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DRAKE & SCULL

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Facilities management is a cornerstone of the operations at Drake & Scull, a Tsebo Outsourcing Group company with aspirations to conquer Africa. We talk with CEO John Wentzel. By Ian Armitage

he cost of occupying a building (whether owned or leased) and maintaining related assets is the largest item of budgetary spend for most large organisations, after employee salaries. Any CEO will want to know what those costs are and where savings may be made, strategically and operationally.

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“These days, organisations must think strategically if they are to do more than simply survive in increasingly competitive marketplaces,” says John Wentzel CEO of Drake & Scull, a leader in facilities management (FM). “This thinking applies to both core and non-core business. In the case of the latter, facilities management has a pivotal role to play.”

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He says when it comes to good FM the advantages aren’t in question. His firm Drake & Scull claims to be “the best in integrated FM solutions”. We had to investigate. “We’re a leader in this arena,” says Mr Wentzel. “We’ve been in the industry longer than anyone else and we’re very diversified. If you look at our major competitors, they’re very good companies, but they work with only one or two significant contracts. We do not have that. We’re evenly spread and have between 50-60 contracts across the company and in a number of different sectors. “I have to mention our people too,” he continues. “Over the last 20 years we’ve developed the expertise to manage different groups from different backgrounds, different languages, ethnicities etc., across multiple sites and multiple industries. In this country it is still very much a people business. Facilities Management isn’t technologically driven as it is in Europe. The technology isn’t as sophisticated and our clients facilities are not as heavily invested in technology compared to Europe The cost of labour here is low compared to Europe so we tend to do things with labour in this country, which global competitors would tend to do with technology in their respective countries. I think we’ve developed the skill to be able to manage many different groups of people.

Our brand difference is about people. Our world class processes and systems are delivered by human beings who can adapt and think on their feet

“Another differentiator is that over the last 12-15 years we’ve had the ability to work with government on public and private partnerships and it has given us the opportunity to understand how that operates and we’ve shown the ability to manage that quite well; we have several across the country and none of our competitors have significant PPP experience. I think those are the things that make us different.” Drake & Scull has the capacity to offer tailored solutions to meet the demands of individual needs, Wentzel says. “We offer workable, reliable solutions and services which are cost-effective. As a client, you have the advantage of obtaining multiple services under one contract using a single point of contact and the advantage of that is that it makes it easy for you to outsource these functions. I think we are good - we have earned a reputation of being the best in integrated FM solutions.” www.southafricamag.com

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Voltex In Africa today, achieving energy efficiency and sustainable energy savings is ever more critical. As a market-leading stockist and reseller of a vast and comprehensive range of electrical and lighting products, Voltex is perfectly positioned to drive the development and implementation of technologies which can achieve this. That’s why Voltex are ensuring continent-wide adoption and knowledge of their sustainable and environmentallyfriendly services and technologies.

Don’t just take Mr Wentzel’s word for it - PMR. africa recently awarded the firm its Golden Arrow Award for External Facilities Management Companies survey. The survey is based on the perceptions of peers and clients, regarding the perceived strengths and weaknesses of external facilities management companies. It’s quite the achievement. “We are incredibly proud to have won the Gold Arrow Award. This award sets a benchmark for others to aspire to and it recognises the hard work and dedication of all the employees at Drake & Scull,” says Wentzel. And despite a challenging economic environment, this focus hasn’t diminished and the firm continues to perform “strongly”. “Our performance reflects the economic situation that our country faces,” Wentzel says. “In terms of where we are, I think we’re comfortable and the business is performing as anticipated. We’ve seen a pullback from major clients who are cost focused, so they’re obviously questioning whether they want to do 4

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Additionally, Voltex has set its sights on expanding its presence into the African market. Voltex MD Stanley Green says that the group, which has 53 strategically-located outlets in South Africa, has plans to increase its activity into Africa. “We are very proud of our national footprint and we do at present distribute our products to some African countries, but we believe that significant opportunities exist to grow our business in Africa, and in doing so better serve our customers,” says Green. Voltex Group Commercial Manager Hugh Ward explains that with the South African business sector under stress, many of its customers are becoming more active beyond the country’s borders. “We will partner with our preferred suppliers and customers going into Africa and in this way, they can have the confidence that they are getting the correct product, at the correct price, at the destination of their choice,” says Ward. Voltex is the largest independent electrical wholesaler in Southern Africa, a stockist and reseller of a vast and comprehensive range of electrical and lighting products, including national and international suppliers and their brands. Voltex is a proudly Bidvest company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bidvest Group Limited, a company listed on the South African stock exchange. Voltex forms part of Bidvest Electrical and enjoys a Level 2 BBBEE rating.

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Amaloba In 1999 Amaloba Horticultural Services (Pty) Ltd. was established with the assistance of Isivuba Trust, which provided the financial backing and training expertise and we are owned by 100% black Shareholders. It initially entered the interior plantscaping business with a view to setting up a reasonable client base and then moving into the landscaping industry. Being an affirmative action company we need to support and encourage other companies with such policies by giving them opportunities, provided that they are competent enough to deliver quality service. We also ensure that quality service is upheld at all times in disciplines such as exterior landscaping (design, installation and maintenance), interior plantscaping (designing, installation and maintenance).

things the way they have previously and also politically, we’ve seen significant question marks being drawn across outsourcing from a government perspective. It has been a difficult year for the industry. Despite this I’m comfortable that the business is doing as well as it is. Most importantly, we have not lost any of our major clients and that’s probably the biggest achievement. The competition is tough! In fact we have gained accounts and have shown the ability to continue to grow organically in a very difficult market and maintain what we’ve got. I think with that we should be happy.” Next on the agenda is Africa. “Domestically by the end of next year I’m confident that we will be number one in terms of turnover. We’re already number one on the basis of number of clients and number of sites but by the end of next year our market share will be probably be sitting on between 6

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20-25 percent and at that stage it becomes very hard to grow organically because you have to take away from your competitors and it becomes very expensive. Longer term, if we’re going to get the double digit growth that we seek, it’s going to have to be north of our borders into the rest of Africa and that should mean that our growth focus will turn significantly towards that and we have a strategic intention to operate in 12 countries over the next 24-36 months. That will give us the opportunity to grow significantly faster than we would be able to do based on our market share locally. The story of the company over the next two to three years is very much an Africa story and the consolidation in terms of our market share in South Africa.” Wentzel says interest in and from Africa is “significant”. “There are lot of global clients out there who want to have a partner in

We offer: Landscaping consultancy Interior plantscaping consultancy Interior plantscaping (design, installation and maintenance) Landscape designing, installation and maintenance Garden clean up and maintenance services Rental of indoor plants and containers 122 Koedoe Road Laezonia, 0026 PostNet Suite #258 Private Bag X18 North Riding, 2162

Tel: 0027 12 669 9922/3/4 Fax: 0027 12 669 9925 E-mail: amaloba@wol.co.za Cell: Godfrey Masegela 082 905 0831 Cell: Stephan Grobler 082 906 4199

the continent that they can grow with but at the same time have a single point of contact,” he explains. “We are that. Over the last six months we’ve had significant interest and inquiries from large international players saying that they want to set up operations in Africa and expand and want a partner that can manage FM requirements. It’s not just a wish list, we are responding to client demand – especially from large European based corporates, as well as African corporates, who like us, see Africa as more likely to deliver significantly higher rates of growth.” And the market is there for the taking. There aren’t “many major players in the FM space, cross-border”. “One of the things we’ve found in Africa is that we don’t see many, if any, of the major global players operating across the continent, but there are local competitors” Wentzel says. “We think the reason for that is that Africa

is very complex, there are hundreds of languages, many different practices, and each country is so different. Consequently one cannot take a cookie cutter approach. You can’t do the same thing in every country. We are going to seek to identify partners in the respective countries - the ones that understand the industry and may be operating on a small scale. We will try to work with them as an entry approach. For each country one has to understand things such as business practice, tax regimes and political stability. It’s going to be a huge amount of work but we’re excited about it but it won’t be an easy journey. I think this is why we don’t see so many people doing it. It’s so difficult, but we relish the opportunity to expand in to the rest of Africa.” Watch this space. END Visit www.drake-scull.co.za. www.southafricamag.com

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