after the planet, what are you and your organisation doing that is really making a difference through seeking sustainable initiatives, projects, services and solutions?

FM is omnipresent in many sectors, and the impact we make – positive or negative – will be felt by the client, customers and our wider society. The availability of the trading floor in the banking sector is business critical, first impressions and the standard and quality of room service in the hotel is essential if customers are to return, schools where the major refurbishments are completed on time and budget during school holidays are non-negotiable, in healthcare the impact of FM can make a huge difference to the patient’s experience and recovery time.

So why not take this opportunity to show piece your organisation at the 2015 BIFM Awards ceremony?

Full details on all BIFM Awards categories are available at www.bifmawards.org Entries close on 22 May.

I

“THE IMPACT WE MAKE – POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE – WILL BE FELT BY THE CLIENT, CUSTOMERS AND OUR WIDER SOCIETY ”

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BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

SCOTLAND

BIFM SOUTH REGION

Gala Ball and Qualifications Recognition taster Awards Getting ahead in the current BIFM Scotland Region hosts its Gala Ball at The Marriott Hotel, Glasgow on Saturday 25 April, which will also include the region’s inaugural Recognition Awards (entries for the awards are closed).

Tickets to this black-tie event are £80 plus VAT per person and include champagne reception, four-course meal, live music and disco.

Secure your sponsorship, tickets and tables for this event at: www.bifm.org.uk/scotlandawards BIFM would like to thank the following companies for supporting the Gala Ball and Awards Headline: Richard Irvin Energy Solutions

Champagne Reception: Mitie Technical FM

Raffle: Macro

FM Professional: Murray Recruitment

FM Team: Sodexo

FM Project: FES FM

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economic climate is more challenging than ever, so members from the BIFM South Region turned up in great numbers for a recent qualification taster session.

Jane Wiggins, from FM Tutor Associates, a BIFMrecognised centre, gave an insight and overview of the BIFM Professional Standards and how these can help individuals develop a personal development plan. She explained clearly the qualification pathways and what options to consider and demonstrated a taster of part of the level four unit – Quality Management in FM – plus a peek at part of a level 6 unit – Stakeholder Relationships in FM. Hilary Gulliver, FM manager at Specsavers, then spoke about her experience in taking Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications, explaining how the experience really helped in her day job, and how her manager had noticed a difference in her capability.

Finally, Ian Fielder presented Judith Carey, Richard Jestico and Dennie Linsdell from Specsavers with their BIFM Level 3 Award.

BIFM South committee would like to thank Jane and Specsavers for hosting the event and providing refreshments.

BIFM South Region is supported by Hays Southampton. i See more about the BIFM South region at www.bifm.org.uk/south.

Learn more about BIFM Qualifications at www.bifm.org.uk/ qualifications.

BIFM TRAINING LET’S FACE THE MUSIC

ver had that conversation where you say you work in FM, and people think it means you have a job in radio? Well it might not be too far from the truth for some FMs. Sound is an important element of service in quite a number of environments.

In Park Lane hotels, for instance, they use specialist companies to develop and mix soundtracks for each public area of the hotel. In the lounges, the bars, the restaurant, the tearoom, the reception area, tracks and volumes are varied according to décor, season and time of day, and are also tailored for group bookings or special events. And in modern hotels like Citizen M you can select room-settings from your interactive control tablet that include integrated sound-and-lighting ‘moods’ including Party, Chill and Romance.

Restaurants realised a long time ago that there is a danger in creating an environment that is too quiet.

It kills the ambience and stops people talking to one another, as they feel that everyone else can hear. On a more practical note, no one wants to hear what might be going on in the kitchen! Not just the banging of the pots and pans, but the banter (on a good day) or the shouting and swearing (on a bad one). Fast-food chains also know that loud, fast music makes people eat more quickly, which encourages diners to finish and move on.

Did you know that this same effect happens when people work on computers? It’s like pacing yourself when running. Your subconscious is likely to end up making you type in time to the music, so you might want to bear this in mind when choosing your sounds for the day. Retailers have this down to a fine art. Top Shop develops mix tracks to complement each new collection, and Starbucks sells CDs alongside the coffee beans so that you can recreate the coffee-shop vibe at home.

We think a lot about furniture, lighting, ventilation and refreshment in the workplace. A lot of work has been done on the other four senses, but as far as sound goes, we tend to look at techniques and approaches that focus on reducing sound, rather than what we can add in to improve mood, energy, productivity, sense of belonging or as another dimension to the brand. Every workplace will need a good number of silent areas, of course. But what about lifts, reception, staff rooms, bathrooms and breakout areas?

There’s an untapped opportunity here.

Lucy Jeynes, managing director of Larch Consulting

E

i Lucy is a regular trainer on BIFM courses. Please see ‘Creating and Sustaining Modern Workplaces’ on the 8th-9th July 2015 at www.bifm-training.com/workspace_ solutionsFS.htm

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19/03/2015 11:38

FM DIARY INDUSTRY EVENTS 30 March | BSI best practice FM procurement workshop A workshop based on the recommendations in BS 8572, detailing best practice in FM procurement. BIFM members receive a 20 per cent discount.

Venue: BSI, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL Contact: Email Liliana.matic@ bsigroup.com for more information.

1 April | NHS Innovation in Facilities Management Expo 2015 Exploring five core components in which innovation can improve patient care while reducing cost and improving compliance.

Venue: Great Hall, Barts Hospital, London Contact: To find out more, visit www.ascentevents.co.uk/ifm-expo.php 30 April | Electrical safety management workshop Organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, supported by BIFM. A step-by-step guide to the code of practice for electrical safety management.

Venue: Strand Place Hotel, London Contact: Visit www.theiet.org/ electrical-safety to buy tickets.

22 May | ISO awareness training session by QUADRA Hosted by BIFM Ireland region’s North branch, this is designed to keep BIFM members informed of updates and forthcoming changes to ISO standards. It will be run by Gavin Kane of QUADRA. Venue: Old Common Room, Queens University, Belfast BT7 1NN Contact: For more information

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

contact Dan Uprichard, email danuprichard@ymail.com, call 07831 548803, or visit www.tinyurl.com/ln6wa5l 13 May | ThinkFM – The Competitive Edge: gaining competitive advantage through the workplace The ThinkFM conference will be held at Kings Place, London.

Venue: Kings Place, London Contact: Visit www.thinkfm.com.

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities available.

16-18 June | Facilities Show The annual conference, in association with BIFM, and colocated with IFSEC International, FIREX International, Safety & Health Expo, Energy & Environment Expo and Service Management Expo, returns to ExCeL. Speakers include Baroness Karren Brady and Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE. Venue: ExCeL, London Contact: To find out more, visit www.facilitiesshow.com 12 October | BIFM Awards The BIFM’s annual awards ceremony, bringing together the leaders in the sector with the winners to celebrate excellence in FM and giving national recognition to the leaders in the profession.

Sponsorship opportunities available.

Venue: Grosvenor House, London Contact: Visit www.bifmawards.org or email awards@bifm.org.uk Follow @BIFMAwards on Twitter.

buildings roof Sustainability SIG. The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission is currently contracting with Tracey brothers of Fermanagh to undertake the replacement of the roof fabric to Parliament Buildings.

Venue: Parliament Buildings Ballymiscaw, Belfast BT4 3XX Contact: Email Stephen Welch at stephen.welch@niassembly.gov.uk NORTH REGION 14 April | BIFM Sheffield & South Yorkshire Group: Networking Event at Nestlé, York Held in conjunction with colleagues from Leeds and Hull.

Presentation and mini-tour of one of Nestlé’s factories.

Venue: Nestle Confectionery UK Haxby Road York YO31 8TA Contact: Bob Rabagliati, email bailiff@trinity-estates.org.uk, call 01777 703718 or visit www.bifmnestle.eventbrite.co.uk SCOTLAND REGION 25 April | 2015 Gala Ball and Recognition Awards The region’s awards evening will see FM Professional of the Year, FM Team of the Year and FM Project of the Year awarded.

Venue: The Marriott Hotel, 500 Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8RR Contact: Email kylie@klevents. co.uk or visit www. tinyurl.com/ bifmscotgala2015 to book tickets.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

IRELAND BRANCH 27 March | Technical tour of Northern Ireland Parliament

Looking to upskill your staff?

service managers, asset managers, space planning and technical compliance? And what are employers looking for? This meeting puts these questions to a group of FM recruitment specialists.

Venue: ActionAid, 33-39 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0BJ Contact: Jason Gurd, 07984 29518 RisingFMs@gmail.com. Booking details to come.

15 April | The Rise of Specialist Roles in FM (Rising FMs) What are the roles of customer

15 April | The 128-acre challenge: FM at ACS Schools, Cobham Education SIG professionals tour the 128-acre campus at Cobham.

It includes state-of-the-art sports, arts and academic facilities.

FM Oren Gershon examines the challenges of managing the diverse site that supports children from 3-18 and plays host to corporate groups outside term-time.

Venue: Council Chamber, ACS Cobham, Portsmouth Rd, Cobham Contact: Oren Gershon ogershon@ acs-schools.com, 07738 718290, or visit www.tinyurl.com/memmvv8 24 April | Technical tour of CHP plant at Coca-Cola The exact recipe of Coca-Cola must be the world’s best-kept secret. Many have tried, none has succeeded. At this BIFM members technical tour all attending should wear firm, sound shoes, preferably safety shoes, but hi-vis, safety glasses and hard hats will be provided.

Venue: Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland Knockmore Hill 12 Lissue Road Lisburn BT28 2SZ Contact: Email Dan Uprichard, at danuprichard@ymail.com or visit www.tinyurl.com/k7sfmtt

JTL provides a range of programmes that can be tailored to meet your business needs including:

• Facilities Services • Team Leading • Leadership and Management All can be accredited by City & Guilds or the Institute of Leadership & Management.

Minimum numbers apply to tailored programmes.

Phone Kim O’Leary for more details: 01978 663747 or 07920 586 071

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FM MONITOR PRODUCTS PUT TO USE

Call Greg Lee on 020 7880 7633 or email greg.lee@redactive.co.uk For full media information take a look at www.fm-world.co.uk/mediapack

CASE

IN POINT FEATURE CASE STUDY

HYGIENE GROUP’S ALLERGEN CLEAN SUCCESS AT PETROW FOODS PROBLEM Following the purchase of a processing facility from Intersnacks, Petrow Foods needed to carry out an intensive allergen clean to prepare the premises for their own production. Although both companies produce nut products, the varieties differed and Petrow’s intended fruit processing areas were also required to be free from nut particles. Intersnacks had used the facility for nine years prior to Petrow’s purchase, meaning an extensive clean of all surfaces and areas, including two roaster ovens, was needed.

uncleaned surfaces and final laboratory-tested swabs then conclusively proved the absence of allergens, with 4-5 swabs taken from each area for accuracy. Following this trial, the methodology was rolled out to all areas and surfaces.

OUTCOME The project was initially estimated to take three months, but due to the success of Hygiene Group’s method and subsequent clear laboratory tests, the entire facility was declared allergenfree after only one month, enabling Petrow Foods to move in its new equipment and begin production well ahead of schedule.

SOLUTION Using a former Bombay mix mixer as a benchmark, allergen experts from Hygiene Group implemented a custom-developed cleaning regime to remove all traces of protein

and organic matter including adenosine triphosphate (ATP), followed by measurement with a illuminator to provide an initial indication of the success of allergen decontamination.

Rapid allergen tests were then compared against

A limescale solution fit for a gym

Energy costs halved with condenser upgrade

Imserv saves energy in Greater Manchester

PROBLEM

PROBLEM

PROBLEM

A popular gym in London is supplied with hard mains water.

Historically, the site had no limescale prevention measures in place, with the gym’s changing room facilities were among the worst-affected areas.

An AxiTop trial was conducted by Space Engineering Services on behalf of a major UK supermarket with the aim to evaluate the energy-saving benefits of retrofitting existing EC condenser fans with the new AxiTop diffuser.

Energy usage at Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) buildings is quite high. The sustainability team was particularly concerned with the level of energy being used to heat the premises.

SOLUTION

SOLUTION

Sentinel Commercial’s KalGuard limescale prevention system was introduced. It conditions water in both new and existing systems by dosing it with a low level of stable zinc, forming a nondeposit-forming aragonite, rather than limescale.

Sub metering and temperature logging were applied to four condensers, two identical low temperature packs and two identical high temperature packs, and recorded for four weeks.

The AxiTop product was fitted to two of these.

IMServ’s micro-building management solution (BMS) was installed into one of GMP’s smaller buildings which houses part of the IT department.

This building is too small to warrant installing a full BMS system.

OUTCOME

OUTCOME

After just 60 days of operation, a significant reduction in limescale deposits and lime discolouration was clearly evident on all bathroom fittings and sanitaryware in the gym. Six months on, the showerheads were also visibly cleaner.

Based on identical trading days with the same ambient conditions, the AxiTop packs gave significant energy savings of 15 per cent and 51 per cent respectively. It is an upgrade that reduces the noise and power consumption.

Call 01928 704330, or visit www.sentinelprotects.com

42 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

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Visit www.tinyurl.com/ebmpapstaxitop for more information

Call 0800 731 4893 for more information Email: enquiries@hygiene.co.uk Visit www.hygiene.co.uk

SOLUTION

OUTCOME Over the three-month pilot period, the micro-BMS service provided GMP with an energy saving of 70 per cent, with a return on investment achieved well within that time frame. The service enabled the team to set a particular temperature for the building while the staff were at work.

For more information, call 01908 696 000 or visit www.imserv.com

www.fm-world.co.uk

19/03/2015 15:53

FM PEOPLE

MOVERS & SHAKERS

BEHIND

DATA

THE JOB

DAVID SANDERSON

TOPIC TRENDS

NAME: David Sanderson JOB TITLE: Head of estates, facilities management and capital projects ORGANISATION: Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital

Manchester property strategy. I was involved in two new buildings from foundations, through fit-out to completion and handover, then moving 5,000 people into the buildings and operating the buildings from Day 1. It was a challenging but enjoyable time, and I worked with an exceptional team of people who were customer-focused and understood how to work hard and play hard.

OUR INTERVIEWEE RATES THE IMPORTANCE OF CURRENT FM TOPICS OUT OF 10. THE ‘AVERAGE’ SCORE (IN GREEN) IS TAKEN FROM OTHER RECENT INTERVIEWEES.

Ensuring compliance with legislation

9

10

AVERAGE

DAVID SANDERSON

If I wasn’t in FM, I’d probably be…

A lawyer, specialising in contract law.

Key responsibilities

I manage all estates and facilities provisions for a specialist NHS hospital providing cardiothoracic services, as well as energy and environmental, and all capital projects.

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

Car parking! Never enough space, never in the right place, and too expensive.

Introducing/ working with new forms of IT

5 8 What attracted you to the job?

An opportunity to lead and improve the whole of the FM service, and to bring all the team together with the focus on customer care and show that FM can have a direct impact on patient care.

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

The perceived value of the FM. We do more than just clean and fix things; FM can have as big an impact on an organisation’s strategy as it does its operational needs.

My top perk at work is…

Being on site early every morning, I get the choice of the best parking spaces.

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

WHAT SINGLE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG FM STARTING OUT? “Always challenge the norm – ask lots of questions and never stop learning. FM is continually evolving and innovating”

I started as an apprentice electrician, and went into the contract management side of engineering on its completion, and from this point continued to grow into the wider role of facilities.

What has been your biggest career challenge to date?

The current one of persuading the trust board of the significant benefits that FM can provide to the organisation, and that FM should be represented at a higher level in the organisation.

Which “FM myth” would you most like to put an end to?

Working on energy-efficiency initiatives

7 7

That FM is just a cost to any organisation; performed well, it’s a huge asset that can provide significant benefits to the organisation.

How do you think facilities management has changed in the last five years?

Adapting to flexible working

5 4

It has become more professional within healthcare, with the need to reduce costs in organisations, FM has been at the forefront of innovating services and making savings, which has raised its profile.

And how will it change in the next five years?

There will be an even greater focus on health and wellbeing in the workplace, as well as more sustainable practices, and I am hoping the industry will attract more young people into FM as a career.

Maintaining service levels while cutting costs

8 10

Any interesting tales to tell?

The most significant was dealing with a suspected white powder incident (anthrax) in one of the UK’s busiest A&E department, which included setting up a temporary area for treatment, dealing with the emergency services, and the clean-up after the event – a character-building experience.

What’s been your career high point to date?

Working on the Royal Bank of Scotland www.fm-world.co.uk

43_Behind the Job.indd 43

Do your friends understand what FM is?

They don’t understand the extent of role, or what value we add, but it’s getting better; at least we’ve moved away from being the bogs and drains team!

Have you got a story to tell? We are looking for facilities managers to feature in Behind the Job. Contact the team at editorial@fm-world.co.uk for more information

Adapting FM to changing corporate circumstances

8

7

FM WORLD | 26 MARCH 2015 | 43

19/03/2015 11:40

Appointments

JOBS

PLAN YOUR NEXT MOVE

on the move New features available through your smartphone See the latest job listings View all the jobs from the website Search or browse to find the right opportunities Create and update your live email job alerts View jobs directly from your email alerts Save and apply for jobs Save jobs to your profile Email jobs to yourself or friends Apply for the right jobs first using your saved CV Keep track of all your jobseeking activity

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Call the sales team 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

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19/03/2015 11:30

FINAL WORD

NOTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD OF FM

NO 2

DAYS

THE SAME THE MUMMY’S CURSE ON CLEANERS It’s the stuff of nightmares.

Imagine turning the Venus de Milo into a quadriplegic while vacuuming in The Louvre or ripping the Hay Wain with a broom in the National Gallery.

Well, it has actually happened to hapless cleaners at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Cleaners at the museum have caused ‘untold damage’ to the burial mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun after apparently knocking off its blue-and-gold braided beard - and then gluing it back on again.

It’s not the first break the Boy Pharaoh has suffered – he was king for about 10 years before dying in his late teens, possibly because of an infection to a broken leg.

But his 3,300-year-old mask has been left permanently damaged after the relic was none-too-discreetly stuck back with epoxy glue.

Cleaners and conservators offer differing accounts of the accident and are remaining anonymous for fear of repercussions. According to one account, the beard fell off while the mask's case was being cleaned. Those responsible were apparently told by their superiors to mend it. One conservator says there is now a visible gap between the Pharoah's face and beard.

Can we fix it? Yes, we can!

Bob The Builder? Super Mario? Fred Flintstone?

Apparently, a third of construction workers say that these beloved childhood characters inspired their career choices.

A study by www.constructaquote.com reveals this rather touching discovery as part of its research into the factors considered by Britons when opting to work in the sector. Its team polled 1,947 workers across construction sectors, who were initially asked how much TV they watched in a typical day during childhood (from ages 3-8 years). The average amount was 3.5 hours a day, or 24.5 hours a week. They were given a list of various characters from film and TV shows and asked to pick the one they find the most iconic to the construction industry. The most popular answers were: 1. Bob the Builder (builder) – (42 per cent) 2. Super Mario (plumber) – (19 per cent) 3. Fred Flintstone (construction engineer) – (16 per cent) 4. Emmet from The Lego Movie (builder) – (8 per cent) 5. Wreck-It Ralph (demolition man) – (4 per cent)

When asked if they felt as though time spent watching characters like these had contributed to their career choice, 31 per cent admitted that they were influential. When asked if they believed there should be more positive role models in the media of those working in such industries, 66 per cent of respondents agreed that there should be. And 81 per cent agreed that women working in or around construction should be more fairly represented on film and TV. Lyndon Wood, CEO of constructaquote.com, said: “The quality and availability of careers advice, through the medium of the media, has a huge impact on choices young people make about their futures. I certainly think that there would be fewer youngsters with unrealistic ambitions of making it as singers, dancers or actors if there were more substantial career choices portrayed on kid’s TV programmes.”

So, the obvious question: can we do something similar for facilities management? Now you can look back, which childhood characters influenced you to work in FM? An office poll came up with Fireman Sam for his ability to put out fires (metaphorically as well as literally). Naturally, we’d be happy to list your choices here.

End of a knotty problem?

A company says its service could have solved the problem of building sites ravaged by Japanese Knotweed. The weed – which has menaced property owners for years – came here in 1850 at the height of the Victorian craze for bringing exotic plants into Europe (blame botanist Philippe von Siebold, who introduced this terminator to the West through his nursery in Leiden – sending it in an unsolicited parcel to Kew Gardens).

Steve Blunt of GroundCover DBM says his

company’s on-site Klaro service removes all traces of the weed and leaves processed soil on site. It has been used by local authorities and commercial landowners, developers and contractors and was even deployed at the London Olympics site.

“The service removes only Japanese Knotweed, including root fragments,” says Blunt. “Landfill costs are minimal and because government wants to encourage treatment as an alternative to dumping, clients can usually offset expenses by claiming Land Remediation Tax Credits.”

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OUT 9 APRIL

REX

CASE STUDY: AIRBUS, FILTON /// FEATURE: THE GROWTH IN NANO-TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS /// M&E IN SCHOOLS /// HANDOVER FROM CONSTRUCTION /// WORKWEAR: LEGAL REQUIREMENTS /// CONCIERGE SERVICES /// ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND BUSINESS ANALYSIS

46 | 26 MARCH 2015 | FM WORLD

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We do everything by word of MOUSE

Access & Safety

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High Level Cleaning

Specialist M&E

>> Safety Testing

>> Lightning Protection

>> Window Cleaning

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With nine ofďŹ ces across the UK, PTSG offers full nationwide coverage.

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“Kay and her team provide a seamless outsourced switchboard service. The result? Lower costs, outstanding service levels.�

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Kay, Moneypenny Receptionist

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18/03/2015 11:08