Facilitate - January/February 2022 (Full)

INFORMING WORKPLACE AND FACILITIES PROFESSIONALS

JA N UA RY- F E B RUA RY 202 2 ● FAC I L I TAT E M AG A Z I N E . C O M

PREPARING FOR A POST-PFI ERA

THE PERSONNEL PINCH

SCOPING MECHANISMS

What should contractors do to prepare for their PFI exits?

Staff shortages threaten service provision

The challenge of defining and measuring Scope 3 emissions

into balance The tricky pursuit of profit with purp purpose – and what an ethical eth approach means for support services

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022

SCOPE 3 EMISSIONS ● B CORP AND ETHICAL ACCREDITAT ION ● PREPA RING FOR P OST-PFI ● THE FACILITIES STA FFING CRISIS ● PEST CONTROL

Bringing it

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STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN’T CONTROL

Instead, focus on what you can do for yourself Take your career into your own hands with an IWFM 4XDOLƓFDWLRQ IURP WKH ;HQRQ *URXS

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JANUARY-FEBRUARY JANUARY FEBRUARY 2022 / FACILITATE

CONTENTS FRONT DESK 06 Catering in 2022 ocus Doing more with less is the focus of the foodservice sector

10 Retrofit renaissance

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Retrofit’s significant decarbonisation role

44 A bit about you

12 COP26 – what next?

A glimpse into the jobs of Francis Akinola and Danielle Smith

08 Scoping mechanisms nd The complexity of defining and measuring Scope 3 emissions

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Assessing the event’s outcomes

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15 Newsmakers

KNOW HOW

Top stories from Facilitate online in November and December

47 Food for thought

17 IWFM policy pipeline

Unpredictable occupancy levels is affecting catering contracts

Tackling four major challenges

49 The hot topic

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FEATURES

Sustainable buildings must not come at the cost of fire resilience

18 The good fight

50 Standard practice

Finding the balance between purpose and profit as businesses seek ethical accreditation

Using ISO 45003 to create mental wellbeing strategies

51 A clean audit 26 Post-PFI preparations How should contractors prepare for the last few years of PFI deals?

Technology can help with the 50-point healthcare audit

53 Banish the pharaoh 32 People problem Staff shortages in the facilities services sector is set to be a major concern throughout 2022

COVER: GETTY

VIEW POINT

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40 Perspectives Four FM professionals seek to influence your insight agenda

43 Calls to action Events, workshops and available training options

Preventing tropical species from invading UK buildings

56 The golden thread How the new building safety bill affects facilities professionals

SUPPLY SIDE 61 Rentokil expands with a major US acquisition Rentokil Initial is set to buy US pest control business Terminix in a $6.7 billion deal

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FACILITATE / ONLINE

ONLINE

Facilitate, incorporating FM World, is the publication of IWFM, the professional body for workplace and facilities management. For information on membership, qualifications and training contact us:

RESEARCH

PODCAST

Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Charringtons House, 1st Floor South, The Causeway, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 2ER, UK

New electrical services guide

The Facilitate Formula

+44 (0)1279 712 620 • admin@iwfm.org.uk • www.iwfm.org.uk

CIBSE’s guidance on the design and operation phases of building electrical services.

The UK’s heat pump installation lags behind other countries in Europe.

We’re inviting guests to isolate an issue they regard as particularly important or hitherto insoluble, and detail their formula to address it. To take part, email editorial@facilitatemagazine. com. To listen, find The Facilitate Formula through your existing podcast app or visit this link:

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-heat

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-Podcast

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-electric UK is slow on heat pump take up

COMMENT

FEATURES

Balancing KPIs

FM in the defence sector

Combine sustainability and financial KPIs for longevity, says Shumon Choudhury.

Matthew Vanstone, FM support consultant, Thomson FM, on why FM in defence is winning awards.

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-KPIs

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-defence

Level up in 2022

What’s happening in healthcare?

Invest in your own people and the communities you operate in, says Sean Haley.

Julian Fris at Neller Davies shares his insight into FM’s changing role in the healthcare sector.

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-level

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-health

Footballer contracts

Wellbeing and sustainability

Do businesses need contracts with a buy-out clause? asks Andrew Mawson.

Emcor UK’s Ian Baker on FM’s role in employee wellbeing and organisational sustainability.

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-premier

tinyurl.com/Fac0102-baker

FACILITATE

YOUR AWARD-WINNING MAGAZINE Facilitate – the magazine and online news content resource of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) – keeps IWFM members and others up-to-date on all workplace and facilities management issues, ensuring you are informed of the latest developments and

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thinking.

In 2019, Facilitate won Best Magazine (10-32,000 members) award at the Association Excellence Awards, judged by a body which assesses the media brands of trade bodies, membership organisations and associations. Also, our editor Martin Read took

the title of Editor of the Year at the 2020 MemCom Awards, as run by the association for membership communities.

We are further developing our award-winning product for you, so feel free to contact us with any thoughts and ideas.

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Redactive Publishing Ltd 78 Chamber Street London E1 8BL www.facilitatemagazine.com EDITOR Martin Read 020 7880 7664 martin.read@facilitatemagazine.com DEPUTY EDITOR Bradford Keen 020 7880 7615 bradford.keen@facilitatemagazine.com NEWS EDITOR Herpreet Kaur Grewal 020 7880 8544 newsdesk@facilitatemagazine.com SUB-EDITOR Deborah Shrewsbury 020 7880 6223 deborah.shrewsbury@redactive.co.uk SENIOR DESIGNER Seija Tikkis McPhail 020 7880 6200 seija.tikkismcphail@redactive.co.uk PICTURE EDITOR Claire Echavarry 020 7324 2701 claire.echavarry@redactive.co.uk CONTENT ASSISTANT Prithvi Pandya 020 7880 6229 prithvi.pandya@redactive.co.uk SALES — DISPLAY, DIGITAL, EVENTS 020 7880 6206 display@facilitatemagazine.com SALES — RECRUITMENT 020 7880 6212 recruitment@facilitatemagazine.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Aysha Miah-Edwards 020 7880 6241 aysha.miah@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Joanna Marsh 020 7880 8542 joanna.marsh@redactive.co.uk Subscriptions IWFM members with Facilitate subscription or delivery queries should call the IWFM’s membership department on +44 (0)1279 712650.

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To subscribe call 01580 883844 or email subs@redactive. co.uk – alternatively, you can subscribe online at www.facilitatemagazine.com/about-us/subscribe/ Editorial Advisory Board Simon Ball, market director, EQUANS Peter Brogan, head of research and insight, IWFM Rob Greenfield, health & safety director, Avison Young Ian Jones, director of facilities, ITV Martin Stead, managing director, Sewell FM Dr Matthew Tucker, Reader in Workplace and Facilities Management, Liverpool Business School Kate Smith, head of workplace & portfolio strategy UK, CBRE Liz Kentish, managing director, Kentish and Co. Simone Fenton-Jarvis, workplace consultancy director, Relogix Printed by Warners

Average net circulation 11,287 (July 2019 to June 2020) Facilitate (Print) ISSN 2752-5171

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COMMENTS / LEADER

COMMENTS MA RT IN REA D

From the editor

N LINDA HAUSMANIS

ILLUSTRATIONS: SAM KERR

OPPORTUNITY IS KNOCKING The global matters shaping 2022 are familiar though, alas, not comfortingly so; there are sharp edges. Variants of the virus will keep us vigilant. Decarbonisation requires determined action. Supply squeezes, rising inflation and skills shortages will be testing.

Yet looking ahead, I am energised by the opportunities available to our profession and the potential to make critical contributions.

There remains much to be worked out with lockdown-inspired, tech-enabled changes to workplaces and what they mean for the future of work. Arguments over office versus home will continue, but if the result is efficient, optimised workplaces that are fit for each organisation’s particular needs, everybody will win.

The ongoing effects of the pandemic, workplace changes and growing awareness of the personal and organisational costs of poor mental or physical health will ensure that workplace wellbeing stays high on the agenda.

Sustainability must remain front of mind as our profession seeks to meet urgent outcomes. Topics including building safety, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), the Living Wage, effective use of data and wider technology will stay in focus.

Like many others, our profession is experiencing challenges with skills shortages and attracting talent. IWFM is offering a 20 per cent discount towards online qualifications and short courses throughout January to support upskilling and professional development.

Our profession stepped out of the shadows during the pandemic as any organisation’s ‘linchpin’; I am determined to keep it in the spotlight in 2022 and beyond.

LINDA HAUSMANIS is CEO of the IWFM

ot much point my opening this year with a message about uncertainty, the continuing use of that ’U’ word being about the only certainty of 2022. Nor is there much value in lauding the latest office occupation predictions, as waves of briefly emerging consensus continue to crash up against the data – with newly suggested ‘models’ quickly rising in their stead. Is the office primarily a place for collaboration?

Perhaps not, when you consider typical job roles as Leesman has. And so the informational spin cycle sets off in pursuit of yet another fresh take.

As for service delivery, where 2020 saw a rapt media spotlight focused on the facilities front line, 2021 saw that attention turn to something of a glazed stare. The role of cleaning, and cleaners, for example, was and is still celebrated, but perhaps we saw the sheen wear off a little? (Sorry.)

Fine, so what areas of advance can we be confident about in the months ahead? Has the sector made the most of its place in the sun? Does more value-defining opportunity lie ahead?

Well, there’s no uncertainty here; because plenty of such opportunity will indeed exist, much of it tied to government policy and the competitive compulsion it drives. The environmental aspect of sustainability is back on centre stage, with its social and economic components coming along for the ride. The emerging Scope 3 emissions debate – in which organisations are obliged to consider carbon emissions across their entire supply chain – has unavoidably positive consequences for the profile of FM. Why? Because examination of the facilities supply chain, while ostensibly focused on its carbon footprint, will by definition also bring the what, when, how and why of facilities management back to the fore.

Organisations persisting with often woolly assertions about their sustainability performance will see their claims clash with reality to the extent that adapting their messaging or service offer is an unavoidable consequence. More complex green equations MARTIN READ is the editor could be good news for this sector’s visibility. of Facilitate magazine

The office as primarily a place for collaboration?

Perhaps not when you look at the data

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF EMERGING THEMES AND TRENDS

FRONT DESK 08

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FM's significant challenge is defining and measuring Scope 3 emissions

Retrofitting rather than building anew is key to tackling net zero ambitions

Newsmakers: key stories from Facilitate online in the months of November and December

IWFM policy pipeline: bringing the big four to the fore

CAT ERI N G & H OS P ITA L I T Y

Catering sector planning on ‘doing more with less’ as it heads into 2022

by Herpreet Kaur Grewal

I

ndustries such as hospitality and catering have particularly suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, a trends analysis from food consulting firm Coverpoint showed the food services industry in France, Germany and the UK had lost £69 billion in revenues over 2020.

Just as matters might have been getting back on track, data from jobs search engine Adzuna showed that job adverts in the hospitality and catering sector fell by 25 per cent the week after the Omicron variant was identified in the UK, and many companies and consumers cancelled Christmas events, marking another blow for the industry.

The number of job adverts over time is an indicator of the demand for labour.

“Omicron has slammed the brakes on early for hospitality,” said Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna.

One of the initiatives launched to help employees in the sector was the Foodservice Circle – a platform offering support to those affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic. More than 20 companies and individuals from the food service sector joined forces to launch the project, which provided “a one-stop shop for all former team members, offering free training, counsel, advice and job opportunities”.

Wendy Bartlett, founder of Bartlett Mitchell and co-founder of the Foodservice Circle, said there was even more need for such an initiative. “As we move into 2022,

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the FSC will continue to maintain that role, as well as become a vehicle to promote the contract catering sector to the wider world.”

Chris Stern, a consultant in the sector and managing director of the Stern Consultancy, thinks that in terms of staff, the industry is at a similar place as it heads into 2022. He said: “It remains a bit of a nightmare but people are coping. Everyone is kind of holding their breath to see

The pandemic has impacted health in a multitude of ways.

Obesity levels among primary school children, in particular, have significantly increased what happens in the new year, especially as staff taken on for the Christmas rush are released. Salaries are increasing fast, especially at the top end, though some people are being unrealistic.” Stern added that “despite all the drama and pain around the pandemic, we seem to have returned to the key trends we were seeing before”.

Stern names these as sustainability, social enterprise collaboration, more local and seasonal sourcing, introducing street food into the workplace alongside a focus on the recognition of allergens and dining preferences and wellness of consumers.

“Wellness remains an important driver and ensuring people have the option to eat healthily is massive in all sectors. The days of factory workers wanting stodge are over, though the choice still needs to be there.”

Chris Ince, chef director at caterer Atalian Servest, agrees. “Health and wellbeing are the primary areas of focus for 2022. The pandemic has impacted health in a multitude of ways. Obesity levels among primary school children, in particular, have significantly increased from the 2019-20 to 2020-21 school year.

Twenty-eight per cent of children in reception are now overweight.”

Ince said this did not only affect the education sector. “In all sectors there is a need for healthy, nutrient-dense food with fresh ingredients with salt, sugar and fat intakes reduced. In response to this, we will be relaunching our health and wellbeing brand, Goodness.” Ince added that “the rise in plant-based alternatives cannot be underestimated” and his company is “committing to providing 50 per cent plantbased dishes across all sectors”.

Ian Thomas, CEO of Bartlett Mitchell (BM), does not think that 2022 will see pre-

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ANALYSIS / FRONT DESK

pandemic levels of footfall in workplaces before the second quarter of the year.

“We are experiencing and expect to see further increased focus on catering and hospitality within corporate offices,” he said. A major trend the sector expects to dominate the next 12 months is companies trying to “entice their employees back to the workplace wherever and however possible”.

Working from home is not an easy option for catering/hospitality for obvious reasons, but Thomas also thinks “teams collaborate better when together, so moves are being made to create spaces, situations and opportunities to bring teams into the workplace as often as possible”.

Thomas said that the move isn’t “purely from a productivity perspective but also a major consideration as far as the wellbeing and team’s mental health”.

He added: “We are seeing more requests for experiential events where teams come together to cook, bake, eat. Socialising and connecting is very high on the business agenda and we expect this to continue throughout the next year.”

Technology take-up In terms of “newer and very much pandemic-related” trends, Stern believes that there is more use of technology both back and front of house. The workplace is also seeing more cashless transactions (disappearance of cash) and the return of subsidised food offers in the short term.

Tech take-up is “really motoring”, said Stern, despite the UK catering market’s reputation for slowness in this area. He added: “It will be interesting to see if caterers truly grasp the nettle and get people to use all of the features that are available”. He said caterers “are great at telling us they have the technology but not always so good at actually rolling it out” and “there’s still a disconnect between head office initiatives and actually making it happen”.

Thomas agrees with Stern about technology take-up. He said “the pace at which the uptake of technology has accelerated has been fantastic” and is confident that “this is something we expect to continue moving into 2022”.

“As a business, we now see tech solutions as standard, with our Pearpay app playing a significant part in over 60 per cent of all transactions,” Thomas said. The multifaceted Pearpay app enables teams to pre-pay, pre-order, click and collect, go cashless, self-serve and hospitality.

Thomas added: “It has changed the way we all work… The app also means we can run certain services 24 hours without the need for extensive labour costs.”

Labour shortages The labour issue is something the company expects to continue into the new year.

“The industry is averaging 10/12 per cent staff vacancies, we are lucky to have retained so many great BM family members that our vacancy levels are lower than most caterers, however, we are trying to be more creative around our recruitment strategies, including how we can engage more young people through apprenticeships,” he added.

Ince thinks the labour shortage “will continue to present challenges, but this should not affect the food service offering to clients”. He thinks concept development for 2022 “needs to be engineered with the current labour shortages in mind”.

He said:“Preparation and serving times can be reduced if labour is restricted by reducing the number of components in a dish. Sites with fewer staff can pick and choose between these less labour-intensive menus whilst still serving innovative, delicious, and nutritious meals. It’s time for chefs to get even more creative.”

With a higher number of people working from home now, “pressured financial viability and labour shortages, self-serve solutions will become more popular for 2022,” said Ince.

He added: “Many people are still nervous about face-to-face contact with the pandemic still taking a grip on our daily lives. Virtual transactions will become more popular with mobile app scan and pay, mini-mart and vending suite options, for example. Although there will be a move away from more traditional counter solutions, restaurants will still provide a much-loved social meeting place. Maximising doing more with less is the general theme for the catering and hospitality sector for the year ahead.”

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FRONT DESK / ANALYSIS

SCO PE 3 E M ISSIO NS

Scoping mechanisms

By Martin Read

I

n the aftermath of COP26 – and with heightened interest from organisations across the supply chain to show their commitment to the decarbonisation cause – one of the most challenging aspects of sustainability reporting is how an FM provider’s Scope 3 emissions are managed and measured.

Defining and then measuring Scope 3 emissions – those that result from activities not owned or controlled by the reporting organisation – is fraught with complexity. Different clients and suppliers working to

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their own objectives makes planning any form of reduction programme a seemingly intractable problem, dependent on myriad conversations and prone to overlapping priorities.

Which is where Acclaro Consultancy has stepped in, instigating the development of what it hopes will be a framework through which a standardised method of measuring carbon emissions generated by FM services can be deployed.

Acclaro is a long-time supporter of IWFM’s sustainability reporting work,

and for this project has brought together four key membership organisations – the IWFM, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE). BAM FM is also involved as the project’s founding partner with Acclaro.

First up for this project was a report from Acclaro detailing the nature of the problem. This is intended as the start of the process, with all parties working with initial feedback to the report through until Q2 2022.

A subsequent webinar event in support of the report and the project’s aims involved BAM FM’s managing director Louise Williamson and strategic director Reid Cunningham; UK Green Building Council’s net zero adviser Karl Desai; Acclaro Consultancy’s Sustainable FM Index programme director Chris Havers; and Acclaro’s managing director Sunil Shah.

Explaining the project’s aim, Acclaro said: “Most FM providers see their impacts as their direct emissions only, which include those generated via transport and building operations. Some go a little further and measure their indirect emissions from business travel and waste.

“However, this reporting typically captures less than 20 per cent of the providers’ full impacts, meaning that most carbon emissions are going unmanaged and unreported, even in cases where companies are stating that they are net zero.

What is not considered by most are the goods procured by FM and the emissions that exist on the client sites.”

Those are Scope 3 emissions.

Chris Havers, SFMI programme director at Acclaro added that a standardised approach needs to “reflect on the nuances of how facilities managers operate with their clients”. In its introductory report, Acclaro took as its starting point Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s accounting standards, matching suggested facilities service functions to them and detailing the data requirements for calculating emissions in each of these areas.

The report, entitled Scope 3 Emissions in FM – Setting the Foundations for Net Zero, is the first of two initial pieces of the project’s ‘stage 1’ activity.

A second report, incorporating feedback from the first and due

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ANALYSIS / FRONT DESK

C ATE G O RISATIONS

GHG PROTOCOL SCOPE 3 PRIORITIES

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY

The sector's Scope 3 project commenced with an initial mapping of FM service provision against GHG protocol activities GHG protocol category

GHG protocol definition

Relevance

Applying definition to FM internal operations

Applying definition to delivery of general FM services (not service specific)

Minimum level data recommendations to aim for

Business travel

Transportation of employees for businessrelated activities during the reporting year (in vehicles not owned or operated by the reporting company)

High

Emissions from travel relating to central functions (BD, conferences)

Emissions from travel relating to delivery of client services

Business travel expense claims should include: Transport mode, journey distance, class of travel (ie on planes). Segregated between client level travel and own operations travel

Waste generated in operations

Disposal and treatment of waste generated in the reporting company's operations in the reporting year (in facilities not owned or controlled by the reporting company)

High

Waste from central functions

Waste managed on client operations where FM is paid to manage waste and in projects delivered that generate waste.

Differentiating between waste in FM projects and general waste management operations

Quantity of waste produced broken down by waste streams. Segregated between own sites and client sites. Waste from projects on client side included

out in Q1 2022, is intended to propose a methodology.

Then, in the project’s second phase, (towards the latter part of 2022), wider testing and implementation of the devised methodology is intended to take place with organisations that volunteer to take part.

To tackle Scope 3 emissions, organisations will need to investigate their supply chains or place high demands on them to report their own emissions.

BAM FM’s Louise Williamson explained: “FM companies have been measuring (GHG Scope) 1 and 2 for some time, but we are now looking at how we can consistently measure those Scope 3 emissions, which is much more complex but necessary if we’re to support our clients.”

The firm’s strategic director, Reid Cunningham, went on to illustrate one interesting example of the kind of detailed measurement of Scope 3 emissions we can expect.

“We’re working with Edinburgh University to investigate the

different carbon intensities of ingredients in our menus”, he explained, “and we’re engaging with some clients to change menu cycles and options to reduce the carbon in our catering services.”

Particularly important will be how to avoid ‘double counting’ emissions that are already accounted for in Scope 1 or 2 reporting. The way that goods procured by FM providers for service delivery to clients are collected and converted to DEFINING EM IS S I ON S

SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT Carbon Trust defines the three emissions scopes as follows: ● Scope 1: direct emissions from an organisation’s owned or controlled sources; ● Scope 2: a company’s indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling; and ● Scope 3: all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.

carbon allocated to emissions is another thorny problem.

The expectation is that both the scope and granularity of emissions reporting will develop over the coming months, culminating in further guidance from the project’s partners, to be published in a second ‘Stage 1’ report early this year.

Categorically difficult The initial report concludes with a table, developed by project leaders, detailing 16 GHG Protocol Scope 3 categories – ranging from ‘upstream transportation/distribution’ to ‘employee commuting’ – with elements of FM service delivery deemed applicable being connected to each (see chart above). For example, for ‘employee commuting’, service elements include ‘emissions from commuting to client sites for on-site teams’ and ‘emissions from commuting to FM offices’.

In a subsequent IWFM webinar, supported by energy consultancy Inenco, Bethany Goodwin, senior account

manager and NHS specialist at Inenco, said that with “most people still trying to measure their carbon footprint”, a roadmap to net zero remains beyond reach for many.

Although more streamlined energy carbon reporting is helping organisations establish their baseline for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, “most aren’t touching on Scope 3” yet.

For now, Sunil Shah is still inviting interested parties to feed back on the initial report (if that's you, use the report link at the bottom of this page).

Shah also expects that 2022 will see some service firms, whose focus on emissions has been mainly about activities such as vehicle fleets, forced to look more broadly at their emissions responsibilities across the entire supply chain.

FURTHER READING The GHG protocols tinyurl.com/Fac0102-protocol ‘Scope 3 Emissions in FM – Setting the Foundations for Net Zero’ tinyurl.com/Fac0102-scope3

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FRONT DESK / ANALYSIS

E NV IRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Required: a renaissance for retrofitting

By Herpreet Kaur Grewal

R

etrofitting rather than demolishing buildings and constructing new ones in their place is almost always more cost-effective and less carbonintensive from a sustainability perspective. And now, a growing realisation of the retrofit’s lighter impact on the environment is dawning with a wider audience of built environment stakeholders.

At the end of 2021, Marks & Spencer came under criticism for its plans to demolish its 90-year-old flagship store on Oxford Street in London. The key concern was the amount of CO2 would be involved – with thoughts turning back to retrofitting the existing building.

Similarly, a decision to take down the Assembly Rooms in Derby was criticised when it was shown that demolishing and building anew would lead to 11,413.2 tonnes of CO2e

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when refurbishing it would involve a comparitively low 4,100 tonnes of CO2e. Philip Oldfield, director of the University of New South Wales’ architecture programme, calculated that the difference between the two would be equivalent to “1,590 passenger cars driven for one year”.

Research in 2021 by heritage body Historic England also found that “carefully retrofitting” historic buildings “can lead to substantial carbon savings in the long term” With World Building Council figures showing that buildings producing almost 40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, there is a sense that defaulting to retrofit could be a key trend in 2022.

Prioritise planning One reason is that there is increasing pressure for the governments of the UK to weigh more carefully

which planning applications to grant or reject based on the green credentials of the buildings proposed.

Countryside campaign group CPRE recently backed this move. Andrew Wood, its spatial planning lead, said that government planning reforms in England must factor in that “cutting carbon should be a basic criterion for major new projects to be considered”.

The body also argued for greater powers for local authorities to make these decisions in local applications.

For instance, plans for the ‘Tulip’ – a 305m tower proposed for the City of London – were rejected on appeal by the government for primarily environmental reasons.

Secretary of State Michael Gove said that “the extensive measures that would be taken to minimise carbon emissions during construction would not outweigh the highly unsustainable concept of using vast

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ANALYSIS / FRONT DESK

quantities of reinforced concrete for the foundations and lift shaft to transport visitors to as high a level as possible to enjoy a view”.

This decision is believed to be the first time the government has cited embodied carbon as a consideration in a planning decision letter.

Also, and as we report elsewhere in this edition, post-PFI thinking about the private financing of public buildings could include models that encourage the retrofitting of energy generation / storage assets, extending further a building’s operational life.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY

Government’s retrofitting role Recently, the TV personality and architect George Clarke argued for the construction and building engineering sectors to play a key role in addressing the climate crisis, aswell as for financial incentives to encourage fresh investment and new approaches from building owners.

Clarke told delegates at a recent Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) conference that

It’s a staggering statistic that buildings are responsible for 39 per cent of global energyrelated carbon emissions the government had to be on board for a “global retrofit revolution” by abolishing VAT on the restoration and conversion of existing buildings.

He described current government measures to address the carbon impact of housing as “a drop in the ocean” and the fact that 10 per cent of all UK households were currently in fuel poverty as a “national scandal”.

He also said there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic and urged the industry to reinvent itself by inspiring young people to work with the wide range of new technologies being used to build greener and more sustainable structures.

Workplace practicalities Rachel Houghton, managing director at Business Moves Group, said: “It’s a staggering statistic that buildings are responsible for 39 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions. However, I don’t think this is particularly well-known outside of construction circles.

“When planning a workplace change project, a lot of businesses might think that moving to a new-build with a high energyefficiency rating is a good choice for sustainability. But the truth is that focusing on a redesign or refit is much more sustainable, whether in an existing space or relocating to an ‘older’ building. Adopting and reconfiguring an existing building can be a much more sustainable solution. With advances in redesign and refit in existing buildings, we can minimise the carbon impact.

“An existing building has already spent its embodied carbon – the emissions created in creating and transporting the raw materials and actually constructing the building.

By reworking an existing space,

businesses can generate a much lower carbon footprint.

“This can be taken further with sustainable workplace strategies.

Companies often ditch old furniture and replace it with something new off the shelf. But lots of items – desks, chairs, sofas – can be refurbished to such a high standard that they appear as good as new. Not only is this a great environmental option, but a much cheaper one too.

“If we want to truly embrace sustainability, we must look to make use of existing spaces rather than building new. As more businesses choose to redesign and refit, that can encourage a shift among builders and developers.”

Steve McGregor, group managing director at DMA Group, said: “It’s probably never been clearer that making buildings work better reduces energy consumption and similarly emissions. Repurposing, refurbishing and refitting existing stock, rather than simply demolishing and rebuilding them, makes more sense than ever at this point. However, the renewable alternatives that are necessary to break our national dependency on conventional fossil fuels are expensive, so ensuring that green funding is available is a prerequisite.

Funders must rise to that challenge.”

Decarbonising the system Earlier in 2021, and with a view to speeding up the decarbonisation process, Boris Johnson followed advice given by the Climate Change Committee in its Sixth Carbon Budget recommendations,. These include plans to totally decarbonise the power system by 2035.

At the time technical lead at BESA, Graeme Fox, told Facilitate: “At least 80 per cent of our current stock will still be in use in 2050 so a radical, well-funded national retrofit strategy must be a top priority. Only then can our industry get its teeth into sorting out the performance gap in hundreds of thousands of buildings."

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FRONT DESK / ANALYSIS

CO P26 O UTCO M E S

COP26 – what next?

By Herpreet Kaur Grewal

C

OP26 may be behind us, but what are the outcomes of the event? Last year’s conference stood out for having a Cities, Regions & Built Environment Day, the first time this had happened at the global UN event. On one panel during this day, delegates heard that the built environment industry has not been going “far or fast enough” on tackling climate change.

Cristina Gamboa, CEO of the World Green Building Council, said the buildings and construction sector and cities “must be elevated as a critical solution provider to the climate emergency”.

Although it was far from perfect, the final deal of the entire event made small steps in the right direction. But in his post-event press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was “tinged with disappointment” that an overall better deal could not be agreed upon by nations. He added that although “it’s tempting to be cynical” and “dismiss these types of such summits as a series of talking shops” he insisted that “we came to COP with a call for real action on coal, cars, cash and trees and that’s exactly what we’ve got”.

Among the small but welcome pledges in the pact was the first mention of fossil fuels in the text of a COP agreement.

The agreement said nations must accelerate towards “the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”. For the built environment this means changing many aspects of how it is run.

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Gamboa had told delegates: “By 2050, 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. Cities, regions and the built environment within them are critical for climate action. The built environment is responsible for almost 40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The built environment sector is a strategic sector to simultaneously address the global challenges of various global changes such as climate change, improving living conditions, the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the necessary resilience we need to build in our regions and cities.

We aim to spotlight local and

regional leadership as a vital policy enabler for action on buildings and construction, waste and consumption, circular economy and the creation of green jobs.”

The “phasedown” of fossil fuels will affect all elements of the built environment. One of the ways to meet targets will be for building owners and operators to make use of sophisticated technology.

Jamie Cameron, director of digital solutions at Johnson Controls UK&I, said: “About 40 per cent of global carbon emissions and 50 per cent of extracted materials comes from the buildings we use every day.”

He added: “Thankfully, technologies already exist that

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ANALYSIS / FRONT DESK

By 2050, 68 per cent of the world's population will be living in urban a areas.

Cities, regions and the built environment w within them are critical for climate action recognised as a significant vehicle to make a positive impact and advance our sustainability efforts.

In this sense, it is clear that smart technologies will be fundamental in reaching our climate goals.

The evidence of the benefits of improved visibility over an organisation's carbon footprint – for our people, our planet, and now our businesses – are too prevalent to ignore.”

The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) said that waste and resources should

be pushed up the global political agenda if the world is to stay within the 1.5°C threshold.

CIWM president Dr Adam Read said the fact that the COP26 event had not fully recognised the “integral part the resources and waste sector has to play in helping to reach net zero targets, not just in the UK, but globally” was “a critical oversight on their part”.

Read added that while it was disappointing not to see waste and resources better represented on the main COP26 agenda, it had nevertheless been “hugely encouraging to witness the sector proactively discussing practical action it can take to accelerate the development of the circular economy and battle climate change at a host of ‘fringe’ events. It is clear those working in the UK waste and resources industry are committed to moving to a world beyond waste and driving change despite the apparent lack of recognition on the international stage.”

COP26 COP2 COP2 COP CO P26 266 OUTCOMES RELEVANT TO WORKPLACE AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY

n the the th e ru In run-up to and after the ev eve ven ent nt,, a raft of announcements event, wer ere re e ma m a by government and we were made err in iinfluential nf o he ot oth other bodies to tie in OP goals: w th wi wit h COP CO C with COP26

can help us in lowering carbon emissions. Reviewing technology investments is one place to start as we gain a complete view on the environmental impacts of the built environment. Smart solutions can integrate all technologies found in a building across the fire, security, controls, HVAC, and occupancy systems, increasing overall efficiency and therefore reducing energy consumption. This is a winwin as businesses can lower energy consumption in their buildings to achieve net zero goals but also save on energy costs.

“Smart technologies are no longer a gimmick or a ‘flash in the pan’ initiative and must instead be

Th The e go g o ● The government’s Treasury dep de pa arrtm tm m department announced rules sa say ayi yin ng g fi ffinancial i saying institutions and co om mp pa an n companies with shares listed n the the e Lo L on London Stock Exchange must mu stt co om up with net zero must come tra tra ans nsi siti tio o plans, which will transition be pu pub blilis be published from 2023. The stra str atte eg gie e will need to include strategies ta arg rge get etss tto reduce greenhouse targets ga gass em e ms mis gas emissions, and steps which co om mp pa pan an companies intend to take to gett the get th ther ere To guard against there. g gre grree en nw wa greenwashing, a science-based ‘g go old ld d sta sta ‘gold standard’ for transition p pl pla an nss wi wil w plans will be drawn up by a n ne ew w Tra T an n new Transition Plan Taskforce c co om mp mpo pos ose se of industry and composed a ac ca ad de em m leaders, regulators, academic an a nd d civ ci c vill society groups. and civil ● A we w ee ek k before COP26, the week g go ov ve ern nm m government announced its heat

and buildings strategy, which sets out its plan to “significantly cut carbon emissions from the UK’s 30 million homes and workplaces in a simple, low-cost and green way while ensuring this remains affordable and fair”. Proposals included a £3.9 billion package, of which £450 million will be spent on grants subsidising the upfront cost of heat pumps for homes. ● The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) launched a Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap for the UK Built Environment (The Roadmap) detailing the necessary actions that government and industry must take to achieve net zero across the sector. ● The World Green Building Council announced that 44 businesses, including 28 UKGBC members, were taking sectorleading action on reducing the whole-life carbon of buildings by signing up to the Net Zero

Carbon Buildings Commitment – 122 businesses and organisations are now signed up to the commitment. ● The International Cost Management Standard – or ICMS3 – has been published by an international coalition of construction experts for reporting carbon dioxide emissions used in the building and life cycle of structures – also known as ‘embodied and operational carbon’ within the industry. Justin Sullivan, chair of the ICMS Coalition and Construction Industry Council, said: “When it comes to international standards for costs, life cycle and carbon in construction we are the only show in town – true pioneers.

The timing of the launch of ICMS3, the standard for carbon in construction, could not be better with the world stage digesting and implementing the outcomes of COP26.”

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TOP STORIES / FRONT DESK

NEWSMAKERS

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PLUMBERS MU ST BONE U P ON HEAT PU MP S

The Social Market Foundation has warned that the government’s plan to decarbonise home heating does not give plumbers enough incentive to train to install the heat pumps with which ministers want to replace gas boilers. The group’s talks with plumbers suggest that many see little reason to spend time and money getting the skills needed for heat pumps. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-Plumbers

LINK BUSIN ESS R ATES TO E NE RGY E FFICIENCY – JLL

Business rates regulations must be changed to contribute to the move towards zero carbon, according to JLL in its report, Business Rates and Sustainability. The real estate adviser advocates a change to the rating multiplier so that business rates would be linked to a property’s energy efficiency. tinyurl.com/ Fac0122-Energy

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The Health and Safety Executive has begun a national campaign to help businesses recognise the signs of work-related stress and make it routine to tackle these issues.

Work-related stress and poor mental health risk are becoming a health and safety crisis for the UK’s workplaces, warns the regulator. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-HSE

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BUIL D I N G S EC TOR MUST TA K E P RID E IN TACK L IN G CL IMAT E CH A N G E

Paul Drechsler, the CBI’s ex-president, expects the building engineering sector to play a key role in addressing climate change.

He told the annual Building Engineering Services Association president’s lunch that industry leaders must be more vocal about their achievements to promote the role of building services in supporting health and wellbeing. But he added that this would require the sector to compete harder for talent to address skills challenges and improve staff diversity. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-Climate

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74 % O F SUPPLY CHAIN HEADS DO NOT TR ACK FO OD WASTE

A Sodexo survey shows that the link between food waste and carbon emissions is still not understood and that a “radical, rapid change is needed”. It examined food-buying trends at some of the UK’s biggest firms. Nearly 74 per cent of senior decision-makers don’t track the amount of food they want. tinyurl. com/Fac0122Sodexo

Ethical trade membership firm Sedex has reported that while women make up half of the global workforce, only a quarter are in management and a third in supervisory roles. Female workforce participation is 60 per cent in services to buildings such as cleaning, 69 per cent in human health activities, and 62 per cent in apparel manufacturing. But only 26 per cent are in computing. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-Women

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All new and renovated buildings will need electric vehicle charging points installed in them from next year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. The rules will also apply to new homes and those undergoing large-scale renovations. The government claims that this announcement builds on the 250,000 workplace and home charge points it had already supported to date. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-EV

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY / ISTOCK

H S E L AUN CH ES MEN TA L H E A LT H D R I V E

As many as 73 per cent of UK workers would choose their next employer based on flexible technology and health and wellbeing support, according to a survey by ergonomic office furniture firm Ergotron. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-Tech

WOMEN A RE 5 0 % OF UK WO R K FO RC E B U T ON LY 3 1% OF BOS S ES

E V C HA RGING POINTS TO BE MANDATORY IN NEW-BUI L DS

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2

WORK ERS WA N T F L EX I BL E T ECH

L I V I N G WAG E RIS E

The Living Wage Foundation announced increases to the ‘real’ Living Wage rates during its annual Living Wage Week celebration in November.

More than 300,000 people working for almost 9,000 real Living Wage Employers throughout the country are getting a vital pay boost as the new Living Wage rates rose to £9.90 across the UK, and £11.05 in London. tinyurl.com/Fac0122-Wage

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CL EA N IN G STA F F FACE ‘ BURN OUT ’

A lack of contract cleaning staff could put remaining workers at risk of “burnout” ncrease costs and increase for contractors, says the ncil British Cleaning Council oup (BCC). Jim Melvin, group CEO at The Exclusive Services Group and BCC o4 chair, told BBC Radio ere some contractors were n asking clients to open an. buildings 24/7 to clean.

2tinyurl.com/Fac0122Cleaning

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F M I S K EY TO D I G I TAL WORK P L AC E CH A N G E

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Digital services firm Ricoh UK’s report, Leading Change at Work – Devising Your Digital Workplace Strategy, considers the impact of the pandemic on current and future FM roles.

FM professionals who took part in one of several round table events examined the role of four key departments: facilities, HR, IT, and finance and operations. tinyurl.com/ Fac0122-Workplace

IW F M P ION EERS WORK P L AC E TO O L

IWF has joined with Liverpool Business IWFM Sch School and Workplace Unlimited to llaunch The Return on Workplace Inve Investment, or ROWI Tool. The tool is a cal calculator to measure the impact of wor workplace projects on organisational per performance. tinyurl. com com/Fac0122-Tool

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POLICY PIPELINE / FRONT DESK

Building safety

PHOTOGRAPHY: ISTOCK

We will focus on the building safety manager (BSM) role, engaging with stakeholders to define and clarify the role’s competence requirements. We will closely collaborate with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, the Health and Safety Executive and those engaged in the PAS 8673 on competence for BSMs. We’ll give guidance on other evolving projects such as energy performance.

Workplace With the workplace playing a key role in connecting people, our EDI work help us to understand how the flexibility offered to users of office workspaces can be accommodated in other workplaces too. EDI is a key consideration so all people can do their best work, wherever they work.

2022 PRIO RITIES

Bringing the big four to the fore

Technology

Sustainability, building safety, workplace strategy and how technology and data enable it all are the issues driving our policy agenda this year

U

ltimately, IWFM’s 2022 policy work is focused on identifying the skills and data gaps that need filling so members can meet the challenges of the year ahead. There are four principal strands.

Sustainability We will continue our work to help members achieve their net zero initiatives through various workstreams, including supporting a standardised approach to measuring an

KEY CONTACTS Sofie Hooper Head of Policy Phil Jenkins Policy executive policy@iwfm.org.uk EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION FOCUS GROUP ● The group, representing decades of impressive experience in this

organisation’s Scope 3 carbon emissions and working towards meaningful roadmaps.

We will work on sustainability’s social dimension, through our commitment to embed the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across our own organisation.

We will continue to foreground the unique role our members play in bringing together the needs of landlords, end users and the supply chain to develop a holistic sustainability strategy.

important area, will shape a meaningful IWFM action plan for the coming years.

competence framework for building safety managers to drive competence.

BUILDING SAFETY ALLIANCE ● This collaboration seeks to implement the structures and guidance needed to make the BSM role a reality.

SCOPE 3 EMISSIONS GUIDANCE PROJECT ● Various Special Interest Groups are feeding into a project to drive a standardised approach to aligning measurement of Scope 3 emissions with decarbonising FM services.

BUILDING SAFETY MANAGER ROLE ● IWFM continues to work on the PAS8673

SOCIAL VALUE CLIMATE EMERGENCY GROUP

Our focus is on the quality, relevance and applicability of data. Our surveys reveal that members do not necessarily have access to the right data, don’t collect it, or don’t use it. Our work will help members act on this information gap. We are working on several projects, including those driven by government to improve its own understanding of building life cycles.

The data we collect and act upon is key to all of our 2022 priorities; it is essential to better sustainability practice, ensuring the safety of buildings and life cycle planning and proving the value of the workplace.

2022 will also see us leading on procurement best practice, with late payment and contract models to the fore.

But it is in these four key pillars that we will focus much of our work.

● IWFM is feeding into a new working group of the National Social Value Taskforce that is reviewing how to strengthen the Social Value TOMS framework on effective climate measures.

WORKPLACE CONVERSATIONS ● IWFM continues to explore the future of work debate and build on proof points for the return on workplace investment.

NEC CONTRACTS ● Our NEC Steering Group continues to work on several Practice Notes supporting the new NEC Facilities Management Contract.

GET INVOLVED ● Our policy work is informed by our members’ priorities.

Share your views on policy matters with us at policy@iwfm.org.uk

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FEATURES / ETHICS & MODELS

THE

GOOD FIGHT 18

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ETHICS & MODELS / FEATURES

A new balance is required. The narrative that an organisation is all about the bottom line needs to be balanced by the growing pursuit of ‘profit with purpose’. Investors, consumers and employees want ethical, social and environmental value to drive organisations. But how can this new approach be introduced and maintained? B Corp accreditation is an increasingly popular option, as Bradford Keen reports

Pursuing an ethical advantage Search the B Corp directory for certified UKbased companies operating within ‘facilities, ground and maintenance’ and you will find just two results – at least at the time of writing. One is NuServe, a contract cleaner of corporate offices; the other is the property management consultancy MAPP. However, an increasing number of service suppliers are becoming aware of the B Corp concept as they look to appeal to future clients.

So what exactly is B Corp? Set up in 2006, it’s an accreditation process designed to allow organisations to protect and improve their positive impact over time.

Businesses seeking to become B Corpcertified complete a year-long accreditation process, demonstrating commitment to socially and environmentally sustainable business – while revealing in practical terms, through company policies and stakeholder engagement, how this commitment will be achieved.

A baseline ‘impact score’ for accreditation is 80 out 200 points.

Organisations gain these points by providing evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices relating to: ● energy supplies; ● waste and water use;

● worker compensation; ● diversity, and ● corporate transparency.

Once accreditation is obtained, organisations need to recertify every two to three years to improve their ‘impact score’. This short window between certifications boosts the B Corp idea from a standard tick-box process into a continuing internal conversation about organisational change. This, in the 2020s, is an approach that organisations are increasingly happy to integrate into their day-to-day activities.

So far, more than 4,100 certified B Corps are operating across 150 industries in nearly 80 countries. Big brands include The Guardian, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, The Body Shop, Brewdog and Ella’s Kitchen. No particular sector or size of organisation stands out. But what turns the dial is the involvement of a particularly evangelistic owner or board. And there comes a point when such evangelists end up driving this change beyond their own organisations to necessitate it in those of their competitors.

Adapting to fit Simon Duke, who runs the cleaning contractor NuServe, says of his firm’s B Corp commitment that “the certification procedure is extremely robust. The height of the bar is, however, what attracted me to the organisation. It forced us

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FEATURES / ETHICS & MODELS B Corp accreditation requires companies to commit to staff wellbeing and support

to improve areas where we were weak, and to take note of areas where we needed to improve record-keeping or governance”.

For example, NuSurve adopted nonchemical cleaning agents before becoming a B Corp, but during accreditation the company had to provide data to demonstrate the percentage of its spend on ‘environmentally preferred’ cleaning agents, identify and record the various eco-certifications of each product, and run reports to quantify its spending on compliant and non-compliant products.

(Read more about NuServe’s B Corp journey at: tinyurl.com/Fac1222Nuserve) “This highlighted that we had some work to do and prompted further product trials to identify alternative products to some key materials within our range,” Duke explains. “The roll-out required us to update all COSHH folders, and to train our teams on the new product.”

Duke stresses that B Corp doesn’t demand perfection but rather an earnest commitment to continuous improvement.

“Legally, we were required to amend our articles of association, making our directors legally obligated to consider the needs of all stakeholders equally, including our employees, our clients, the environment, and our community.”

Flexible workspace provider x+why also faced challenges with policies and processes. “We were forced to really think about things like our people, policies and programmes,” explains CEO and

20

3,500 Number of B Corp-certified organisations

150

Number of industries in which B Corp-certified organisations operate

70

Number of countries in which B Corp-certified organisations operate

co-founder Rupert Dean. “This was a time-consuming effort, but ultimately incredibly useful with long-term benefits to the business.”

Corp values ‘Using business as a force for good’ is a B Corp tagline. And it’s in this broader message that the magnitude of necessary change becomes clear. A B Corpaccredited organisation, for example, must

embed the scheme’s principles into its constitution. With social value legislation and the structural change demanded by net zero targets, there seems to be a growing clamour to be seen as actively embracing the ethical business practices that B Corp demands.

“Certification itself hasn’t really changed how we work with our members,” says x+why’s Rupert Dean. “It does, however, demonstrate to new prospects our commitment to our mission, and gives reassurance that we live up to all the things we promise in the sales brochure.”

The B Corp accreditation process “placed MAPP’s entire business operations under close scrutiny”, Jono Gill, chief of staff at MAPP, explains. “Amongst the measures that have been made as part of the certification process has been the total abolition of zero-hours contracts, increased diversity and inclusion, financial coaching for our people, market-leading maternity policies and an opportunity to lease electric or hybrid cars.”

These are significant and contemporary innovations. Given their likely appeal to prospective employers of their clients, there is a growing interest in B Corp accreditation from other property management organisations.

“Across the sector, we can sense a growing demand from occupiers and investors for the spaces that they occupy to be accredited – and B Corp is an ideal vehicle to achieve this alongside other accreditations,” says Gill.

Dean says x+why has also noticed growing awareness among its client base.

“Businesses are more aware of the benefits of the triple bottom line for their customers and also their staff and partners. It’s just not going to be possible for businesses to survive without actively addressing their social and environmental impact.”

Despite this client interest, there is still concern about whether complying with B Corp will push up costs. Duke says there “is an understandable, but often incorrect, view that sustainability automatically carries a price premium”. In fact, he reports, the company’s pricing has been unaffected by B Corp certification.

Nevertheless, to address the cost concern Duke says there is a need to reframe the narrative so that “ethics and

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ETHICS & MODELS / FEATURES

“Becoming a B Corp shouldn’t be seen as another badge to be slapped on the company footer.

If, however, the leadership team is genuinely committed to purpose over profit, and to using their business as a force for good, then I’d encourage them to go for it.”

Simon Duke, managing director of NuServe

cost aren’t at opposite ends of a spectrum”.

Rather, the requirement, he says, is to “create ethical solutions that represent excellent value for money”. However, achieving this requires compromise from contracting parties – and from them a similar willingness to innovate.

B Corp certification in a facilities supply partner is attractive to organisations looking for a partner to support their own corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.

Duke says: “The fact that we’re already carbon-neutral with an active diversity and inclusion and social impact agenda appeals to prospective clients. This has helped us to gain business and to open discussions with new prospects.”

B Corp versus existing standards It’s worth considering that B Corps is one of several proprietary certification schemes introduced over the course of recent years. B Corps targets certification of an organisation’s wider ethical performance, whereas others such as WELL and FitWel focus on the impact of an organisation’s physical estate upon those who use it. There is a common aim: development of a model for an organisation that affords them a point of difference from their competitors.

Yet this has always been the perceived value of independently produced standards created by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and British Standards Institute’s (BSI). Moreover, many BSI standards for workplace and FM performance have been introduced over the course of the past 10 years and more.

Stan Mitchell, CEO of Key Facilities Management International, is an FM standards pioneer. He is the current chair of the BSI’s FM Standards Committee and founding chair of ISO’s Technical Committee 267 Facilities Management.

“Standards are good – as a bold statement – because irrespective of where they emanate from, they give us

a benchmark to look at how we do what we do,” says Mitchell. His differentiation between the likes of B Corps and BSI? That the former is about telling the world “who you are and what your ethics are” while the latter “provides a tangible benchmark against which you can measure yourselves” for a particular activity.

Whereas some organisations may consider ISO standards such as ISO 41001 – Facilities Management as primarily “a piece of paper for marketing purposes”, the real motivator, says Mitchell, is that “you will be better at the end of the process than when you started, and I don’t care who you are – that is almost guaranteed”.

What’s more, Mitchell “would like to think that good FM companies have been focusing on adding environmental and social value for decades”.

Nevertheless, accreditation to a standard is about demonstrating compliance, which requires measurement – and metrics aren’t often uniform internationally, or even cross-sector.

For a standard to be effective, Mitchell explains, they need to be defined and measured “in a manner that can be understood by all”. What this means is that “when you try to create those measurements, you have to come down to the lowest common denominator that can be applicable”.

The result can be a standard seen

B CORP PROSPECTS

WHICH ORGANISATIONS CAN BECOME A B CORP? Any for-profit company with at least a year of operations can pursue B Corp certification.

“Sometimes implementing a lot of the governance structures can feel unnatural and clunky for SMEs and they will struggle with resources to make it happen,” explains Jessica Ferrow of Twelve, an agency that guides businesses along the B Corp certification journey. “Larger businesses might have more of the systems in place like codes of conduct and supplier-screening programmes. But it will always take longer to make big changes where more people are involved, and they may face red tape or resistance from their board. Every business is different and it’s really about doing it at a time that’s right for your business.”

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FEATURES / ETHICS & MODELS Chocolate-maker Montezuma’s is currently on the road to becoming a B Corp

as overly generic, as has been the criticism of ISO 41001.

A decision that many organisations will grapple with now and in the future is the sheer number of proprietary standards popping up in the marketplace.

Rather than focusing on what “next month’s sexy standard is going to be”, Mitchell would rather see the standards world – along with businesses and industries – collaborate and find consensus on one source of truth.

Why not take the energy poured into creating new proprietary standards into an existing infrastructure and credibility such as ISO? asks Mitchell.

The standard isn’t perfect, he adds.

Indeed, “it’s incredibly bureaucratic, for good reason, which is very frustrating if you’re working in it. But it’s credible and transparent in terms of its process”.

The client perspective

22

“The B Corporation badge is the gold standard when it comes to certifying ongoing commitment to people, planet and progress and we wanted to join a network of like-minded enterprises that are really walking the walk.”

Rupert Dean, CEO and co-founder of x and why

for Montezuma’s is that it cannot procure all of its required cocoa from Fairtrade sources alone.

Accordingly, B Corp is seen as helping it overcome this challenge while broadening the ethical focus of the business. “This isn’t just about cocoa sourcing. This is about how we treat our people, our suppliers, and our customers,” explains Bruce Alexander, Montezuma’s managing director.

Challenges encountered Montezuma’s – a medium-sized company – has not had the resources to appoint an environmental or sustainability specialist to assist with B Corp certification, meaning that a major struggle has been juggling the requirements with everyone else’s day job.

Of the five governance focus points B Corp accreditation covers (employees,

PHOTOGRAPHY: NIC KANE / ISTOCK / GETTY / ALAMY

Organisations that have committed to the B Corp pathway are certainly many and varied. Grimsby Town Football Club is working towards the accreditation, its owners seeking to bring the ethical practices adopted in their own firms into making the Mariners the first B Corp organisation in world professional sport.

The renowned private bank Coutts & Co has also become B Corp-certified, one of three banks to have done so. Financial institutions can see an opportunity to stand out, and with Coutts & Co, the firm’s reasoning is instructive: it sees itself as an active part of the community of B Corp-certified organisations, improving its own operations while being part of something ‘bigger’ that strives to improve the wider world of business. The overall ethical dimension to B Corp is appealing to organisations in new ways; it’s seen as conferring a form of competitive advantage while simultaneously grounding the firm to strong operational principles.

Chocolate-maker Montezuma’s is also on the road to B Corp accreditation. While Fairtrade has been an important standard governing cocoa sourcing and treatment of the supply chain for years, the challenge

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SIMON DUKE, managing director at NuServe

RUPERT DEAN, cofounder and CEO of flexible workspace provider x and why

JONO GILL is chief of staff at Mapp

STAN MITCHELL , CEO of Key Facilities Management International

BRUCE ALEX ANDER, CEO of Montezuma’s

JESSICA FERROW, cofounder of Twelve

MEHALAH BECKETT, founder of Lead Powerful Impact

customers, suppliers, community and the environment), the biggest gap for Montezuma’s is environmental. As organisations are pursuing net zero goals up and down their supply chains, B Corp is seen as a powerful tool.

“There are questions like: ‘What’s your carbon footprint?’,” explains Alexander. “That’s a very simplistic question – but if you don’t know it, to start the process is massive. It’s relatively simple to do your scope 1 and 2 emissions because you wholly own those. But when you get to scope 3 – emissions of your whole supply chain – it becomes an absolute minefield”. (See Front Desk p.8 & 9, ‘Scope for improvement’).

“Different suppliers have different calculation methodologies, so that one question can lead to a whole workstream you just didn’t know existed.”

Integrity is the driving force Nevertheless, “what’s really good about it is that it forces you to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

What is it they say? ‘Integrity is all about what you do when no one else is looking.’”

The B Corp process has meant holding important conversations with suppliers, asking every supply chain partner to detail their own sustainability agendas and carbon-reduction plans.

This yields a variety of answers, with some having gained ground on the journey and others having yet to begin.

What can result is a positive tension to established relationships.

“There is very much an implicit message,” says Alexander. “‘If you don’t start on this journey, we’re going to have to seriously consider whether or not we continue to partner with you.’”

From a facilities perspective, all of this can mean a fresh take on existing building maintenance from an environmental perspective to improve a B Corp impact score.

Alexander says that one of the biggest challenges from his firm’s facilities perspective is its factory.

“I’m operating out of quite an old building and at some point I’m going to have to replace walls, roofs and so on.

Insulation is poor at the moment; how I replace those is a big consideration.”

The view from the consultants As with other proprietary certification schemes, consultancies have sprung up to advise organisations on the B Corp certification process. The visibility of the scheme appears to be developing at pace.

So popular has it become that businesses are having to wait up to 10 months for their applications to be assessed and verified.

“The 200-plus question survey can be quite overwhelming for businesses at first,” says Jessica Ferrow, co-founder of environmental consultancy Twelve.

“It’s not for the faint-hearted; making the necessary improvements and gathering the evidence needed to certify can be very time-consuming.”

The average score for a non-B Corp business is 50 points, 30 shy of the minimum score for certification.

“Most businesses will find it a challenge to find those extra points,” Ferrow explains. “It’s hard to get a high score unless you are actually doing something exceptional – like operating as a circular business, giving regular and significant amounts of money to charity or are fully employee-owned.”

Mehalah Beckett, executive coach and founder of the consultancy Lead Powerful Impact, says businesses can become disillusioned if answering ‘no’ to lots of questions.

“When I work with someone to support them, we get very clear on their mission and vision and how they want to be a better company for the world. Focus on just those things. You don’t need all of the points, you just need 80.”

The intended commercial benefit of B Corp certification is that it makes an organisation more appealing to investors who are increasingly seeking to prioritise the funding of businesses that demonstrate social responsibility.

“Nobody wants to invest in a company with skeletons in the closet,” Beckett explains.

“I’ve had a number of pre-startups come to me saying, ‘We want to set up as a B Corp from the beginning because

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PR AC TIC A L A PPLICATION

FM’S ROLE IN SUPPORT OF B CORP PREPARATION ● Gather data vital on energy, water and waste for the workers and environment section; ● Provide insight into reduction targets and strategies to achieve them; ● Strategise on delivering a circular economy; ● Oversee certain procurements; ● Offer training provision, health and safety, wellbeing and benchmarking; and ● Create gender-neutral bathrooms and facilities for breastfeeding mothers.

we want to attract long, patient capital.

We want to tell them we’re a pending B Corp and we’re going to make all these decisions in line with B Corp.’”

There is, perhaps, another equally compelling case. Employees and prospective employees, increasingly fixated on working for organisations that demonstrate environmental and social purpose, will see B Corp status as a big tick.

Attracting and retaining talent is becoming a key driver of interest in certification.

Also, with its focus on five core business areas, Beckett says B Corps aims for a much broader definition of sustainability than simply safeguarding the environment.

“You’re not just buying a certificate as you might do with an ISO or something like that, or maybe a Fairtrade if you’re looking at social responsibility; it’s a huge movement.”

From an FM perspective, a familiar requirement will resonate. Accreditation to B Corps is easier, we are told, for companies with accurate data and thus, perhaps, those smaller organisations with fewer ‘moving parts’. Companies with necessarily complex supply chains may struggle.

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“As of November 2021 there were 577 B Corps in the UK. There were three times as many submissions for B Corp in 2021 compared with 2020. There are more than 500 new sign-ups every week, and 150 service users every day in the UK.” Mehalah Beckett, founder of Lead Powerful Impact

“Data is king at every level,” Beckett mantains. “A company must either have decent data or be willing to invest in capturing data to prove their positive impact.” Beckett says companies should start talking about their B Corp intentions at the beginning of the process. They will soon enjoy the benefits. “It’s a mindset change.”

The long game The real issue with B Corp is whether it will, in time, be seen as simply the latest in a slew of proprietary certification models that benefits from, rather than defines, the times in which we live. B Corp has in fact existed for more than a decade, so it could be argued that current high levels of take-up, while loudly trumpeted, belie a model that a majority of businesses can afford to ignore.

Indeed, government legislation throughout the world is already driving greater adherence to the kind of reporting to which

B Corp commits its certified organisations.

What it hopes to do is create, through its routine recertification approach with its built-in incentive to continually improve, a sense within organisationsthat they are at the cutting-edge of ethical business practice – helping customers cut through the ‘green wash’ and commitments to such things as social value, proving their ongoing commitment. Time will tell whether this overt commitment to reinforcing ethical values requires such certification schemes.

For those providing such organisations’ workplaces and facilities, B Corp certification promises interesting times in the years ahead.

MORE ONLINE Read about NuServe’s commitment to B Corp bit.ly/1222_NuServe_ Read about MAPP’s commitment to B Corp bit.ly/1222_MAPP_

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As Private finance initiative (PFI) service arrangements wind down, what lessons can be learned from the PFI era and what will future public / private funding of building projects mean for the way facilities services are provided? Kerry Lorimer reports

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he demise of the private finance initiative (PFI) is set to be the catalyst for a transformation in the way public infrastructure is funded, delivered and maintained. With more than 200 PFI contracts due to expire over the next decade according to the National Audit Office, a new landscape for public private partnerships could see the monopolies of large service providers broken up to create a more flexible and diverse marketplace.

However, the winddown of those contracts will pose serious challenges for public authorities, who face a choice between reprocuring a service provider or bringing services in-house.

It could also see a shake-up in the market which may challenge service providers who have relied on the guaranteed income of long-term PFI deals for a sizeable proportion of their business.

“You might have service providers who pick up additional work, but you’ve potentially got some big players who are suddenly going to be at risk of losing several long-term, high value, contracts within a relatively short space of time,” says Chris Reeves, Partner at P2G, a social enterprise set up to help the public sector manage PFI contracts, including the expiry and reprocurement process.

In the meantime, managing the hand back and re-procurement process could be risk and resource intensive for both sides, says Reeves, who is also deputy chair of the IWFM’s Special Interest Group for Procurement. Misplaced or outdated documentation, including as built drawings, asset registers and maintenance records, along with the potential mismanagement of asset condition, could derail the re-procurement process, leading to legal disputes and reputational damage for the service provider.

“That, inevitably, is going to get out into the marketplace, impacting your reputation in bidding for future work or even retendering for what you’ve got,” he says.

“The key from a client perspective is very early engagement and collective planning for hand back between all parties, because the closer it gets the more difficult it’s going to be.”

Reeves also recommends that surveys be carried out as early as possible to validate the condition of assets, the

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accuracy of asset registers and sufficiency of planned maintenance plans, as well as to assess performance against environmental and fire safety parameters.

It benefits all parties to identify issues early so they can work together to resolve them well in advance of contract expiry, he says, and helps to ensure the public sector is inheriting “an asset rather than a liability”.

However, as the number of PFI expiries ramps up in the coming years, there is a risk of conflict between the public sector and outgoing service providers if hand back is not planned, managed and suitably resourced in a pro-active and collaborative manner, he warns.

A question of capacity James Larmour, partner at law firm Freeths, agrees that early engagement is crucial to avoiding a fall-out that could be damaging for both sides.

“What I would advocate for is for people to start collaborating to avoid conflict – it’s not going to be in the interests of any of the parties to end up in dispute over this,” he says.

In practice, however, lack of capacity has meant little activity to date on the public sector side.

“They’ve got an awful lot on their plates; they have to manage the contracts on an ordinary day to day basis and on top of that they’ve got the hand-back process and also what comes next in terms of reprocurement,” he says.

The worst-case scenario for public authorities is that the hand-back process is not completed by the time the work is to be handed over to the incoming contractor.

“If you’ve got ongoing disputes in relation to the facilities, that’s just another headache in terms of the

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ongoing management of facilities because you won’t have a clear line in the sand between the outgoing contractor and the incoming contractor,” he says.

It’s also the worst outcome for the contractor, who instead of handing back the keys and moving onto the next deal finds itself embroiled in a messy and potentially costly dispute.

Mark Williams, public services advisory at Grant Thornton, says there are grounds for optimism that with early preparation most PFIs will be resolved harmoniously, especially now the public sector has far more experience in dealing with complex contracts.

“There will be some of the circa 700 PFIs that will be really challenging and there will be problems, but that’s the same in any portfolio,” he says.

Where there is good contract management and a good relationship between parties, there is no reason why the expiry should not go smoothly, he says.

However, complications are more likely to arise where that relationship has broken down and the contract neglected by the procuring authority.

“If you’ve got yourself into an adversarial relationship with the private sector, life is going to be more difficult and it’s what you do to reset that,” he says.

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Negotiating the wind-down

P F I - A T ROUBL ED H ISTORY

Looking ahead, one way in which the relationship can be put onto a more positive footing is where the parties agree to extend the contract, whether in terms of scope or duration, but on a renegotiated basis which helps both sides meet their objectives.

They could, for example, extend the scope of an agreement to include an element of energy efficiency retrofitting work to enable a council to deliver on its net zero commitments.

“It would be a bit daft to rigidly follow the contract even though 25 years have passed,” says Williams.

“While these are contractually bound arrangements,” he continues, “if the incentives align for both parties, ultimately you can work with your lawyers and put the contract aside.”

Some public bodies, especially those with the infrastructure for managing estates already in place, may opt to bring services back inhouse when the PFI contract expires, while others will prefer to continue to outsource to the private sector, says Reeves.

So far, he has seen some clients take services back inhouse to manage themselves, but ultimately, the landscape will depend on the skill, capacity and appetite of the public sector to do that work.

“The whole reason outsourcing exists is because clients want to focus on their core business and transfer the responsibility for delivering facilities management services to the party best placed to manage it” he says.

KILLED BY ITS COMPLEXITY

A toxic legacy Governments have struggled to come up with a public private partnership model that leverages the benefits of private finance and experience while avoiding the pitfalls – and toxic legacy – of PFI. The Scottish Government experimented with a nonprofit distributing model which was designed to cap excessive private profits while increasing public sector influence over projects.

However, it was scrapped after value-for-money concerns and a ruling that the level of public control in such schemes meant they had to be included in capital budgets.

It is now considering a mutual investment model developed by the Welsh Government under which the public sector acts as a co-investor and co-owner of up to 20 per cent of each project delivery company.

Because it would not be used to finance soft services or capital equipment, the Welsh model is able to distance itself from PFI and its association with bloated service providers charging hospitals hundreds of pounds to change a lightbulb.

A neat alternative, suggests Larmour, would be to let a long-term FM concession for the facilities, for which the successful bidder would pay an upfront premium funded through senior debt and equity. That

The number of PFI project commencements hit a high of 68 in 2004. In 2018, when the then chancellor Philip Hammond announced their abolition, just one was commenced.

The PFI idea came under strain during the 2008-2010 financial crisis when the introduction of tighter regulations on banks meant higher lending costs on longterm debt and a consequential rise in costs and charges relating to PFI projects.

Whether PFIs gave value for money came under question during the early period of the 2010-2015 coalition government, with a particular concern about fixed PFI charges during a time when public finances were under extreme pressure. Public bodies questioned the long-term viability of PFIs should further funding reductions become likely.

Countering these concerns, the government introduced a new model of PFI – ‘PF2’ – ten years ago. A few projects

were started using the PF2 model, but this, too, was withdrawn in 2018.

Ultimately, the government came to accept that the PFI model is restrictively inflexible and complex, and a potential risk to government finances. The National Audit Office’s inability to provide any clear data on the model’s benefits helped to seal its fate.

The heyday of the PFI deal is over, but the ramifications for service providers of clients being locked into PFI deals continue. Payments for some PFI projects are set to continue for decades – PFI contracts typically run for 25-30 years – but the 2020s will see a steady decline in the number of such deals remaining operational. Nevertheless, it won’t just suddenly all end: the last PFI payment, for the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust PFI is not due until 2049/50 on an unusually long contract that was signed in 1998 to last for a truly extraordinary 52 years.

premium would then be repaid through the service fee for the duration of the concession, generating a capital receipt for the procuring authority which could then be reinvested to finance other projects.

The successful bidder could be tasked with using the capital raised to redevelop, extend or refurbish the existing facilities, including the retrofitting of energy generation/storage assets, energy efficiency measures and/or electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

“But it looks way too much like PFI for me to think anyone is ever going to adopt it,” he says.

As opposed to illustrating the weaknesses of outsourcing, the fact that there was so little slack in the system that contractors like Carillion went bust shows how well public procurement worked, Larmour argues.

“In many respects it shines a light on how aggressively run some procurements are,” he says.

According to Williams, the benefits that made PFI attractive in the first place - risk transfer, innovation, due diligence and the long-term integrated view provided by combining design, build, operations and maintenance – should not be overlooked.

“I’m not going to say it should be the only game in town – it shouldn’t, and when it was the only game in town that was a problem,” he says.

“But it is one of the models that should be put into a business case assessment to consider whether it has merit.”

Otherwise, the public sector risks closing down the whole potentially valuable avenue of private or alternate finance.

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“When we’ve got to spend billions on things like net zero, do we want to cut off a whole form of finance and project delivery?” he says.

Opportunity knocks The extent to which the landscape changes post-PFI will be driven by whether customers opt to “buy big” to secure best value or place greater weight on the green agenda, SMEs and the local economy.

“One can view this as an end of an era, or the start of a new opportunity for those willing to think differently and take on risk, particularly where the customer is willing to help support this shift to a new operating model,” says David Millar, managing director of Eastern & Wychwood.

In the past, a procuring authority’s commitment to, for example, cut food miles and award contracts to local firms were rarely followed through in practice.

“When it came to awarding the contract, often, if not always, it went to the lowest bidder who bought from their designated supply chain,” says Millar.

Historically, small firms have been precluded from pitching for public sector contracts as they lacked the resources to compete with bigger operators’s dedicated bid teams. Times, though, are changing, and social value is becoming a key public sector issue.

Millar suggests looking at what other countries are doing to create a more diverse supplier base. In the US, a public sector contract may require a certain level of involvement from small firms. It must then report on which small firms it has used, to what value and whether the small firms have been paid on time.

“Bidding credits, and points for smaller businesses that are actually reinforced rather than paid lip service to, are critical if we are to avoid the failures of the past,” concludes Millar.

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P F I - A T ROUBL ED H ISTO RY

PUTTING FM PROVIDERS UNDER PRESSURE In the early 2000s, concerns about PFI operation came to a crescendo, being focused on the burden of risk being put on the FM contractor. It was seen that FM firms were being unfairly targeted by other parties to the PFI deal, exposed to extra operational costs.

While FM contractors always knew that the risk profile of PFI contracting was more onerous than that of more traditional forms of procurement, many FM contractors had to mitigate these risks when negotiating the terms of the FM contract with the special purpose vehicle (SPV).

One such risk was limitation of liability. In seeking to keep control, capping the FM Contractor’s annual liability under the FM Contract, to a sum equivalent to 100% of the annual fee paid to the FM Contractor.

Another was the imposition of deductions, with The SPV agreement often allowing for deductions against the FM contractor despite any unavailability being the fault of the building contractor, not FM contractor.

These also included ‘interface agreements’ between the FM contractor, building contractor and SPV. These were often seen by the building contractor as a way of passing on liability to the FM contractor.

FM contractors were also often pushed to accept comprehensive “sweep-up” clauses in which they would find themselves responsible for SPV obligations in respect of the ‘operational phase’ of the facility, having to ensure that, instead, all aspects of their responsibilities wer laided out wholly in the FM contract.

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FEATURES / PERSONNEL PINCH

PEO PLE PRO BLE M

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Dramatically restricted availability of facilities service personnel will be a key topic in 2022, with clients’ acceptance of increased cost, more government lobbying, closer client-provider relationships and increasing automation featuring high in the sector’s response.

Dean Gurden reports

F

acilities management has always had to work hard to encourage people to take on frontline service delivery roles and then stay within the sector. But, right now, the problem of an unprecedented staffing shortage threatens to introduce uncomfortable conversations about cost and value into the equation.

A perfect storm of factors has left most service lines scrambling to fill places. Although cleaning is high in the public consciousness as a result of the pandemic, other key facilities service lines are affected in similar ways. In the entertainment sector, the Night Time Industry Association (NTIA) agrees that Brexit has been a key contributor to a huge shortfall in door security guards, and it also seeks more flexibility from the government to allow recruitment from outside of the UK. This is not, of course, just a service problem. The construction sector is looking at nearly 40 per cent year-on-year growth in unfilled vacancies.

So how have things become so bad? Naturally, Brexit is high on any list of reasons for the huge gap between FM vacancies and those expressing an interest.

TACK LING THE LABOU R SHORTAGE “A lot of people left the UK who might have fulfilled some of the roles,” confirms Paul Connolly, Brexit, the immigration bill and CEO of FM recruiter 300 the pandemic have transformed North. “For the first time the recruitment markets for facilities in years we’ve got minus service personnel; net migration, with more Clients and providers are working collectively to mitigate the impact of people leaving the UK reduced personnel numbers; and than coming in. That Demands by employees for greater simply can’t be allowed flexibility in their contracted hours is being to continue.” addressed slowly.

Connolly also cites the new immigration bill

IN SUMMARY:

[Nationality and Borders Bill of 2021-22], within which many soft-skilled FM roles are not listed, as a factor.

“And then, on top of that you’ve got Covid,” he adds.

“Yes, the number of people in employment increased when the furlough scheme ended. But many are still worried about taking up roles where they’re going to be in contact with others on a day-to-day basis.”

Ah, but if only it was a simple matter of Brexit, Covid and onerous new immigration legislation.

Connolly confirms that all three factors have helped to create a fourth problem – a stronger pull to potential FM service personnel of other service industries facing a Brexit/Covid crunch of their own.

Supermarkets, for example, or retail distribution, with the likes of Amazon, are offering increasingly attractive rates. Lidl, for example, has announced an increase in its minimum rate to more than £10 an hour, something Morrison’s has already done.

This is bound to exert further pulling power on those who would have otherwise been destined for softer FM-skilled roles, especially cleaners looking for more remunerative and regular hours.

Connolly suggests another, less immediately obvious factor. “You’ve got a lot of people who are not looking for new jobs because they’ve simply been well looked after by their existing employers and have a sense of loyalty to them,” he explains. “They are just not in the market anymore.”

Clean out of options Although every facilities service line is affected, the situation looks especially bleak for cleaning and hygiene. A survey by the British Cleaning Council (BCC) suggests that the sector is losing around 8 per cent of cleaning staff a week – or potentially 90,000 staff a week across the country.

“The results have staggered us in terms of what we’re facing,” says BCC chairman Jim Melvin.

“And we’re also looking at losing 12 per cent of our foreign nationals.”

According to Melvin, the issue has been flashing its headlights for some time. “We’ve always had a significant churn of staff in the industry, but this level of shortage, though unprecedented, has been foreseen.

“We spoke to the Home Office and Modern Slavery Team two years ago when we started looking closely at the immigration act. We flagged up the huge shortages of staff it was going to lead to back then.”

The BCC also conducts an industrial review at the end of every year. The one it performed just before the first lockdown showed that 62 per cent of cleaning staff within central London were foreign nationals.

“The response from the government was that if there were redundancies and unemployment, UK nationals would simply take up those jobs,” says Melvin. “But, traditionally and

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historically, they never have – and I don’t see anything changing that.”

So, Melvin asks, who’s going to pick up the slack? If there’s another pandemic or even another spike in the current one, who’s going to step into these roles? Who’s going to look after the likes of transport hubs, hotels, restaurants, offices, hospitals and surgeries?

“We asked that question back then and were met with blank faces, because they simply don’t understand the scale of the problem,” he says.

STAT I ST I CA L IN S IG H T S

THE CRISIS IN NUMBERS Percentage of cleaning and hygiene industry personnel that came from overseas in 2019, according to Labour Force Survey figures.

37%

More attractive alternatives As a long-time cleaning services provider, GS Associates knows how critical the situation is.

“Our jobs have simply fallen right to the bottom of people’s lists,” says managing director Lisa Laird.

“The market has been flooded with more attractive jobs as sectors like hospitality have opened back up.

And let’s face it, a lot of people would rather serve tea and coffee than clean.”

Laird says that some in the hospitality sector have been able to address its struggle with a diminishing migrant workforce by putting pay rates up.

“So not only is it a more attractive job physically, it also offers more money.”

Mark Whittaker, chairman of the IWFM, believes the immediate thing to do is to reclassify cleaning and hygiene workers as skilled within the Immigration Act 2020, thus making the roles accessible to overseas workers.

“The government’s suggestion of short-term visas in some industries is not going to have any tangible impact in my view as it needs a more sustainable solution”, Whittaker says. “To be frank, this is a government-created situation as a result of Brexit and the immigration act; although others may also argue that this being a historically low-wages sector has contributed to where we are now.”

The BCC’s Melvin echoes Whittaker’s frustration with the government’s attitude.

“If anything, the problem is heightened from the government’s involvement in the likes of fruit picking, poultry packing and HGV driving,” adds Melvin. “In the case of HGV drivers, we’ve definitely lost staff who have gone off there because they can now train up in a matter of weeks and earn significantly more money. Good luck to them, but the cleaning industry hasn’t benefited from similar government help.”

Melvin agrees that the immigration act is completely wrong to list cleaning as low-skilled.

“Cleaning has always been a skilled job,” he says.

“And the reality is that it’s even more of a skill now – and a vital one. Are we truly to believe that our health, hygiene and cleaning have been put in the hands of the unskilled? That’s why, first and

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70%

2021 level of night time manned security resources versus demand, according to the Night Time Industry Association (NTIA).

90,000

Potential number of cleaning staff leaving the sector each week, according to the British Cleaning Council.

Percentage of people who see ‘cobotics’ as a transformational solution to cleaning challenges over the next five years.

80%

81% Percentage of hospitality businesses reporting vacancies for front-ofhouse roles in a survey

by UK Hospitality, Q2 2021. This suggested a vacancy rate across the sector of 9%, implying a shortage of 188,000 workers.

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the industry must be given a clear pathway and nurtured.

“We make every effort to create the right culture to attract the right people,” says Saisi, “but we’re currently having to work even harder to do that. We’re having to be more creative.”

Churchill sees part of the solution coming through better employee benefits.

“We’re one of the only cleaning providers in the UK that offers an employee benefits and rewards scheme that gives discounts on products, brands and entertainments (in Churchill’s case, ‘Perkbox’).

Saisi says there’s value in service firms keeping a tighter rein on their recruitment.

“We don’t necessarily rely on external recruiters and might do our own recruitment or visit fairs, etc.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY / ALAMY

“Are we truly to believe that our health, hygiene and cleaning have been put in the hands of the unskilled?” foremost, we’re demanding recognition for what we believe are key support staff.”

The BCC has also been fighting for cleaning and hygiene to be accredited in the Apprenticeship Levy. It was rejected in 2017, but the BCC has finally got the green light to develop proposals for an accredited industry-wide training programme and apprenticeship for the sector.

“It’s promising,” says Melvin, “and the furthest as an industry we’ve ever got. We need to have a cradleto-grave approach in terms of the development of cleaning staff and market the industry under science and innovation, and generally make it a much more interesting career for the staff of tomorrow.”

Incentivisation stations Joe Saisi, London operations director with Churchill Services, also sees part of the solution being cleaning recognised as a proper trade. To him, anyone currently working in cleaning is a key worker, and those joining

Flexibility is expected On the client-side there is more confirmation about the scale of the issue. Former IWFM chairman Steve Roots, senior facilities manager with fashion and homeware retailer Matalan, says that although the FM sector has been warning about staff shortages for years, it has never really been bitten badly until now.

And it’s an even wider issue.

“What we’re finding is that it doesn’t just apply to the soft service side such as cleaning and security, but also to the likes of engineers and technicians.”

Roots recognises that his suppliers are having to become more flexible to attract new people.

“In a way, the pandemic has led to flexibility by the back door,” he says. “Employees are used to it now and see it as a fair and reasonable request. They want flexibility around their hours and to be able to work around other commitments, particularly in cleaning.

“After all, they might have two or three jobs on the go and be working for several contractors, performing different roles.

“In fact, being employed eight hours a day, five days a week on a single site is now quite unusual,” he says.

“It might happen on big sites, particularly our distribution centres, where we’ll have a full 24/7365 cleaning service, but in retail stores generally, a cleaner might only come in for three or four hours a day. Therefore, they might take on multiple jobs to make it pay.”

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FEATURES / PERSONNEL PINCH

A collective response

TURNING TO TE C H

IS AUTOMATION THE ANSWER? As staffing uncertainty continues into 2022, consideration of what automation can do to alleviate staffing shortages will increase. It has already focused minds on the deployment of infection-immune, floorcleaning robots operating in hospitals, supermarkets and warehouses. Moreover, there is the potential for such machines to take on additional activities at the same time.

“We’re definitely looking at efficiencies around automatisation,” says Matalan’s Steve Roots.

“Cleaning robots have been in place for several years, particularly in semi-sterile environments such as hospitals.”

But now, Roots says “we’re looking at moving towards a point where some longer-duration tasks such as scrubbing floors can be done remotely and robotically, rather than using a labourer sat on a machine.

“It also opens up other opportunities when you consider what else you could get that machine to do at the same time. Could you get it to count stock using RFID, for example? Or could it be CCTV-enabled while it navigates around the store in the evening?”

Roots believes that this combination of robotics, IoT and AI is going to support the industry moving forwards – although “it’ll never replace all of the hours of human interaction that we need”.

BCC chairman Jim Melvin concurs. He sees a future in which cobitics – a branch of robotics in which robot devices work alongside cleaning teams to undertake repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as vacuuming – becomes a routine part of delivery.

“At this point in time, a robot isn’t able to finish cleaning an office and then open and lock the door and go to the next one. There’s a view that it takes away from a lot of people’s jobs but that’s not the reality now.

“What robotics is good for is keeping the main store areas clean, which then allows the cleaning and hygiene operatives to concentrate on all the other more detailed areas.

“There’s no question that it is the future and will have a place going forward, but it certainly won’t take the place of all people and doesn’t solve the problem of staff shortages now and in the immediate future.”

36

Roots says that maintaining ever closer working relationships with suppliers is necessary to navigate through the current staffing crisis.

“It allows us to have an open-door policy where they can come to us if they have concerns,” Roots says. “We support them by supporting their recruitment drives if they’re looking for people in certain areas. We’ll put requests or advertisements through our own network as well to try to help.”

Where there are resource gaps, Roots looks to rescheduling to support operations.

“It’s not just a question of paying them a contracted number of hours they must fill.

We work very closely with them to make sure we get the level of service we need. We do this because we understand the constraints under which they’re operating.”

This ‘we’re in this together’ sentiment is echoed by Melvin.

“Some clients are already writing to their contractors asking for reviews to see what they need to do or if anything can be done differently,” he says. “Thankfully, I think clients are recognising that, whereas in the past they may have said ‘well, if you can’t do X, Y and Z, we’ll need to change contractors’; that’s not workable now because it’s the same for everyone. It would just be a race to the bottom in that regard.”

With his other hat on as group chief executive of Exclusive Services Group, Melvin has reached out to his own clients.

“We’ve explained the situation and what we’re facing as a collective – and it is a collective because it is all our problem – and the actions we’ve taken.

And we’ve highlighted some of the areas where we need their help. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of my competitor colleagues are having the same conversations,” he says.

Clearly, there’s no quick fix to what is going to become an increasingly critical problem. Cleaning and hygiene have never been more important, especially as we barrel into winter with the Omicron variant potentially set to cause another blizzard of infections. In the same way that everyone has their part to play in defeating the pandemic, it will take the collective efforts of everyone involved in the industry to weather this storm.

“Being employed eight hours a day, five days a week on a single site is now quite unusual”

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THE BEST OF THE SECTOR’S DISCUSSION AND DEBATE

VIEW POINT 40-41

42

42

44-45

Perspectives: Tamsin Tweddell, Nick Fox, Jacqueline K Cupper and Bianca Angelico

Angela Longhurst, a Frontline Heroes finalist in the 2021 IWFM Impact Awards

Ray Goodier discusses his work as a volunteer on the IWFM Health Working Group

Francis Akinola and Danielle Smith offer us insights into their jobs

Where are we now?

The NHS is facing a number of estaterelated issues, but the largest challenge is a maintenance backlog of approximately £9 billion across the sector. This is a substantial increase over the previous year, with conditions predicted to worsen in the current period. A poor estate with deteriorating assets significantly impacts patient care and staff wellbeing, and is a notable concern for NHS trusts across the UK.

Where do we need to get to next?

The NHS is aware of the state of its estate.

Trusts annually review and report on the condition of their assets and they generally have a grasp on statutory compliance, infection control and prevention measures, so the situation is far from out of control. However, there is a greater need across the UK’s public estate for increased understanding of wholelife costs of buildings and to provide appropriate funding.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY

How do we get there?

The obvious answer is, of course, an increase in funding, resources and raising of capital development expenditure limits; however, the NHS has a number of programmes to address some of the backlog. For instance, each trust is working on a green plan – a three-year strategy

N OW > N EX T > H OW

Tackling the backlog Where is the NHS estate at now, where does it need to get to next and how will it get there? David Stevens offers a direction

towards net zero carbon – that focuses on improving building performance and efficiency, while being more resilient to changing weather patterns. The result is a reduced maintenance backlog.

Trusts are also looking to optimise their estates wherever possible; for instance, by collocating with local partners or relocating services and, therefore, disposing outdated and poorly functioning assets. The sale of assets will help to fund maintenance improvements.

There are a number of modernisation programmes in place, including the New Hospital Programme, which is already under way. Many trusts are looking to move some services out of hospitals and refurbish their stock – this will improve primary care services and improve building conditions.

There are substantial people-led opportunities to make an impact on NHS estates. The NHS struggles to recruit staff at all levels and competition for talent has never been higher. Early talent programmes such as degree apprenticeships and the DAVID graduate management STEVENS is scheme for new and a director of existing staff are estates within the NHS and essential. In addition to vice-chair of general management, CIBSE FM. He there needs to be a focus is a fellow of on estates and facilities CIBSE, IWFM management in these and IHEEM. programmes – an area lacking in the current scheme.

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VIEW POINT / PERSPECTIVES

TAM SIN TWE D DE LL

N ICK FOX

EXPERTISE ARMOUR

THE KEY TO AUDIT SUCCESS

TAMSIN TWEDDELL is a leadership and learning coach, and former Soft Landings expert

NICK FOX is deputy director of capital projects and estate management at North Bristol NHS Trust

I

I

’ve noticed a common theme among the engineering leaders I coach. You need to build a lot of knowledge to be an engineer, and getting things wrong can have serious consequences. So being a ‘knower’ becomes second nature, and being seen as a knower can be core to your professional persona. The trouble is, it can sometimes inhibit the development of the people you lead.

Instead, leaders need to model that it is OK not to know something, and to get things wrong occasionally. Otherwise, your colleagues will not feel comfortable admitting to what they don’t know and may try to conceal their mistakes. This hinders growth.

I am coaching an emerging leader who wants to bring out the best in the people she manages.

She feels that they don’t share much with her and are reluctant to ask questions when they are having difficulties. She assumed that to maintain

her authority she needed to have all the answers to their questions.

She had also told me she had a strong relationship with her own line manager – she could tell him anything, including personal issues. He would share his challenges and struggles with her, which made him seem more human and approachable.

Then there was a light bulb moment. She realised that sharing her own uncertainty with her team would not lead to a loss of respect, but might make her more approachable, permitting them to share their own struggles.

Social psychologist Brene Brown describes the ways we unconsciously hide our vulnerability as “armour”. Expertise can be used as armour against vulnerability and we may feel the need to be right all the time. By having the courage to admit to what we are unsure about, we can model curiosity and being a learner, encouraging others to do the same.

Expertise can be used as armour against vulnerability and we may feel the need to be right all the time 40

read an interesting post recently about how a ‘dip sample’ type approach to compliance auditing gives adequate assurance.

Except it really doesn’t.

Auditing by task, asset, building and site is my chosen technique.

Compliance is one of the main challenges for facilities professionals, but I refuse to believe it’s complicated – it normally comes down to process, systems and behaviours.

I have written before about a measurement for ‘compliance’. What does it even mean because when do you become compliant?

I break compliance into two parts: ● Engineering activity compliance – have you done what the law says you need to do from a maintenance perspective? ● Management-type requirements – including permits to work, ladder registers, working at height, COSHH and risk assessments.

Clients often take audits verbatim. If they are not comprehensive enough you often have gaps and leave clients with a false sense of compliance. I always ask clients: to what level do you want me to prove compliance?

I ask you all to consider the ‘audit golden thread’:

● Audit to determine the right tasks are taking place; ● Audit so the CAFM system contains these tasks on the right frequencies in the right buildings; ● Audit to ensure evidence can be provided to support completion of tasks at asset level, not just task level; ● Audit to ensure all assets are linked to PPM regimes;

Compliance is one of the main challenges for FMs, but I refuse to believe it’s complicated ● Audit so the person who does the work has the right credentials; and ● Audit so the company who you employ has the right credentials.

This is the only way to prove compliance at the level I believe it should be evidenced at, but I rarely see this level of assurance being sought.

‘Dip sampling’ isn’t for me (unless that’s what the client asks for). If we are going to provide assurance, let’s do it properly.

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Visit www.facilitatemagazine.com for more regularly posted opinion columns. Topical, inspirational, angry or amusing – we consider all relevant comment. Get in touch at editorial@facilitatemagazine.com

PERSPECTIVES / VIEW POINT

JACQ UE LINE K CUPPER

BIA N CA A N G EL I CO

LIFT AS YOU CLIMB

SERVICES AFFECT WELLBEING

JACQUELINE K CUPPER is an FM consultant and cofounder of Plan B, which aims to increase gender diversity

M

entoring dates back to ancient Greece, when Odysseus left home to fight the Trojan Wars leaving his son Mentor behind to look after the household. These days, professional mentoring is essential as our working world shifts to being more flexible, agile, remote, hybrid – and all the other adjectives FM leaders are encountering post-pandemic!

There is great power in experienced professionals sharing their knowledge to help others grow. Plan B for FM was created to support women, an underrepresented group in the FM sector, learn from others, and accelerate their careers through mentoring. But mentors and mentees both gain from the experience.

Mentors hear about creative new ideas from mentees unrestrained by fear of failure and, in turn, they offer their experience to improve upon them.

Mentees gain confidence from mentors’ personal input into their career

BIANCA ANGELICO is chief daymaker at On Verve

decisions, thus improving chances of success.

Our sector has been at the heart of every aspect of the return to the office. For many of us, we finally have a seat at the boardroom table – and we’re required to speak the language of the boardroom, not day-today FM. Cross-sector mentoring from women in senior positions can help FMs to navigate this new corporate seniority.

Equally, hospitality and FM have great opportunities to mentor each other, especially as we all strive to enhance the end user’s experience.

Cross-sector mentoring can help us to innovate and test ideas on those who have more experience or who have faced similar challenges. The result for FM leaders will be finding new ways to demonstrate their value to the communities they serve.

So while you’re climbing the ladder, remember to turn around to help others. You’ll make our sector better in the process – what’s not to love?

Mentees gain confidence from mentors’ personal input into their career decisions

A

s we return to the workplace there are even more elements for businesses to consider. At the top of the list is making the workplace a destination. Studies reveal that workers are keen to retain some form of hybrid working, and that they have higher expectations of their workplace.

However, a recent Global Workplace Report from NTT provides a stark warning for leaders. Whereas 91 per cent of businesses recognise the value of employee experience (EX) as being important to the organisational strategy, just 38 per cent of employees surveyed believe that their employer fully values their health and wellbeing.

There’s a big disconnect and companies that fail to address this will suffer.

One way to bridge this disconnect is to empower front-of-house (FOH) teams to go beyond their traditional roles at reception and become more embedded in an organisation.

FOH teams can be the eyes and ears of an organisation. On top of this, they can develop relationships with employees and ensure that each individual feels truly valued and supported.

Instead of being tied to the reception area, FOH

teams can spend time each day walking through the workplace and chatting with employees. Not only will this build relationships, but they can collect feedback – formally and informally.

Sometimes the informal feedback can be most valuable. As FOH teams build relationships with employees, the watercooler chats can lead to employees sharing feedback they may not share in a more formal setting.

FOH teams can take mental notes and share the feedback with management, ensuring that senior leaders have a constant finger on the pulse of their EX.

FOH teams can be the eyes and ears of an organisation... they can develop relationships A strong emphasis on employee wellbeing will lead to benefits throughout the business, from improved productivity to increased profits. FOH teams are in the ideal position to be the drivers of wellbeing projects.

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Get in touch at editorial@facilitatemagazine.com or reach us @Facilitate_Mag

VIEW POINT / WINNING WAYS

VOL UN T EER V IEW P OI N T FRO NTLINE HE RO ES FINALIST

Angela Longhurst ● What? Selected as a finalist in the Frontline Heroes category at the 2021 IWFM Impact Awards for maintaining high-quality daily business operations – recommissioning clinical space, managing compliance, planned maintenance scheduling, reactive work requirements – while supporting customers and teams during the Covid-19 pandemic ● My role? To provide safe environments for patients and customers through effective estate management and ensure a positive customer experience by placing patients at the heart of everything we do. Great service and high standards are at the centre of my focus, and I’m always looking to improve them. Additionally, I took a hands-on approach to Covidrelated safety for our team, customers and patients. ● The impact? I set up and managed local processes to ensure the regular supply of PPE and lateral flow test kits for frontline team members.

Through collaborating with NHS colleagues from the local primary care network, the NHSE Primary Care Estates team and clinical commissioning group, I helped to deliver a PCN vaccination clinic at Parkwood Health Centre, accommodating internal space requirements, creating recovery areas for patients, which improved the patient experience and enabled the NHS to see more patients.

I have helped to improve compliance performance through regular review and liaising with tenants, landlords and the NHSPS compliance team. ● What’s next? As we approach what is likely to be a challenging winter, ensuring the health estate remains up and running is vital. My colleagues and I will continue working hard to ensure that hospitals, health centres and clinics are clean and safe for patients and our NHS colleagues throughout this difficult period. We also want to ensure that the health estate continues to meet the needs of patients now and beyond the pandemic, so we will continue identifying practical, tailored, and innovative local property solutions so that every patient can get the care they need in the best space and place for them.

ANGELA LONGHURST is facilities coordinator at NHS Property Services

42

TIME TO REFLECT R AY GOODIER is a volunteer on the IWFM Health Working Group and a certified leadership coach/mentor

F

M professionals have shown how we are able to adapt, upskill and deliver against relentless challenges. We need to continue this high performance in 2022.

In the healthcare sector we face many challenges and opportunities: supporting hybrid or changed work premises; overseeing health, safety and wellbeing initiatives; adopting smart tech (AI, IoT) to deliver smart hospitals and integrate smart city concepts; managing the effects of the labour shortage and the impact on service delivery – our own and our supply chains; PFI hand-back and changing capital/ funding regimes; changing business models with the introduction of ICS and managerial delivery concepts; and increasing collaboration with CRE colleagues.

So how do we equip ourselves to deliver the ‘Great FM Reinvention’?

First, we need to define what we FM professionals want to be remembered for.

The invisible profession or visible impact leaders, innovators, disruptors and trusted board members?

Second, let’s identify our super-strengths. What differentiates us, our team, our organisation from others? What are our standout abilities?

Let’s identify them and strengthen them.

Third, we must borrow ‘red teaming’ practices from our military colleagues to embed applied critical thinking into our processes.

It’s a revolutionary way to stress-test strategies, flush out unseen threats and missed opportunities, execute delivery in an uncertain world. We need critical and contrarian thinking in our everyday planning processes, challenging assumptions, considering alternative perspectives and disrupting our own thinking.

Fourth and finally, as professional impact leaders and innovators, we need to give back to the profession.

Volunteer and you will see the amazing rewards to the sector and society.

Let’s become super-strong visible impact leaders, innovators and disruptors

FAC I L I TAT E JA N UA RY- F EB RUA RY 202 2

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CALLS TO ACTION / VIEW POINT

D I A RY Events, activities and publications for your attention

KEY EVENT IWFM North Region Charity Ball: Join more than 400 professional colleagues for a black-tie charity ball.

Enjoy a champagne reception, threecourse meal, live music, entertainment, charity raffle – and a DJ until 2am. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-Northball

INDUSTRY WIDE

IWFM EVENTS

22 FE B RUA RY – LONDON

16 FEBRUARY – BRISTOL

Workplace Futures The theme is 'FM & Sustainability: the social, environmental and commercial challenge'. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-WPF

IWFM South West Region Sustainability in FM A skill-sharing day on managing sustainability: building design and monitoring throughout the life cycle of the building. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-SW-sust

The Virtual Interiors Event Product innovations and thought leadership for facilities and built environment professionals. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-VIE 5-7 APRIL – BIRMINGHAM

The Workplace Event Replacing the Facilities Event, this updated experience showcases insights and innovations in workplace experience and facilities management. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-workplace 17- 19 M AY – LONDON

Facilities Show Brings together the facilities supply chain together to share expertise and explore sustainable solutions. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-FacShow 18 - 19 M AY – LONDON

Gartner Digital Workplace Summit Rethink how work gets done and create an employee experience for your future workforce. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-Gartner

5 JULY – LON D O N

Building safety

Creating better workspaces - 1 day Learn about the organisational role of workspace and enhance workspace design. tinyurl.com/Fac1112-f2f-betterwork

IWFM COURSES

7 JULY

23 - 24 FE BRUARY – VIRTUAL

23 F EBRUA RY – 12 P M

8 MARCH – PLY MOUT H

IWFM South West Region Sustainability in FM A skill-sharing day on managing sustainability: building design and monitoring throughout the life cycle of the building. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-SW-sust2

Book any F2F, LVT or online course before 31 January and get 20% off. Code: DISCOUNT22

IWFM FACE-TO-FACE TRAINING 15 -16 MA RCH – LON D ON

Contract management: commercial models- 2 days Got a failing contract? Put it back on track. tinyurl.com/Fac0708-contract-F2F 15 -16 MA RCH A N D 28 A P RI L – LON D ON

Essentials of workplace - 3 days Improve your understanding of workplace and its business value. tinyurl.com/Fac1112-essentials-f2f 2 1-2 2 MA RCH – LON D ON

Effective property management - 2 days Create a strategy to manage and maintain your property portfolio. tinyurl.com/Fac1112-propman-f2f

17 OC TOBER – LON D ON

3 0 -3 1 MA RCH – LON D ON

IWFM Impact Awards 2022 The prestigious event celebrates best practice and ingenuity from an influential profession operating in multiple sectors. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-Awards

Managing building services - 2 days Reduce risk and better manage your building services. tinyurl.com/Fac0708-build-f2f 6 A P RIL – LON D ON

IWFM WEBINAR SERIES IWFM’s webinar series covers a variety of topics with expert guests.

Listings may be subject to change.

Visit tinyurl.com/IWFM-webinars

Leading successful workplace change - 1 day Skills and confidence to lead people through workplace change. tinyurl.com/Fac1112-f2f-change

IWFM LIVE VIRTUAL TRAINING 14 -15 F EBRUARY

FM Strategy - 2 days Improve your business strategy's impact on facilities services. tinyurl.com/Fac0708-facmanstrat 23 F EBRUA RY

IOSH working safely - 1 day You are responsible for your health and safety in the workplace? tinyurl.com/Fac0910-IOSH-WS 14 -16 MA RCH

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IWFM ONLINE ONLY ON L IN E AT OW N T I M E

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D EL IV ERED I N H O U S E

IWFM Customer Experience Working Group: Measurement and benchmarking

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2 FEBRUARY – 12 P M

27 A P RI L – LON D ON

D EL IV ERED I N H O U S E

Hygienic workplaces with Dyson

Selling your workplace vision - 1 day Convey the importance of workplace in a compelling way. tinyurl.com/Fac1112-f2f-vision

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12 JANUARY – 12 P M

15- 16 JUNE – LONDON

CIPD Festival of Work immerse yourself in a world of inspiration and discovery designed to develop you, your people and your business. tinyurl.com/Fac010222-CIPD

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Skills, professional development and pathways

FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M

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VIEW POINT / A BIT ABOUT YOU

What do you do? I am in charge of

organiser. I enjoy projects and working with people from different backgrounds.

overall refurbishment and FM projects.

What attracted you to FM, and how did you get into the industry?

Which “FM/Workplace myth” would you most like to put an end to? That notion that

I have an engineering background but at the start of my career I was pondering on whether to specialise in one of the building engineering specifics, such as chillers, boilers, etc., or to devote my career to the management of the entire building. I opted for the latter because I have a flair for working with people and keeping abreast of the big picture.

Do you see yourself predominantly as a task or a people manager?

I see myself first as a people manager, then a task manager. If one is successful at managing people well, the task effort becomes relatively easier. We should not shy from bringing the heart into the workplace.

Would you describe your role as predominantly operational or strategic? My role is more strategic but I’m also pretty hands-on.

It would be boring to sit at the desk all day.

That is the reason I love this profession.

BEH I N D T H E JOB

Francis Akinola What has been your biggest career challenge to date?

This was at the start of my career. Fresh from school with little knowledge of what to do, and with so much expectation from my manager, who threatened me with the sack at every moment.

I still do not know how I survived those periods, but that foundation helped my resilience, drive, curiosity and attention to details.

I see myself first as a people manager, then a task manager

How many people are there in your FM team, and to whom does the FM team ultimately report?

I manage a team of seven and I sit on the directors’ board, so I am one of the main decision-makers for the organisation.

My top perk at work is…

Those unedited camaraderie discussions at the workplace relating to everything and which fosters so much closeness and togetherness between staff and managers.

44

What single piece of advice would you give to a young facilities/ workplace manager starting out? Added with technical expertise,

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

it is important to devote time to understanding people. For FM sanity, the process of dealing with motivation and mental wellbeing should no longer be relinquished to HR and so the understanding of self and others to achieve greater resolve is something every manager starting out should pay attention to.

What was the weirdest day you’ve had in the office? Arriving at work during one of the lockdown days thinking it was a Monday. It was Saturday.

I had absolutely lost the sense of days.

Early bird or night owl? Night owl.

In spite of claiming to understand Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning routines.

What FM job in the world would you love more than anything? To look after and manage the FM, energy and compliance processes of any top hotel in London.

Pay more attention to people and their needs and not to see them just as a means to an end should be at the forefront of every FM strategy. People matter!

And where would FM be an absolute nightmare? Catering. I can only do the

Any interesting tales to tell? When an

Your life outside FM mostly involves…

old but still in use nine-bar shell steam boiler exploded in a hotel I was working at as an engineer. That was the closest I’ve been to a wartime-like explosion. Luckily, no one was inside the energy centre.

I have my wife and three young kids and I try to be available and be fun with them at every chance I can grab. I am also active in my local church and FR ANCIS I contribute towards AKINOLA is educating members facilities and of the community projects director at life skills. at ARC Facilities

If I wasn’t in facilities management, I’d probably be… A community

eating bit.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK / ISTOCK

How long have you been in your current role? About 10 months.

FM expenditure should only come as a necessary accessory to other expenses.

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A BIT ABOUT YOU / VIEW POINT

What do you do? I am the

My top perk at work is…

Having an office in the countryside and a atmosphere great atmo work. at work

head ead of FM.

What attracted you to FM, M, and how did you get into the industry? try?

It would be great to see more females within FM and in high higher position in positions e ind the industry!

My background was working with systems and recruitment. t I was attracted to the job as itt initially involved creating/ implementing a new FM system for the company and their clients to use. I was given free rein of how I wanted to build the system, whilst also learning about FM. The directors were very passionate about the direction and vision of where they wanted the company to be in the future, which drew me in.

How long have you been in your current role? I started working for BSML in September 2016 as systems manager, then took on the role as operations manager for our BSML hygiene division in February 2020. Now I am head of FM.

Do you see yourself as predominantly a task or a people manager? A task

What has been W your biggest career challenge to date? cha

Im Implementing our new FM system has been a huge task not just for me but the team as a whole. Introducing new systems and processes to the team can sometimes be challenging as it’s a new way of learning to work, however, we have a very supportive team and everyone is happy to help each other.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? Even though the industry has definitely become more balanced it would be great to see more females within FM and in higher positions in the industry!

Any interesting tales to tell? Every day in FM is different, but one day was particularly eventful, when a contractor set off a gas suppression system accidently

Would you describe your role as predominantly operational or strategic? Both. The strategic part of my

development.

Which FM/workplace ‘myth’ would you most like to put an end to? Some people think that everything can and should be fixed there and then.

What advice would you give to a young facilities/ workplace manager starting out? Be organised! FM is a fast-paced industry. Use diaries, spreadsheets and online list-making software to keep a track of all your tasks. I have found clients are impressed when you are on top of everything.

What was the weirdest day you’ve had iin the office? When it was announced

Early bird or night owl? I am definitely E an a early bird. Even at the weekends.

role involves planning how the system will work, working towards long-term business goals and focusing on growing the business. The operational focus is all about scheduling and making sure the day-to-day tasks are completed.

We have around 50 members of staff and I manage 28. I report to the directors.

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

that we were going into lockdown. The unknown was scary especially when you manage teams and work with clients that could be considerably affected by the lockdown. We had to think of the best and ssafest way to keep our clients happy while llooking after the safety of all our staff.

manager when it comes to implementing new processes/systems within the business and a people manager when it comes to managing my FM team and hygiene team, which are both operational.

How many people are there in your FM/workplace team, and to whom does the FM team ultimately report?

in a comms room. We had to evacuate the entire building and arrange a major cleanup operation. Stressful, to say the least!

W What FM job in the world would you llove more than anything? To work for Apple or Google; I imagine their FM team A have some great projects to work on. h

A where would FM be an absolute And nightmare? In countries that have a lack n BEH I N D T H E JOB

Danielle Smith

of health and safety and processes.

Your life outside FM mostly involves…

Going to the gym and organising my wedding for next year.

DANIELLE SMITH is head of FM for Building Services Management Ltd

FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M

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17/12/2021 11:01

THE LATEST LEARNING AND BEST PRACTICE

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Fire resilience and sustainability together will deliver carbon neutrality

A tropical ant species has arrived in the UK. Learn how to keep them out of your building

Focus on today’s tech to achieve tomorrow’s environmental goals

Fire damper testing requirements have changed.

Are you compliant?

and contribution to cost.

The easiest way to verify that you’re getting the best prices is to set a weighted baseline list of the top 50 items your catering team purchases (including nonfood goods), verifying either as part of a tender or through independent purchasing specialist such as Quenelles to ensure you are starting with the lowest-achievable prices. Your caterer can update this every three to six months and justify any price changes.

It’s almost meaningless to ask them to return a percentage ‘discount’ from their purchases as they can set their return from suppliers at almost any level they wish. For instance,

they can agree to a 45 per cent return from their suppliers and just give their client 20 per cent, retaining the balance.

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re-pandemic, there was a consistent move towards the contractor taking on financial risk as site populations were mainly static. The caterer had to provide an on-trend and appealing catering proposition to maximise uptake.

Nowadays, hard-to-predict site populations have caterers moving back to a cost-plus management-fee style contract.

Although this type of contract is often anathema to many FM professionals, it can – if managed correctly – reduce risk and maximise efficiency.

Agree on how your supplier charges you The contract must set out how the caterer earns their income. Typically, this is a mix of management fee and income from their suppliers.

This is the main area that is not a pass-through cost. Our recommendation is that all purchasing income should be returned against the account and all the contractor’s income should come through the management fee. This ensures transparency over how the caterer is performing and will enable effective business modelling and cost control.

Our typical inclusions in the management fee – especially important when benchmarking fees – are back-ofhouse stationery, computer software costs, payroll administration, training, insurance,

PHOTOGRAPHY: XXXXXXXXX

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and health and safety auditing.

It is crucial to benchmark ‘like for like’ to safeguard against anomalies or hidden costs.

Ensure that you benefit from your caterer’s purchasing power Your caterer is able to purchase better than you can. It’s not unreasonable to expect to benefit from their purchasing power across their entire business as opposed to what just relates to your site.

Caterers use all sorts of expressions when talking about purchasing income, including volume-related or early payment discounts, loyalty bonuses, royalties, overriders,

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CAT ERI N G CON T R AC T S

Food for thought Unpredictable workplace numbers are affecting catering provision but a cost-plus managementfee contract will help FM professionals to manage the uncertainty, argues Chris Stern

CHRIS STERN is managing director at Stern Consultancy

Additional levers to pull ● Ask your caterer to guarantee a gross profit percentage, regardless of sales volumes.

Obviously, this should be set at a realistic level using net food costs as discussed above. ● There are potentially other areas where contractors are passing on more than what it costs them to provide services such as for deep cleans and equipment purchases – so price check where possible. ● Once contractor income is open and clear, link it to practical KPIs designed to drive quality. This is essential if cost isn’t to end up dominating everything. It does, however, require confidence to discuss perception of quality to align your and the caterer’s understanding. ● Simple but thorough and meaningful management information should be agreed to each month, especially when business volumes are a moving target. This information is a foundation to you and the caterer to move the business on and set goals.

Getting a real handle on what income caterers are deriving from the contract is the main area for misunderstanding.

The above pointers will help clear up confusion.

FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M

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Gain a competitive career advantage By completing one of our internationally recognised, regulated qualifications in workplace and facilities management, you can progress on our professional development pathway and build the career you want.

Delivery method Recognised Centres Levels 2-7 or online through IWFM Direct Levels 2,3 and 4 Speak to us today about how to choose the qualification level and size that suits you.

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We’re driving change Our insights and research support the development of our profession and drive meaningful change.

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EXPLAINER / KNOW HOW

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o meet net zero targets by 2050, we need to preserve resources. This means our buildings will no longer follow the traditional linear model of ‘take, make, dispose’. They will need to be: ● Circular and built with reused materials and/or more organic (bio) materials; ● Taken apart and deconstructed; ● Flexible and adaptable in the short and long term when considering its internal use; and ● Smart and connected.

A building must be considered as an asset within a system. Its value is efficiency, flexibility, and reusability. Protecting reusability will be an integral part of a building’s sustained value. After all, losing materials and building usability because of a fire will mean a valuable resource is taken out of the cycle.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY

Sustainability and fire safety silos For many years, the construction industry has pursued sustainable and green construction, which has been supported by government regulations, incentives and certification schemes.

The drive across Europe to insulate and use more natural products is an example. This has led to hybrid forms of construction – with impressive sustainability features – being chosen over traditional methods of construction. But many of these construction forms burn.

High-profile fires have raised questions about the resilience of buildings where natural products are used as structural materials.

Green rating systems and regulations may recognise a highperformance building, but you only have to look at the devastating consequences of a fire to realise that a building’s sustainability score does not mean immunity to fire.

In some cases it means increased exposure to disproportionate damage when fire exposes part of the construction. Some have been completely destroyed by fire, meaning that their potential saving and green credentials are gone.

FIRE RES IL I EN CE

The hot topic A holistic approach to sustainability and fire resilience will be needed to deliver carbon-neutral outcomes, says Tom Roche Valuable resources are needed to recreate them, and their function has been interrupted for several months, if not years. Some see this as a signal that fire safety regulations deliver the wrong outcome for sustainability while others consider it a blind spot in certification schemes.

The Carbon Neutral laboratory in Nottingham, for example, was constructed with mass timber but destroyed in 2014, shortly before construction had been completed. It was rebuilt in line with regulations, followed the original design and did not increase fire resilience; there was no active fire protection.

The rebuild was shortlisted for green building awards. Somehow, the disproportionate damage and resources lost in the fire did not count. The fire was consigned to history and had no bearing on the claims for the efficiency and carbonneutral credentials.

The point is not to dismiss these forms of construction. Instead, we should recognise the siloed thinking: sustainability and fire seldom come

TOM ROCHE is secretary of the Business Sprinkler Alliance

together in regulatory thinking.

However, fire incidents such as the Grenfell Tower fire are changing this.

This is positive as current guidance and techniques will not deliver the required outcomes.

A joined-up approach Active protection systems like sprinklers are part of the building system and add to overall carbon emissions. However, before dismissing active fire protection, the benefits need to be weighed. Studies show their benefits in minimising the impact of fire and emissions.

The future of diverse construction materials and greater use of insulation will need to think about their fire performance and how they can mitigate against fire incidents. It will need to prevent fires and protect hard-won resources for long-term reuse. Active protection systems will make sense for this reason. They will increase protection to guarantee long-term flexibility. The whole-life cost of a building and its value will be tied to both of these concepts.

That said, active fire protection systems will need to adapt to demonstrate their improving whole-life costs and sustainability credentials. Adapting test regimes, increasing water recycling and implementing new tech will be vital to improve their high effectiveness.

In a world where sustainability is key, a disposable building will no longer be the ‘right thinking’ – a sprinklered one will be.

FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M

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KNOW HOW / EXPLAINER

ISO 45003 – setting a new standard ISO 45003 is the first global standard providing practical guidance on managing psychological health and safety in the workplace. It helps organisations to adopt an occupational health and safety management system based on ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety.

Earlier this year, EMCOR UK became the first organisation to be certified against BSI’s new scheme based on ISO 45003. Creating a better place to work was the ultimate motive behind moving to the standard, and it builds on our focus on key frameworks such as UN SDG8 (‘decent work’) and ISO 27500 (creating human-centred organisations).

We believe ISO 45003 will help us to tackle these pressing challenges: ● Changing times: The pandemic has had a huge impact on mental health, the total fallout of which is yet to be ascertained; ● Ongoing disruption: Increased costs have resulted from higher absenteeism,

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reduced ability to work effectively and increased staff turnover. Mental health strategies should be more focused on identifying such causes of ill health; and importantly ● Boost engagement: Effective, preventative management mitigates the risks associated with poor mental health and enhances employee wellbeing, which will lead to improved engagement, performance and productivity.

Preparation for certification When it comes to implementation, there is no set way of obtaining ISO 45003. One option, as adopted by EMCOR, is to be certified through BSI’s framework.

Whatever your chosen route, you will have to demonstrate your organisation’s commitment to mental wellbeing in the form of structures of processes already in place – structures that place mental health on a level playing field with physical health and safety.

For EMCOR, this has centred on a five-year wellbeing strategy with: ● Clear objectives; ● Implementation plans; and ● Means of measuring success.

Our Mental Health sleep Charter – launched and diversity. in January 2021 – is Organisations also part of our wider should also be willing framework. It is to think outside the intended to encourage box, in that any part HAYLEY all employees to of the business could FARRELL is wellbeing openly discuss mental affect or be affected by manager at health and wellbeing mental health issues.

EMCOR UK issues at work and A good example of this access the education, help and is factoring in mental health support available to them. to business continuity plans Another piece of ISO 45003 created in response to the implementation advice is to Covid-19 pandemic. adopt a sound methodology In summary, ISO 45003 such as the ‘plan, do, check, should act as part of an act’ approach. This is about organisation’s wider mental identifying gaps, planning wellbeing framework. how to fill them, enacting For EMCOR, it enabled a those plans, checking their preventative approach to mental effectiveness, and acting health whereby we can identify again if required. A key tip is root causes of problems and be not to treat this as a singular proactive as opposed to reactive activity – ‘plan, do, check, with our employees. act’ is a continuous cycle With ISO 45003 as one of improvement. of many foundational This process prompted us pillars of a mental health to adopt various initiatives strategy, employers can build through our network of workplaces that truly support wellbeing champions and the wellbeing of their people. operational wellbeing leads.

Article co-authored by Jonathan These include: Gawthrop, executive director of ● Training and awareness on wellbeing sustainability & assurance, EMCOR UK mental health risks; ● Creation of mental health guides and action plans; and ● Specific support sessions on a range of topics from menopause and nutrition to

ISO 450 03

Standard practice ISO 45003 can help employers to create an impactful mental health wellbeing strategy, says Hayley Farrell

ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCK

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ow do I recognise when a colleague is struggling with their mental health? What action can my organisation take to support them at home and in the workplace? Is the workplace environment contributing to employees’ ill mental health?

Business leaders should be asking these types of questions when developing a fit-for-purpose health and wellbeing strategy. They should also rely on ISO 45003: 2021 Occupational Health and Safety Management – Psychological Health and Safety at Work – Guidelines for Managing Psychosocial Risks.

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EXPLAINER / KNOW HOW

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he new National Standards for Cleanliness require NHS trusts and healthcare settings to comply with defined criteria of a 50-point check. The standards specify in detail how healthcare facilities should be cleaned, and a score is given for each area based on meeting these criteria.

It’s up to you, however, to understand the underlying reasons for your scores – whether good or bad. For example, old or damaged equipment – not necessarily medical equipment but even a staff microwave – can harm your score. Relevant data insights will help you to identify cause and effect.

A fully connected system enables healthcare FMs to view data regularly for continued trust in their operations rather than as compliance at the point of audit. Data and a digital transformation system will help FMs to identify recurring issues and provide insight on how best to solve them. For example: ● Plaster falling from operating theatre walls when hospital beds are wheeled in and out?

A digital solution enables you to log the location and a photograph of each defect as and when they are seen for faster remedial work before it gets to an audit. ● Streaky floors? The data can show whether it’s a localised problem, how often mopheads are changed, and how much product cleaners add to their water.

Don’t shoot the cleaners Cleaning failures aren’t necessarily the cleaners’ responsibility. Other departments affect hygiene standards. Cleaning and waste management are intrinsically

HEALTHCARE AUD I T

A clean audit A digital transformation solution can help healthcare FMs to meet the demands of the new 50-point cleanliness audit, says Dan Teare

linked. The standards acknowledge this and emphasise training on clear delineation of responsibilities for infection prevention and control.

Another example is risk of ‘transference’ – when cleaning solutions become contaminated during use and need to be replaced to prevent the transfer of microorganisms between surfaces. Complying with this audit requirement involves not just the act of cleaning but management of supplies and understanding of assets.

The best digital solutions help you to uncover root causes of audit failure by creating feedback loops and visualising data in dashboard reports.

Five recurring issues a digital solution will remedy Spillage: If a hospital room has a tag, someone can scan the tag, generate an area-specific task including a photo and comment, allocate it to the right person, who then completes the follow-up action and takes a photo for proof of remedial work. Data is accessible and comparable, so if spillage is a regular

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occurrence you can alter cleaning regimes or provide new training for staff.

Staff microwave: The new audits check cleanliness of the staffroom too. If the microwave is broken, for instance, you can check its maintenance history to see if you should fix it or replace it.

If it is regularly dirty, you can change cleaning schedules or issue a notice to everyone to take better care when using it.

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Bathrooms: A digital solution integrates with the IoT and works with different sensors so a toilet door sensor can provide data on how many people use the bathroom and when. With rules in place on this data, you can move to dynamic cleaning, automatically scheduling cleaning jobs for the mostused areas.

DAN TEARE is Insights also healthcare and enable you facilities sector director at to change mpro5, a digital cleaning transformations schedules soft ware for busy solution periods and provider

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Cleaning failures aren’t necessarily the cleaners’ responsibility provide adaptive scheduling in response to real-time events.

HVAC systems: With temperature sensors and door sensors, a hospital can effectively regulate temperature. If a radiator is broken, for example, other radiators can make up for it and someone is alerted to it and can assign the repair as a task to complete.

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Stock/asset management: Add a QR code or barcode to a piece of equipment so its location can be tracked when it is moved. A digital solution also means you can check its maintenance record to see when it was last fixed and by whom. If that person did a bad job or the item is getting repaired too often, you can provide new training regimes or replace faulty equipment.

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FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M

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EXPLAINER / KNOW HOW

Be vigilant A thorough visual check of deliveries is a useful habit to establish among staff on site.

Pharaoh ants are tiny, so are easily missed, but can be spotted when in motion and are visibly different from other ant species.

Pharaoh ants tend to be pale, varying from yellowish in colour to more reddish. The adult worker ants are wingless, about 1.5-2mm long, and will live up to 10 months. The queens are a little bigger, at around 4mm long, and slightly darker than the worker ants.

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PE ST CO NTROL

Banish the pharaoh A tropical species, pharaoh ants can cause great damage if they infest your building, says Natalie Bungay

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he pharaoh ant is a tropical species found only in heated buildings in the UK. It is commonly reported as present in bakeries at the side of ovens or near to them, or close to other machinery that lets off heat.

Although these tiny creatures need heat to survive, they can also be found in less obvious sites, such as trailing down the side of a wall close to a warmer part of the building.

Pharaoh ants are believed to spread diseases, so control is required in food preparation premises, but there have also been reports of the species being found in hospitals – and, more worryingly, within sterile surgical equipment.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK

Treatment options Once the extent of an infestation has been identified, the pest professional contracted to carry out the work will begin the treatment.

Care must be taken to ensure that no pockets of infestation are missed, and further surveys and customer liaisons can determine the success of the treatment.

Full control can be achieved in as little as two to three weeks by a trained and competent professional with the right tools.

Three steps to prevent an infestation Establish a pest control maintenance cycle Agree to a contract with a pest management professional that includes regular surveying for the presence of pharaoh ants. They can be tricky to spot, as nests are often located in voids or cavities.

Although nests can house thousands of workers to provide food for the colony and maintain the nest, only 5-10 per cent of the workers engage in foraging, so those that are visible are usually only a small piece of the picture.

A professional pest controller will have the tools and the specialist knowledge necessary to carry out a thorough survey.

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Reproduction and nests The pharaoh ant follows a complete metamorphosis (egg>larva>pupa>adult) and, unlike some other ant species, the nest contains several queens, all of which lay eggs.

Nest sizes vary and are dependent on available space, which means they can grow to a

massive population, with research finding nests with 50,000 workers and 100,000 ants at young stages!

The complete cycle from egg to adult takes just six to eight weeks.

NATALIE BUNGAY is technical manager at British Pest Control Association (BPCA)

Avoid DIY products or methods In the event of a threat, workers can move pupae and young larvae away from the original colony, establishing a satellite colony in new areas of the structure and creating a more significant infestation. This response is called ‘budding’ and can be triggered by a perceived danger such as someone carrying out DIY pest control, who wrongly decides to spray any trails or the nest.

Budding is a process by which the ants gradually spread throughout buildings or complexes and pharaoh ants also do this deliberately as they set out to start new colonies.

A pest professional will survey and treat the infestation and decide on a bespoke number of follow-up visits to ensure that the colony has been controlled and that no satellite colonies go unnoticed.

To summarise: in the event of an infestation, it is essential to engage an experienced pest management professional with access to specialist products not available to the public.

To find a professional pest controller visit bpca.org.uk/find

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KNOW HOW / EXPLAINER

C HP PRIM E R

Today’s tech for tomorrow Combined heat and power technology can help us on the way to net zero, as Kelly Cole explains in this primer article

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he UK and Ireland have committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with the UK pledging to slash emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 – but do we have the technology in place to make this ambition a reality?

With Ofgem-backed trials already under way across Scotland, the roll out of green hydrogen on the UK’s gas networks is on the horizon.

However, more development is needed before it is widely adopted – so it’s imperative we turn to the technology currently available to us, such as combined heat and power (CHP), to meet these targets.

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into two outputs, electricity and heat. An engine drives an alternator that generates the electricity while producing heat that can then be harvested from the engine jacket water and exhaust gases, and be reused.

As well as facilitating cheaper power generation, CHP systems reduce a site’s sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions by at least 20 per cent.

Furthermore, when sized on a facility’s heat base load rather than the electricity base load, CHP systems can also reduce a site’s carbon footprint and costs compared with traditional energy solutions while improving system resilience and flexibility.

Introducing hydrogen

The role of green hydrogen in the UK’s gas networks is expected to increase According to the UK – something that will Government, generating undoubtedly affect gas-powered electricity on-site using CHP systems. In fact, the UK’s CHP systems can reach total first live pilot to introduce efficiency above 80 per cent. zero-carbon hydrogen into gas They can deliver savings of networks to heat homes and 20-40 per cent on energy buildings is fully operational bills while reducing at Keele University primary energy in Staffordshire. use by up to 30 per Up to 20 per cent cent, compared with hydrogen was added modern separate heat to the university’s and power production existing gas network, technologies. supplying power KELLY COLE to more than 100 is general manager for homes and 30 How CHP works electrical power faculty buildings.

The CHP process at energy As promising as involves taking one and transport this might sound from input, usually natural expert Finning an environmental gas, and turning it UK & Ireland

perspective, introducing change is a concern for businesses worried about having to upgrade their systems in line with the evolving energy landscape.

Fortunately, it is now possible to install CHP systems that run on natural gas but are also capable of operating with up to 25 per cent hydrogen with minor modification.

Dedicated products can be configured to operate on up to 100 per cent hydrogen for sites with a dedicated hydrogen infrastructure.

Maintaining your CHP Once a CHP system is installed, operators can maintain performance with regular servicing. For example, if there is inefficient lube, then this can increase resistance on the generator’s cylinder head, gaskets and seals. Ultimately, this leads to increased fuel consumption for a similar heat take-off to a fully efficient system. Issues like this reduce efficiency and increase fuel use and environmental impact.

Regular maintenance ensures CHP systems stay efficient so it is important to check the reciprocating genset and CHP ancillaries for any irregularities, part wear or resistance.

Businesses can partner with an experienced CHP supplier and servicing provider to monitor fluid samples for contaminants, check for irregularities and monitor the system’s overall condition – keeping the CHP system operating at peak efficiency for its whole lifespan.

With the increased adoption of renewable energy sources like green hydrogen, businesses need to respond in time. Modern CHP systems can cut energy costs and increase businesses’ energy independence now, while helping the UK to meet its ambitious emissions targets.

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EXPLAINER / KNOW HOW

FIRE SAFE TY

Fire damper management Five years since the testing of fire dampers at least every 12 months became compulsory, many FMs still don’t have robust testing processes in place, says Gary Nicholls

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lthough testing at least every 12 months is mandatory in compliance with BS:9999, testing providers estimate that more than half of the UK’s fire dampers have never been tested, let alone regularly tested and maintained.

Before 2017, the frequency of testing depended on the type and construction of the fire damper. However, BS:9999 now applies to all fire dampers – and is a major compliance issue.

in the wall through which smoke and flames can travel, so it is necessary to be able to close the louvre blades should a fire occur, restoring the fire-resistant barrier. The testing process is known as drop testing, as it ensures that the steel louvres will drop into place.

Many FMs are either unaware that their property has fire dampers or have inherited an incomplete list of assets with only sketchy details of where fire dampers may be located.

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY / ISTOCK

What is drop testing?

Fire dampers comprise a set of steel louvres, installed in ventilation systems at the point at which ductwork passes through an internal fire-resistant wall. The ductwork creates an opening

Locate your fire dampers The first task is to find fire dampers so that you can establish a robust fire safety process for continuous testing and maintenance.

Construction of the

property is often indicative of the presence of fire dampers, especially in a large number of public and commercial buildings. The most practical approach is to call in a specialist fire damper testing provider to locate, identify and create a register of assets for future testing.

This should become part of the overall assets register for each property.

If the ductwork is compliant with TR19, there should be enough access points to check the location of fire dampers in ventilation ductwork. If not, it may be necessary to retrofit additional access hatches – something that would need to be done in any case to achieve TR19 compliance for the ventilation ductwork system during cleaning.

as they may have been incorrectly installed. Drop testing technicians have identified many that were not installed at the point at which the ductwork met the fireresistant wall, so the barrier is not effectively restored, even if the fire damper is working correctly.

Others were installed upside down, so gravity will always prevent the louvres from closing. Others were propped open during the ventilation system commissioning to test air flow volume, so some fire dampers have been found propped open with bottles, cans, blocks of wood and lengths of string that were never removed. It is essential that props are removed and installations are corrected for straightforward testing in the future.

Undertake remedial work Sizeable sites such as hotels, corporate offices, hospitals or residence halls may have hundreds or thousands of fire dampers, so budgeting for testing is essential. This may be a significant new item to add to any budget, especially when bidding for contracts.

Another cost may be incurred for remedial work on the fire dampers themselves,

GARY NICHOLLS is managing director of Swiftclean

Build testing into the budget As testing is usually invoiced on a per-fire-damper basis, once a complete asset register has been formed it is possible to budget more accurately for testing, allowing a small contingency for any future remedial work. Drop testing should form part of the annual maintenance or fire safety budget, and should be built into a contract bid. The client or property owner may have to be educated as to why this is necessary.

Following the Grenfell Fire and Hackitt review, it has never been more important for your specialist provider to be fully competent and able to help with scheduling ongoing tests, which can be completed outside normal working hours, or in low season for hotels.

Fire dampers undoubtedly help to save lives, so should be a firm fixture in the annual maintenance schedule.

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KNOW HOW / EXPLAINER

BUILDING SA FE TY

Finding the golden thread The UK’s building safety bill requires a ‘golden thread’ of information - with major implications for facilities managers, says Paul McDevitt

Maintaining the thread The UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities &

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Local Government has said the golden thread must: 1. Be accurate and trusted; 2. Make residents feel secure due to its accuracy and trustworthiness; 3. Support culture change and enable collaborative working; 4. Provide a single point of truth by collating all information; 5. Protect personal information and maintain building security; 6. Record any changes, who made them and when to improve accountability; 7. Be easily understood and simple to access; 8. Be easily handed over and maintained; and 9. Relevant and proportionate.

building in scope and satisfies the new building safety regulations.

Challenges for FM ● Checking and reporting on the competence of those designing, constructing, repairing and operating buildings; ● Costs related to aggregating golden thread information, particularly for organisations responsible for multiple tower blocks; and ● Legacy IT systems may create gaps in essential data and cause delays as information must be digitised, which may require the use of drones and digital scanning to create 3D scans of existing buildings – all of which requires specific expertise.

The golden thread will create safer outcomes compared with Potential solutions traditional H&S policies because A building asset portal can be it covers the full life cycle used to gather, consolidate, of the building and requires store, manage and provide an integrated approach. It 24/7 availability of data with ensures that those controlled access. responsible for Efficient data and higher-risk residential asset management buildings inspect the will identify competence levels of information gaps the people working on to make informed their buildings. decisions.

PAUL In addition to Data management MCDEVITTm organisations’ software and data is managing legal compliance management director at TÜV commitments, the techniques – SÜD Building Advisory golden thread goes including fully Service, a data further by demanding integrated BIM management an annual building models and digital and analytics safety case for each twins – can create business

easily navigable and secure dashboards for relevant stakeholders for real-time review.

It may not be necessary to seek out new proprietary software either, depending on the quality of existing systems and processes. However, legacy systems may not accurately collate golden thread information. And more systems could mean more gaps in data.

Documents and information should be stored and kept according to statutory guidance (yet to be issued). This will give building control authorities or other prescribed persons power to request documents and information be shared with them and others.

The building safety bill’s new requirements must be complied with in a tight timescale over the next two years and failure to do so could lead to significant financial penalties and or imprisonment.

However, in the long term, improving accountability for those involved in a building’s entire life cycle will raise the bar for safety, quality and sustainability, ultimately reducing risk for building owners, managers and occupiers.

PHOTOGRAPHY: ISTOCK

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he UK’s building safety bill, expected to be enacted in 2023, will ensure accountability for everyone involved in the life cycle of high-rise residential buildings over six storeys or 18 metres. It requires a ‘golden thread’ of information to detail how a building was designed, built and maintained throughout its lifetime, recording decisions and creating a trail of accountability to support building safety.

These regulatory changes are likely to have financial and practical consequences for the residential facilities management sector. For example, when residents move into a building it will need to be registered with the building safety regulator and an application made for a building assurance certificate.

A designated ‘accountable person’ must conduct and maintain a risk assessment for the building, and a building safety manager will oversee this day to day.

Building inspectors who sign buildings off as safe will have to follow the new rules and register with the regulator. Duty holders with statutory responsibilities will be accountable for managing all risks across the building’s life cycle.

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EXPLAINER / KNOW HOW

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ecycling and resource management support decarbonisation.

But many FMs fail to see the link – perhaps due to a lack of knowledge about the waste journey or the available waste management options .

Despite increased efforts to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, around 50 per cent of commercial waste goes to landfill or incineration and it’s this portion – if managed strategically – that has the power to transform organisations’ green credentials.

Forgotten waste is how we refer to the mixed residual waste that can’t be segregated or sorted for recycling because it contains contamination such as an organic fraction. This waste is sent to landfill or incineration.

By turning to biotechnology, organisations can reduce the mass and volume of the residual waste stream by 50 per cent and up to 80 per cent respectively on site, which means considerably less waste goes to landfill or Energy from Waste plants, there are fewer collections to pay for and less road-related carbon.

over, lifting and emptying the waste into a hopper, which, in turn, feeds a shredder. Then the magic happens. Biotech additives are introduced, and the organic waste is digested.

The bi-products of the aerobic digestion process are carbon dioxide and water vapour, and all that’s left behind is ‘floc’ – the inorganic fraction, which has a number of potential uses as an solid recovered fuel (SRF).

settings are set and FMs are given full training. Little input is required on a day-to-day basis as the built-in software only permits access to certain features and alerts users to any issues, mitigating the risk of human error. A personalised customer support programme, delivered on and off-line, also helps maximise the benefits of the machine at a specific site.

Getting started During the commissioning stage, an organisation’s waste is analysed to determine the level of treatment required.

The machine’s

STEPHEN WISE is chief strategic development officer at Advetec

Licensing and costs This type of waste treatment requires a bespoke licence from the Environment Agency, but as soon as a licence application is made, machines can operate and FMs can begin reaping the

WASTE MANAG EMEN T

Biotech benefits Biotechnology can help FMs better manage waste to help reach sustainability goals, says Dr Stephen Wise

rewards. A preparation pack is available with the information required to progress an application. Plus the wheels are already in motion with regulators to switch to a standard licence.

For businesses and waste producers, there’s a compelling financial benefit to taking an innovative approach to waste handling. The current (Dec 2021) cost to send waste to conventional mass burn incineration at an EfW plant is approximately £120 to £130 per tonne, whereas sending it as an SRF for either blending with other materials or for direct use, reduces it by 40 per cent.

The pressure for FMs to not just think but act greener is increasing. However, change does not have to be complex.

Biotechnology simplifies waste management. Combined with prioritising waste education and embracing the technologies and green solutions available, FMs have the power to help organisations achieve their ESG goals and become positive change activists.

How it works Waste is digested using unique blends of bacteria inside enclosed aerobic reactors, which are installed on-site.

This decentralised approach to waste management not only cuts the cost incurred for collection, transportation and disposal, but frees up waste-handling resources and encourages businesses to take more responsibility for their own waste.

The machines operate almost autonomously, requiring little infrastructure – just a concrete base and electrical outlet – and minimal interaction from FMs or recycling teams.

The process is simple: a wheelie bin is placed onto a bin lift and the machine takes

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DILAPIDATIONS – THE OVERLOOKED CONTRACT CLAUSE Heed the old adage ‘dilapidations negotiations begin before you sign the contract’, says Matt Blaydon, partner at property consultant Matthews & Goodman

2 PROPERTY OPTIMISATION PRIORITIES

A challenge for facilities service providers is helping their clients meet often contradictory and competing goals, says Matt Chapman, chief marketing & development officer (UK & Ireland) at Atalian Servest

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Key takeaways: ● Moving your workplace to a different property is exciting but costly. An often overlooked ‘exit cost’ is dilapidations: a claim made by a landlord to ensure the tenant complies with their lease covenants to repair, redecorate and reinstate the premises. ● Be sure you understand any clauses related to dilapidations in the lease – especially at the heads of terms stage – well before you sign the contract.

This will reduce your financial risk exposure. ● Consider your ‘dilapidations exposure’ well before the end Read the of the lease, as repairs can full article usually be undertaken more at tinyurl.com/ cost-effectively by you than by Fac010222the landlord. dilapidations

The Know How learning continues at facilitatemagazine.com.

Below is a summary of the key takeaways from a selection of our onlineonly articles

Key takeaways: ● Clients face four major challenges: reducing operating costs, meeting net zero commitments, adjusting to the implications of Covid-19, and using buildings to help attract and retain key talent. ● FMs must work smarter to find synergies between often conflicting goals such as through enhanced collaboration.

Without this working relationship, suggestions to

clients won’t be properly actioned. ● Service contracts need to be extended to deliver on long-term goals.

Many net-zero goals, for example, look towards 2030 – nine years from now. Companies need a nine-year strategy, not two, four or five-year strategies.

3

FIRE SAFETY: SOCIAL HOUSING LANDLORDS Only buildings over 18m tall are eligible for support from the government’s Building Safety Fund, says Basil Jackson, MD at Vemco Consulting Key takeaways: ● New advice says buildings under 18m don’t require an external wall assessment of cladding, façades and balconies. A relief for leaseholders – but many of these buildings remain unsafe. ● The government should give advice that outlines a valid way to improve the quality of buildings below 18m. ● Some housing associations have highlighted how fire safety work comes at the expense of other work landlords must carry out, including decarbonisation.

Read the full article at tinyurl.com/ Fac010222-social

Read the full article at tinyurl.com/ Fac010222propops

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Professionalising the workforce Our common framework for workplace and facilities professional development can help your business ATTRACT, DEVELOP, and MAINTAIN your employees.

AFFILIATE

ASSOCIATE

IWFM MEMBERSHIP GRADE

CERTIFIED

FELLOW

AIWFM

MIWFM

CIWFM

FIWFM

2 Facilities Services Operative

3 FM Supervisor

4

5

6

7

Senior/Head (FM Degree)

FM Manager

TYPICAL JOB TITLE Support to Supervisory

Manager to Senior

Senior to Executive

Executive

JOB LEVEL

Our products and services are underpinned by the IWFM Professional Standards, developed with industry experts and bespoke to workplace and facilities management. The Standards provide a global competence model for the profession.

If you’re an employer looking to develop your teams, please get in touch.

Contact us today E membership@iwfm.org.uk T +44(0)1279 712 650 iwfm.org.uk

Are you ready to step up?

Are you due an IWFM membership upgrade? More importantly, are you selling yourself short?

Your grade reflects your career; it demonstrates to employers, colleagues and recruiters your knowledge and experience, and the impact you can make in an organisation. These factors affect your marketability and career trajectory.

If your career has progressed beyond your membership grade, you could be holding yourself back.

If you feel you are ready to step up, please send your CV to membership@iwfm.org.uk

Contact us today E membership@iwfm.org.uk T +44(0)1279 712 650 iwfm.org.uk

FMW.JanFeb22.059.indd 59

For more information, log into your IWFM account and click on the ‘Membership’ tab.

17/12/2021 11:04

The perfect place to find facilities management vacancies. www.iwfmjobs.com is the official job board for The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management.

Find your next role today.

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OUTSOURCED SERVICE MARKET NEWS AND ANALYSIS

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ABM devotes £192k of unspent levy funds to create apprenticeships

Serco exercises right to quit soft services deal with Barts Health Trust a year early

Engie agrrees to sell its services unit to Bouygues for €7.1 billion.

Find out more Visit facilitatemagazine.com for daily outsourcing news

N EW B U S I N E S S A R M ACQ UISITIO N

Rentokil seeks global lead role in pest control with US acquisition

by Marino Donati

PHOTOGRAPHY: TERMINIX

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entokil Initial is to buy US pest control business Terminix in a $6.7 billion deal. The transaction will bring the two businesses together to create what the firms claim will be a “global leader” in pest control with the two companies having an estimated combined pro forma revenue of around $5.7 billion last year.

Under the deal, Rentokil Initial will acquire Terminix for stock and cash. The combined group, which

will be based in the UK, expects to ‘create increased scale in the global pest control market, increased scale in North America – and provide an enlarged platform for profitable growth’. It is also expected to generate ‘material annual pre-tax net cost synergies’ of at least US$150 million by the third full-year post-completion.

In a statement, Rentokil said it expected to “have a strong platform for growth, particularly in North America, and an attractive financial profile to support future growth, including through acquisitions and continued investment in innovation and technology.”

Andy Ransom, CEO of Rentokil Initial, added: “This is an exciting and transformational combination that will create the global leader in commercial, residential and termite pest control, and a leader in North America, the world’s largest pest control market. It brings together circa 56,000 colleagues, protecting people, enhancing lives in over 87 countries, and serving circa 4.9 million customers.”

The boards of directors of both Terminix and Rentokil Initial have unanimously approved the transaction.and resolved to recommend that their respective shareholders vote in favour of it.

This is an exciting and transformational combination

BIDVEST NOONAN CREATES TRANSPORT UNIT Bidvest Noonan is to create a specialist business unit focusing on the UK’s transport sector. The division will provide services including cleaning, security, shunting, refuelling and sanitising among others, with the firm having amassed considerable experience supporting many of the UK’s largest bus and rail operators.

Colin Marshall, who previously served on the leadership team of Cordant Services, has been named managing director of the division.

The company said it aimed “to cement its position in the sector and establish a strong platform for its continued growth and development”.

Charlotte Marshall, CEO of Bidvest Noonan in the UK, added: “Establishing a sector-dedicated business unit will enable us to improve our performance,, innovate faster and accelerate our growth”.

The company spent plenty of time on the acquisition trail in the UK and Ireland during 2021. It bought security specialist Axis Group in early February, and in March announced its takeover of Dublin-based hard FM provider Interact..

In March, Bidvest Noonan appointed James Dunnett as director of operations for facilities solutions.

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SUPPLY SIDE / BUSINESS NEWS

TR A INING

FM, aviation and charity sectors. Within those sectors, the London Progression Collaboration will be targeting underrepresented groups such as NEETs (those not in education, employment, or training), women in engineering and homeless people.

The two-year partnership will see the creation of level two to four apprenticeships to build skills where there is a skills shortage.

Chris Townsend, ABM’s senior HR director, said: “Covid-19 disrupted many things, including our ability to spend our Apprenticeship Levy funds to their fullest extent. Working with the London Progression Collaboration ensures that that money is used effectively.”

Internally, ABM currently has 89 apprentices on 34 level two to seven courses available across the UK, and more that 60 additional applications in the pipeline.

ABM said it is committed to “growing these numbers as greater opportunity to maximise Apprenticeship Levy funding is available, further improving skills and talent within the organisation”.

ABM devotes £192k of unspent levy funds to create apprenticeships

by Facilitate team

I

ntegrated facilities services provider ABM has pledged £192,000 to enable small and medium-sized businesses and social enterprises to re-skill low-paid Londoners.

Partnering with the London Progression Collaboration, ABM says the contribution will establish apprenticeships that not only help people to secure better-quality, higher-paying work but also give London’s businesses the skills they need to bounce back following the pandemic.

ABM’s investment, a portion of the company’s Apprenticeship Levy fund, which was unspent because of Covid-19, will be devoted to businesses in the

IN BRIEF Esoteric to bolster Mitie’s security offering Mitie has acquired Esoteric Limited, a specialist in counterespionage services.

Its security team will be integrated into

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Mitie Security, which Mitie claims will make it the UK’s largest provider of corporate security services.

Kier reconfirms vow to electrify fleet by 2030 Kier has joined the EV100, a global initiative for companies speeding

their transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

The construction to FM group announced its move during COP26. It will electrify its fleet of 3,730 vehicles and support its employees’ EV adoption by installing EV charging stations at 30 UK locations by the year 2030.

Keir says the move solidifies its commitment to having a fully electrified fleet by 2030, a commitment outline in its Carbon Reduction Plan.

M&E firm Weir & McQuiston goes into administration The firm, based in

A P P OI N T MEN T S

EUREST ELEVATES SENIOR BUSINESS DIRECTORS TO MDS Caterer Eurest, part of Compass Group UK and Ireland, has promoted two senior business directors to joint managing directors to plot strategic growth.

Paul Williams and Nick Haynes, who have both worked for Compass for nearly 10 years, will manage team performance, win new clients and strengthen bonds with existing clients to ensure that deals are renewed.

Although the two men are set to work together on company strategy and be aligned on company-wide aims in areas such as sustainability, they will manage different sides of the business.

Williams oversees Eurest’s big multi-site clients such as Amazon, Porsche, Virgin Media, British Airways, IBM and Heathrow Airport while Haynes manages the company’s single-site UK clients, including Bombardier, The Royal Mint, Halfords and Scottish Power.

Both will supervise Eurest’s menu offer, visiting client sites to gain feedback on its chefs’ work.

Williams and Haynes… will manage team performance, win new clients and strengthen existing bonds

Wishaw, Scotland, ceased trading in November with the loss of 93 jobs.

Administrators of the family-owned North Lanarkshire company said: “Weir & McQuiston was one of Scotland’s leading M&E contracting firms with a quality client base

and an excellent reputation across the construction industry.”

Compass Group UK & Ireland adopts EV policy Catering company Compass Group UK & Ireland is also embracing a 100 per cent electric car

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BUSINESS NEWS / SUPPLY SIDE

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POSSIB LE INS OU RCING

PHOTOGRAPHY: ABM / ALAMY / ISTOCK

SERCO QUITS FM DEAL WITH BARTS HEALTH TRUST Serco has announced that it is to cease providing facilities management to Barts Health NHS Trust in 2023.

The trust, which runs five hospitals across the City of London and East London, and is one of the largest NHS trusts in England, was established in 2012.

Serco currently runs portering, laundry, cleaning and security services in the hospitals – but it has now given notice of its departure with effect from the end of April 2023.

The company employs about 1,700 people across the trust group, including receptionists, help desk, and patient catering services, and has pledged to ensure a smooth handover.

The trust’s executive is now considering future arrangements, which could mean bringing FM back in-house.

Serco stated that it is exercising its right to terminate the soft FM deal a year early because it is losing money on the deal that was agreed bfive years ago.

policy for all new fleet cars. More than 500 employees were dye to be given the chance to order an electric vehicle (EV) by the end of 2021.

Clare Clark joins CH&CO to deliver CSR strategy Catering and hospitality

provider CH&CO has appointed a sustainability business partner to deliver its CSR strategy for the group and its clients.

Clare Clark will now be responsible for driving forward CH&CO’s sustainability commitments.

CH&CO’s core CSR

consequence of the pandemic”, Serco said erco PLC published an updated it would be spending about £10 million guide (15 November) to its 2021 performance, following a stronger on an ex-gratia payment to about 52,000 employees, as in 2020, and “a significant than forecast trading performance. one-off commitment” to its recently The group said it now expects revenue established Serco People Fund. The fund to be around £4.4 billion for the year, and underlying trading profit to be not less offers cash and other support to colleagues who would benefit from a little extra help than £225 million. at this difficult time.

It put this down to several factors that The group said it anticipates that 2022 “are unlikely to be repeated”. will see a fall-off in demand for Covid-19First, it said, Covid-19 test-and-trace workloads for governments in the UK related services, but added that this would be partially offset by new work secured in and Australia, have been high and have 2021 and growth in its other operations. persisted for longer than the group had anticipated.

Second, several contracts F I N A N CIA L RES ULT S had performed better than expected, particularly immigration-related contracts in the UK and Australia, and its healthcare insurance eligibility services contract in the US, where President Biden’s decision to extend the open enrolment period has resulted in additional volumes.

by Facilitate team Third, a number of commercial discussions that the group had been expecting to complete in 2022 are likely to be finalised in the current financial year. Cash generation has also remained strong.

Because of these better revenues, the group increased its cash flow forecast to £150 million and reduced its net debt estimate to £220 million.

In recognition of “the extraordinary efforts of our colleagues around the world and the difficulties experienced by many as a

Serco trading update reports stronger-thanexpected results

strategy centres on the key pillars of Net Zero by 2030 (Reduce Waste; Greenest Supply Chain Solution; Creating a CSR Culture).

Cordant finalises Bidvest Noonan integration After six months

of planning, the leadership and operations teams on both sides have fully integrated Cordant Services into Bidvest Noonan.

(Last May, Cordant Services joined Bidvest Noonan to form a business offering cleaning, security and support

services across the UK and Ireland.)

With the unification project complete, the combined business will now carry on under the Bidvest Noonan banner.

Guy Pakenham, managing director of Cordant Services, said: “Our decision to rebrand has been

met with exceptional positivity and goodwill from all of our leadership, support and service delivery teams.

We have worked closely with our new colleagues, finding new ways to enhance our business and improve the value we deliver to clients.”

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FINA NCIA L RE SULT S

(£161 million).

The statement added that the outlook for organic growth is confirmed and expected to be positive.

The outlook is upgraded for operating margin and free cash flow as a result of continued progress of underperforming contracts and countries and progress of Covid-19 restructuring initiatives: The group operating margin is now expected to be around 2.5 per cent compared with previous estimates of “above 2 per cent”, and free cash flow is now expected to be around DKK 1.5 billion compared with the previous suggested figure of “above DKK 1 billion”.

Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Group CEO of ISS A/S, said: “In the third quarter, we continued our work to create a healthier and fundamentally stronger ISS. I am very pleased with our ability to execute on our OneISS strategy while simultaneously navigating a challenging environment with volatile activity levels as well as high wage inflation and scarcity of qualified employees in certain regions.

“We are seeing customers gradually returning to the office, albeit at varying pace across geographies. We expect a continued measured pace of return in the coming period as infection levels remain high in many countries creating a sense of caution.”

ISS Group sees upturn in fortunes as business rallies post-Covid

by Facilitate team

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SS Group’s trading update for 1 January-30 September 2021 reports an upgrade of its financial outlook.

Organic growth at the Copenhagenbased FM services company’s was 0.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2021 and 2.6 per cent in Q3 2021, but improved during the third quarter, especially in September, as clients saw a return to offices in some countries, which affected activity levels positively.

Portfolio revenue showed initial signs of recovery, which more than offset a smaller decline in projects and above-base work owing to lapsed ad hoc Covid-19-related services.

The group said execution of its OneISS strategy was progressing as planned with further streamlining and standardisation “for enhanced future execution”. It said the turnaround initiatives instituted to drive recovery of the underperforming contracts and countries and the restructurings initiated in response to Covid-19 were moving ahead as planned.

The group completed 12 divestments in the first nine months of 2021 with total net proceeds of about DKK 1.4 billion

IN BRIEF Chris Nickols appointed chairman of Corps Security Security services provider Corps Security has named Chris Nickols as chairman. He has

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been on the board as a non-executive director since March 2020 and was a shareholder trustee for seven years before that.

Nickols completed a full career in the Royal Air Force, commanding at all levels and gaining extensive experience

in security operations and public sector governance at the highest board levels.

ISS appoints sustainability head ISS has appointed Tracy Nilsson as global head of sustainability. Nilsson joins from Adidas,

where she held a position as senior director, global environment. She will start in her role at ISS on 1 January 2022.

Nilsson has previously held leading sustainability roles with Lululemon, ThinkStep, and IKEA. She is also a steering committee member

ACQUI S IT ION S

BOUYGUES TO SPEND BILLIONS ON ENGIE’S EQUANS Multinational utility company Engie has agreed to sell its services unit to services group Bouygues for €7.1 billion.

The sale of Equans, one of the largest deals concluded in France in 2021, will boost Bouygues’ existing energy and services unit.

For Engie, the sale will hasten its goals towards cleaner energy through renewable power generation and infrastructure such as car-charging networks.

Equans, which employs about 74,000 workers in France and installs and maintains air conditioning, electrical systems and telecommunications equipment, generates in excess of €12 billion a year in revenue.

Bouygues will use a combination of existing resources and bank loans to buy the Equans shares.

Equans CEO Jerome Stubler and Pierre Vanstoflegatte, CEO of Bouygues group’s Energies & Services arm, will determine the new entity’s future structure.

Bouygues has said there will be no compulsory redundancies in Europe for at least five years after the deal, and has committed to hiring 15,000 to 20,000 new recruits annually to cover staff turnover as well as creating more than 10,000 net new jobs.

Olivier Roussat, Bouygues’ CEO, said: “The acquisition of Equans

by Bouygues is a project that creates value for customers, for employees, and for shareholders.

This activity will become a new standalone business segment within the Bouygues group.”

of the United Nations’ Fashion Industry Charter for Climate.

Penguin FM names MD for London and the South Penguin FM has appointed Paul Gisby as its new managing director to carry out expansion plans with the opening of a

central London office.

The Leedsbased company is expanding its sphere of activities within London and the South of England.

Gisby takes up the senior strategic post, bringing with him over 30 years’ experience within the FM and construction

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BUSINESS NEWS / SUPPLY SIDE

F IN A N CIA L RES ULT S

SODEXO’S UK FM BUSINESS RESILIENT DURING PANDEMIC

ACQ UISITIO N S

Pinnacle acquires AM Services Group

by Facilitate team

PHOTOGRAPHY: PINNACLE GROUP / ISTOCK

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roperty services and FM provider Pinnacle Group has acquired AM Services Group (AMSG) to extend its service capacity and expertise in the retail, manufacturing, and chemical sectors.

The deal spreads Pinnacle’s footprint across the North of England and Midlands and reinforces its business-to-business offer. Pinnacle said it also augments its ability to deliver “holistic seamless services to a broader range of communities in accordance with their commitment to community stewardship”.

Founded in 2001, Morecambe-based AMSG employs more than 750 people and has a client base with a 96 per cent business retention rate.

The move provides AMSG’s existing and new clients with wider access to technical skills and innovative services and will support Pinnacle’s existing plans to optimise FM growth opportunities. This includes entering the UK catering market by building on AMSG’s recent contract win with a leading Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer.

AMSG’s senior management team,

sectors. His previous roles include directorlevel positions at Managed Property Services and Premier Technical Services Group.

Bellrock FM allies with Sun European Bellrock Property & Facilities

Management, provider of riskfocused workplace and property management, has secured backing from new owner Sun European Partners, LLP to strengthen its growth potential.

Sun European is a private investment adviser “focused on

led by MD Greg O’Brien, will all remain with the business to integrate the company with Pinnacle over the next 12 months, although founder and CEO Adrian Cresswell is retiring.

Neil Fergus, managing director of FM at Pinnacle, added: “Pinnacle’s clients and customers will benefit greatly from this acquisition. Our wider geographical spread, broader FM service scope and ability to seamlessly integrate service provision across more FM sectors will ensure that Pinnacle remains top of its game. The technical expertise that AMSG will bring will ensure that we continue to innovate in terms of our service models.”

In October, Pinnacle announced that it had acquired residential and social housing specialists Orchard & Shipman, expanding its homes business nationwide.

Customers will benefit greatly from this acquisition

defensible businesses in growing markets with tangible improvement opportunities”.

Mitie buys Rock Power Connections Mitie is strengthening its high-voltage, new connections and electric vehicle

(EV) capabilities by acquiring Rock Power Connections Ltd. The move is intended to help Mitie provide new connections to the electric grid, high-voltage asset renewals, and end-to-end electric vehicle-charging infrastructure works for clients.

Sodexo UK & Ireland has had a “strong year and some significant successes” despite still trading below pre-pandemic levels, the company has stated.

Reporting its fiscal results for 2021, Sodexo said that overall, the group had performed better than expected over the period. It added that the UK FM sector remained resilient throughout the pandemic.

On-site Services revenues for the group dropped 6 per cent overall for the year.

Sodexo said that the group registered the deepest downturn ever because of the pandemic in the second half of fiscal 2020.

However, activity picked up quarter by quarter, reaching 87 per cent of pre-Covid Fiscal 2019 revenues at constant rates, by the fourth quarter.

Overall consolidated revenues were €17.4 billion, down 9.8 per cent year-on-year including a negative net contribution from acquisitions and disposals of 0.2 per cent and a negative currency impact of 4 per cent.

As a consequence, the organic decline was 5.6 per cent, with the combination of a first half down 21.7 per cent, followed by a second half up 18.1 per cent.

Fiscal 2021 underlying operating profit was €578 million, up 1.6 per cent, or 12.4 per cent excluding the currency effect.

Sodexo said that it expects to see revenue growth of between 15 per cent and 18 per cent during 2022.

Sodexo chair and Interim CEO Sophie Bellon said: “Our actions to renegotiate our client contracts, strictly control costs and implement the GET1 efficiency programme are clearly visible in our better-than-expected underlying operating profit margin. The stepup in the second half is significant given the traditional 100bps shortfall between the first and second halves.”

Compass Group launches skills academy Compass Group UK & Ireland has launched the Compass Group Academy, designed to develop skills in the hospitality industry and focused in particular on supporting young people from

disadvantaged areas to build careers in the sector. The academy’s physical and online hub will be based in the West Midlands and will open in 2023. The intention is for the academy to train more than 12,000 employees and other people each year.

FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M

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BACK PAGE / NOTED AND QUOTED

EPHFMER A “INDUSTRY TALKS A LOT ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY WHEREBY THE PRACTICE OF SHARING INFORMATION IS KEY. MOST OF THIS IS LINKED TO THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SECTOR. I’D LIKE TO SEE A SIMILAR PRACTICE ACROSS PROPERTY, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO SUSTAINABILITY.” PARTNER AT CLUTTONS, ACHIEVING

“I have been resisting writing this post since visiting the Cleaning Show for fear of having to accept the fact that maybe I am now finally a dinosaur of the industry, but it seems to me that if you want to stand out in a crowd today, wear a suit!! From the time I u left Fleet station I was very much in the minority. You couldn’t tell the difference between the students hgoing to Farnborough College and the maybe highrs flyers heading into the City. Hoodies, chinos, trainers and rucksacks seem to be the order of the day.”

“HEALTHY BUILDINGS AREN’T EXPENSIVE; SICK BUILDINGS ARE.” JOS EP H A L L EN , A S S OCI AT E P ROF ES S OR AT H A RVA RD, S H A RES A K EY TA K EAWAY F ROM H IS IN T ERV IEW W IT H US BROA D CA ST ER CN BC

BA RRIE TO RBE TT, CEO & FOU NDER OF RENASCENCE CE G RO UP LTD, NOTIN G THAT BEING SUITED AND BO OTE D ISN’ T A PRIORITY ANYMORE

“It’s not ‘diversity’ when the board is all white middle-aged men with the token woman who leads HR (because, you know, that’s the soft female stuff ). It’s not ‘diversity’ when your cleaning team is Eastern European and the manager is a white Englishwoman. It’s not ‘diversity’ when this happens in the same company. Wake up, for crikey’s sake. Your business is suffering because of this lack of diversity; your people are suffering; communities are suffering. And apart from all the damn suffering, it’s wrong.”

SIM O NE FE NTO N-JARVIS, WORKPLACE CO NSULTANCY DIREC TOR AT RE LO G IX , WE IG HS IN ON THE INC RE A SING LY PROMINENT D E &I D E B ATE

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“We can drive our journey towards #NetZero by sharing knowledge and data, diversity thoughts d t utilising tili i di it off th ht iin finding solutions, changing the culture in the way we create and use our buildings and retraining our current workforce.”

BS RIA BUIL D I N G P ERFORMA N CE L EA D D R MICH EL L E AG H A-H OS S EI N S UMMIN G UP T H E EX P ERIEN CE OF COP 26 AT T H E CON ST RUC T ION L EA D ERS H I P COUN CIL

“IWFM’S EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION WORK IS GUIDED BY OUR EDI FOCUS GROUP, A WONDERFUL GROUP OF EXPERT VOLUNTEERS WITH AMAZING EXPERIENCE IN DRIVING CHANGE IN EDI.” I W F M H EA D OF P OL ICY S OF IE H OOP ER L ET S T H E COMMUN I T Y K N OW A BOUT T H E WORK N OW BEIN G D ON E BY T H E I N ST I T UT E

“Nations know they have to cut emissions deeper and faster.

Yet despite a limited increase in ambition, the majority of countries have failed to strengthen the promises they made in Paris in 2015, leading the wellrespected Carbon Action Tracker, to put the world on track for a calamitous 2.4 degrees of warming.”

MOL LY S COT T C ATO, FORMER G R E E N M E P A N D N OW PRO F E S S O R OF ECO N O M I C S AT T H E UN I V E R S I T Y O F ROEH A M PTO N , S AYS COP 26 H A S FA I L E D

IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK

JA M E S G R AY, M ANAGING PRO PE RTY CO NSULTANT RE M INDS US TH AT NE T Z E RO RE Q UIR ES A CO LLA B O R ATIV E EFFORT

FAC I L I TAT E JA N UA RY- F EB RUA RY 202 2

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It’s time to upgrade your cleaning

Unleash the power of real-time data with Tork Vision Cleaning

The cleaning industry is faced with increased demands on quality, operational efficiency and hygiene – all with limited resources. Tork Vision Cleaning identifies when and where there are service needs in your facility.

This helps you meet expectations by maximising efficiency and resources so you can work smarter and secure the new hygiene standard.

Learn more at: tork.co.uk/vision-cleaning tork.ie/vision-cleaning Tork, an Essity brand

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