FM World 25/09/14

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014

FMWorld www.fm-world.co.uk

WE ARE AS ONE Is in-house ‘ownership’ of FM inherently better?

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VOL 11 ISSUE 17 25 SEPTEMBER 2014

CONTENTS

10 | Union business

18 | Island life

24| ‘Owning’ the FM function

NEWS

OPINION

FEATURES

06 Former BIFM chair Ismena Clout loses battle with breast cancer 07 Waste report calls for ‘circular economy’ 08 Project of the Fortnight: UK’s largest biomass project at Bernard Matthews Farms 09 Think Tank: We asked 100 FMs if a wider understanding of corporate social responsibility is a hot topic within their organisation 10 News analysis: FM’s fate in an independent Scotland, and the future of sustainable energy 12 Business news: Graeme Davies - the NAO has rogue outsourcers in its sights 14 In Focus: Peter Kinsella, new CIBSE president, outlines his plans

16 John Bowen encourages FMs to raise their profile 17 Five minutes with Jason Craoknell of Cawleys 46 No Two Days

MONITOR 32 Insight: Market intelligence 33 Building engineer primer: Maintenance strategy 34 How to: Give your helpdesk a makeover 35 Legal update: Allergen food labelling legislation 36 How to: Guidance for gritting

29 | Access all areas?

18

On the edge: Not all FM roles are the same – Richard Petrie’s role at BT Facilities Services, however, takes this maxim to extremes

24

Taking ownership: Keep FM services in-house or appoint an outside provider? Both options have commercial and personal consequences

29

Who goes there?: A badge system that records only basic information about guests on your company’s premises just doesn’t cut it these days

REGULARS 37 38 41 42 43

Products BIFM news Diary of events Behind the job Appointments

For exclusive online content including blogs, videos and daily news updates

visit fm-world.co.uk FM World Jobs – the best place to find FM career opportunities online

visit fm-world.co.uk/jobs For daily notice of the latest FM news and fresh FM World content, follow us on Twitter Cover illustration: JACOB STEAD

visit twitter.com/fm_world FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 03

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YO UR BO TA O BL K EN OW

CELEBRATE SUCCESS 13 October, The Grosvenor House Hotel, London HEADLINE SPONSOR

Join us for the facilities management (FM) industry’s most prestigious night of the year as we celebrate the amazing achievements of the ďŹ nalists and announce the winners of the 2014 BIFM Awards. Be inspired. Mix and mingle with the stars, over 1,200 guests. Book your seat. Take your place.

For tickets and tables visit www.bifm.org.uk/awards2014 today! awards@bifm.org.uk | +44 (0)1279 712 640 | #BIFMAwards

Are you ready to move up?

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7R XSJUDGH WR WKH QH[W OHYHO RU WR ƂQG RXW PRUH please visit: ZZZ ELIP RUJ XN FOLPE or contact the Membership Team on: 0845 058 1358 or email membership@bifm.org.uk 04 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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Redactive Publishing Ltd 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP 020 7880 6200 www.fm-world.co.uk EDITORIAL Tel: 020 7880 6229 email: editorial@fm-world.co.uk editor: Martin Read ⁄ news editor: Herpreet Kaur Grewal ⁄ reporter: James Harris ⁄ sub editor: Deborah Shrewsbury ⁄ digital content executive: Hannah Whittaker ⁄ consultant art director: Mark Parry ⁄ art editor: Daniel Swainsbury

MARTIN READ EDITOR COMMENT

LEADER

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING email: sales@fm-world.co.uk senior display sales executive: Norbert Camenzuli (020 7880 7551) ⁄ display sales executive: Jack Shuard (020 7880 8543) / recruitment sales: Call 020 7324 2755

PRODUCTION production manager: Jane Easterman senior production executive: Aysha Miah PUBLISHING publishing director: Joanna Marsh Forward features lists and media pack available at www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us

SUBSCRIPTIONS BIFM members with FM World subscription or delivery queries should call the BIFM’s membership department on 0845 0581358 FM World is sent to all members of the British Institute of Facilities Management and is available on subscription to nonmembers. Annual subscription rates are UK £110, Europe £120 and rest of world £130.

To subscribe call 020 8950 9117 or email fm@alliance-media.co.uk – alternatively, you can subscribe online at www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us/subscribe/ To order the BIFM good practice guides or the FM World Buyers’ Guide to FM Services call James Harris on 020 7880 6229.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Simon Ball, business development director, Mitie ⁄ Martin Bell, independent consultant / Lucy Jeynes, Larch Consulting / Nick Cook, managing director, Avison Young ⁄ Rob Greenfield, group SHEQ director, GSH ⁄ Liz Kentish, managing director, Kentish and Co. ⁄ Anne Lennox Martin, FM consultant ⁄ Peter McLennan, joint course director, MSc Facility Environment and Management, University College London ⁄ Geoff Prudence, chair, CIBSE FM Group ⁄ Jeremy Waud, managing director, Incentive FM ⁄ Jane Wiggins, FM tutor and author ⁄ Chris Wood, FM consultant

Average net circulation 12,744 (Jul 13 – Jun 14) FM World magazine is produced using paper derived from sustainable sources; the ink used is vegetable based; 85 per cent of other solvents used in the production process are recycled © FM World is published on behalf of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM)

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

BIFM ENQUIRIES

British Institute of Facilities Management Number One Building, The Causeway, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 2ER Tel: +44 (0)1279 712 620 Email: admin@bifm.org.uk Web: www.bifm.org.uk

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echnology has a habit of fundamentally changing our behaviour before we even notice it’s done so. Who now picks up a map when they can check not only their current location, but also their eventual destination – all from their smartphone? Most of us now have a high-definition video camera, radio, television, remote control and voice recorder that can run for days or weeks on end.

Hell, it’s even a torch. ‘Mobile phone’ is a poor name for a device so multi-faceted.

Initially we marvel at the very idea of the behavourial changes these devices bring – but then, within a blink of an eye, they’ve become so much of a day-to-day expectation that we find ourselves annoyed when they’re not available. Watch the video of Apple introducing its original iPhone and hear the gasps of astonishment when the ‘pinch to zoom’ gesture is first demonstrated. Today it’s as mundane a function as so many other examples of once revolutionary technological change.

In support of the workplace, mobile technology of this kind has already transformed the lives of M&E engineers, fleet managers and any number of people whose job involves auditing or measuring occupied space. And now the next step is here – something which has the potential to have an even more profound implication for the workplace; the personalisation of health data, analysed through phones and delivered to people through a new generation of wearable technology.

For someone who knows the typical number of Maltesers in a so-called family bag (47 – far fewer than you’d think, right?), the notion of being able to customise my personal eating and physical activity habits based on my location is a bit disconcerting. But just as I’ve adapted to using the phone as an A to Z or word processor, I’m sure I’ll pick it up faster than I imagine. The point is that workplaces will adapt, and we’ve already reported on offices with staircases marked with calorie consumption details for those who climb them. That’s just the start; we’ll soon be using our phones’ barometers and accelerometers to measure our relative elevation as we walk up and down the office.

Workers’ attitudes to the use of this technology will be interesting to watch. For example, delegates to November’s Workplace Week convention in London will be in for a treat when Kieron Sparrowhawk of MyCognition speaks. His firm carries out a Q&A test of people to assess their levels of cognition across five ‘domains’ (working memory, episodic memory, attention, psychomotive speed and executive function).

The firm then generates a video game customised to that specific individual, designed to improve their powers of cognition. Greater productivity ensues - and signs are that workers are happy to engage with this kind of activity. In a world of worker wellbeing initiatives, this brain training, coupled with health and fitness initiatives, could profoundly change the type of workplace demanded by organisations.

A final thought on Ismena Clout, the BIFM’s former chairman who lost her battle with breast cancer last week.

It’s humbling to note the grace with which she accepted her fate, and the passion she had for both the facilities management sector and the BIFM. She will, of course, be greatly missed by all who knew and worked with her.

T

“Who now picks up a map when they can check not only their location, but also their destination – all from the phone?”

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OBITUARY

PETER SEARLE/ALAMY

Former BIFM chair Ismena Clout loses battle with breast cancer Ismena Clout, immediate past chair and honorary fellow of BIFM, has passed away aged 40.

She had been living with breast cancer since 2004, a condition that in April forced her to step down early from the role she loved dearly.

The youngest recipient of an honorary fellowship in the institute’s history, Clout was recognised in June for her “exceptional contribution” to the BIFM through her volunteering and for recognising and nurturing new talent for the FM profession by forming the Rising FMs SIG. During her tenure as chairman (2012-2014) – following two years’ service as deputy chair – she played an integral part in the team that created the institute’s current medium-term strategy, which is now being implemented.

Clout, who pretty much spent her entire working life in FM roles, boasted an impressive track record as a volunteer for the institute having come to FM from a classical office management background.

After dropping out of university, she took an executive PA course, and in 1999 got her first job as an office manager at Real Media, finding a taste of FM while setting up office management systems and processes for the company – even conducting a relocation and full fit-out of a 30,000 sq ft building.

Her first dedicated FM job was at iTouch, a tech company in dramatic growth in 2002 during the millennial internet bubble, where she spent almost two years managing a range of facilities for more than 100 staff. It was

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at this point that Clout became enraptured with FM’s infinite variety.

She said: “I loved it. This was a role that involved running an entire 16,000 square feet building on a standalone full repair and insure lease, with all its UPS, generators air-con systems, etc. I figured that the experience I’d get there would be worth more than the pay cut I took. I was right.”

During her time at the firm Clout also began a three-year diploma in management at London’s prestigious Birkbeck College. She came to the BIFM – through an internet search – in January 2004, when working at independent TV production company Hat Trick, where she not only ran the building, but was also more widely involved in off-site TV productions.

“Everything I’d learnt so far had been self-taught, but I knew that if I was to manage bigger buildings or multi-site portfolios, ultimately reaching facilities director level, I’d need external help,” she told FM World.

Over the next two years she diverted her boundless enthusiasm into volunteering, having formed the view that the BIFM wasn’t doing enough for young people at the time.

“The institute was too focused on those with well-established careers; there was little for people new to FM,” she explained.

When in 2006 FM World began its inaugural search for the UK’s top emerging FM talent (then dubbed the ‘35 under 35’, but now ‘Rising Stars of FM’), Clout was nominated and she credited this with transforming her career.

Taking the then CEO Ian Fielder aside at the event, she bemoaned the BIFM’s lack of focus on emerging FM talent. “I told him right there and then that I was going to get involved in the institute – and I was going to be its chairman.”

Only weeks later, she was a committee member for BIFM’s London regional group, and within six months she became its deputy chair.

Always one to make things happen fast, Clout set about creating the institute’s group for young FMs – Rising FMs was inaugurated in 2007. The group’s first meeting was at publisher Harper Collins, where she then worked. The number of those attending very quickly rivalled the best audiences for other BIFM groups. Today, Rising FMs has one of the highest BIFM SIG memberships.

By August 2010 – as British industry was caught in the maelstrom of the recession Clout was BIFM deputy chair, sending out a message to the industry to focus on the positive and continue on a track of controlling costs and delivering service.

Within months of taking over from Ian Broadbent as chairman in April 2012, Clout, with CEO Gareth Tancred, became a TV evangelist for FM in a two-part

documentary for Sky called Facilities Management: The Business Case.

She took every opportunity to bring the contribution of FM to the wider world, and in January reported for FM World on her trip to the International Facility Management Association World Workplace exhibition and conference in Texas.

In her last interview with this magazine in April, she said: “I’m one of those classic FM stories.

I dropped out of university and took an executive PA course, and then got my first job as an office manager. It was a typical mix of job functions that wouldn’t fit anywhere else.”

Originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, and re-diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in 2010, Clout spoke candidly about her experiences and was passionate about raising awareness of the disease, becoming involved in a national campaign for Breast Cancer Care.

A dedicated advocate of charity, she raised thousands of pounds over the years. To celebrate her recent 40th birthday she specifically requested that donations be made to her hospice instead of presents. Readers can still donate to St Raphael’s Hospice at https://www. justgiving.com/Ismena40/ www.fm-world.co.uk

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NEWS

BRIEFS Privacy crisis

Waste report calls for ‘circular economy’ A report on achieving “a circular economy”, identifying key waste and resource efficiency issues and possible solutions, has been published by the RWM Ambassadors - a group of industry figures from the business supply chain, retail and waste management industry, plus public sector and academic representatives. The group and its report were introduced at last week’s RWM event in Birmingham.

Their report, Ever-decreasing Circles: Closing In On The Circular Economy, aims to identify the key questions to provoke debate on the measures that needed to move the

UK towards “a circular economy”.

It addresses the policy landscape for resource management, including the fiscal framework in place to stimulate behaviour change across the supply chain.

It also looks at how to engage all parties involved in recycling in terms of the supply chain and consumers, and the important role of local authorities.

A circular economy involves moving away from traditional buyconsume-dispose business models and adopting a more cyclical approach that – to keep materials flowing in the economy – incurs lower waste and transport costs.

In addition, the report examines how waste producers can maximise resource efficiency and be encouraged to take responsibility for product stewardship. Suggested solutions include the need to make sure all systems, from product design and production to recycling and data collection, are shaped to deliver “optimum outcomes to help generate a circular economy”.

The authors say solutions must be found at policy level and across the industry supply chain, and should be designed to increase waste prevention and recycling where prevention is not possible.

FM SECTOR

SHUTTERSTOCK/ISTOCK

UK’s FM sector sees strong M&A activity Merger and acquisition activity in the UK’s FM sector rallied in the second quarter of 2014, with a 50 per cent increase in deal volumes over the previous quarter.

Analysis by business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP in its Insights into Facilities Management report shows 24 transactions were recorded in the second quarter of 2014.

This was a 50 per cent increase on the previous quarter’s deals activity and the highest volume of transactions since Q2 2013.

Despite the uptick in activity in the second quarter of the year (from April to the end of June), only 40 deals were recorded in the first half of the year – a 23 per cent drop in volume when compared with the first half of 2013.

The total value of disclosed deals over the period was also well below previous years’ averages, as the bulk of transactions fell within the www.fm-world.co.uk

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smaller or lower mid-cap brackets.

But the actual value of total deals, including those undisclosed, remains far higher, boosted by standout transactions such as PAI Partners’ secondary buyout involving the European operations of empty property security specialist VPS, a TDR Capitalbacked entity.

The second quarter of 2014 saw renewed interest from private equity (PE) buyers in the sector.

PE backers, having largely steered

clear of the sector in recent quarters, were involved in six deals in the second quarter – just one fewer than the total number of PE deals seen in the previous five quarters combined.

David Ascott, partner at Grant Thornton, said: “A significant increase in PE investment in the FM sector has driven a recovery in the overall deal market.

With investment activity in the security, catering, landscaping and document management spaces, PE has found a variety of FM sector opportunities across a broad size range within the mid-market.

“Aside from the generally more positive market and economic fundamentals, as well as a need for PE investors to deploy their significant reserves of capital, the key factor behind the reappearance of PE investors in the sector is most likely boosted by the rapid growth in availability of leverage.”

Eighty-five per cent of people are dissatisfied with their working environment and cannot concentrate, new research shows.

New research carried out by market researchers IPSOS and the Workspace Futures Team of office furniture manufacturer Steelcase shows that after decades of open-plan offices and an unrelenting drive for shared work spaces, the top complaint from office workers is now a lack of privacy. Thirty-one per cent of those surveyed said they leave the office to get work completed.

Researchers quizzed more than 10,000 workers across 14 nations.

Energy-saving confusion Action must be taken “to inform and empower individuals and organisations” about improving the use of energy in buildings, as research shows Britons don’t know as much as they think they do.

A poll conducted by ComRes for the National Energy Foundation surveyed 2,058 British adults and found that only about a quarter (23 per cent) of people can identify that using less energy was the fastest, most effective way of meeting energy needs.

Only half of those asked could identify which type of light bulb uses the least energy (LED) and 35 per cent incorrectly think that low-voltage halogen lights use the least.

Flexible working is key Seventy-six per cent of corporate real estate managers regard a flexible working environment as the primary factor affecting demand for office space in the short to medium term.

A survey by CoreNet Global was conducted among corporate real estate managers based in Europe.

The results show that only about 15 per cent of those asked think sustainability and improvements to energy efficiency will be big factors in requirements for work premises.

Political stability, macroeconomic performance of the country and the availability of skilled labour are also cited as among the most important factors corporate real estate managers consider when selecting a site.

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PROJECT OF THE

FORTNIGHT NEWS BULLETIN

Procurement is ‘low status’ to government

BERNARD MATTHEWS FARMS, NORFOLK, SUFFOLK, AND LINCS PROJECT: Insta;ling 179 biomass heating systems on 220 turkey sheds PROJECT MANAGER: Lumicity Ltd

Talking turkey on energy use Lumicity and Bernard Matthews, Britain’s largest turkey producer, are embarking on the UK’s largest biomass rollout project for 179 biomass boilers across 21 of Bernard Matthews’ farms in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Lincolnshire.

The scheme highlights the growing call for biomass in the poultry industry as companies seek to cut energy bills and greenhouse gases.

And the dry heat biomass systems produce several other benefits because of the improved circulation of heat, including reduced ammonia levels, reduced ventilation requirements, and increased litter quality. The project will also create 51 jobs, including nine full-time permanent posts.

Bernard Matthews, which produces more than seven million birds a year, previously used liquefied petroleum gas. The biomass heating will lead to large savings, both in fuel bills and carbon dioxide emissions. The systems will initially be powered by wood-chip, but next year European Union legislation will also allow poultry litter to be used as fuel.

Lucidity, a specialist in renewable energy development, designed the project and advised Bernard Matthews during tendering and negotiations, and sourced the funding. It will manage the project for the next 20 years.

Lumicity secured £24.5 million for the project from the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) through its Energy Saving Investments (ESI) fund.

GIB is the cornerstone investor in the Equitix-managed ESI fund, which is also investing £12 million. This gave access to an additional £12.5 million of private sector funds from Equitix Energy Efficiency Fund.

David Joll, CEO of Bernard Matthews, said: “Sustainability is central to our long-term business strategy. We’re already generating a large proportion of our energy needs from other renewable sources.”

Tristan Fischer, CEO of Lumicity, said: “We are very proud to have played a leading role in the development of one of the largest installations of distributed heating in the UK.” 08 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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The procurement profession has traditionally had a “low status” in the civil service and has “lacked the sway over colleagues to implement good practice”.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) says the government “fails to recognise the value of contract management” and “it is doubtful that the government can improve its capability to be able to have the best contract managers on all its contracts”.

In Transforming Government’s Contract Management, the NAO says current reforms are “going in the right direction” but there is “a lot still to be worked out”.

“Too often contract management has been seen as delivering the deal that was agreed when the contract was signed. This has meant that contract management has been seen as a way to avoid things going wrong, rather than unlocking value,” it adds.

“Traditionally, the procurement profession has had a low status in the civil service, while contract management has been seen as low status within the procurement profession.

“The profession has lacked the sway over colleagues to implement good practice and struggled to attract the best talent and skills.”

The NAO says 60 contracts had been reviewed by the government for overbilling, following problems with Serco and G4S, and 34 had “issues with billing to some extent” including over and under-billing. “It is likely that there is further overbilling in other contracts across government,” explains the report.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “For several decades, governments have been increasing their use of contracts with the private sector to provide goods and services. This has produced successes but also thrown up major new challenges, which are not easy to surmount.

“Not the least of these is the need to build up the commercial skills of contract management staff, both in departments and in the centre, and enhance the status and profile of their role.

FDs plan to raise more cash for universities Sixty-one university finance directors say they plan to invest more money in facilities for teachers and students.

In its annual survey of higher education finance directors, business advisory firm Deloitte gauged the views of 48 finance directors of British universities – representing more than a third of the UK’s higher education sector.

And despite wariness about the financial and regulatory environment, many say they want to invest more in teaching and student facilities as competition for student numbers increased.

Eighty-three per cent of finance directors plan increases in capital expenditure and 61 per cent say spending will be focused on teaching facilities.

Philanthropic income, bank borrowing and financial leverage are set to increase to fund expansion and 89 per cent say there are high levels of financial uncertainty facing their universities.

Seventy-four per cent expect operating costs – such as staff, pensions, student support services and maintenance – to increase from 69 per cent in 2013, the survey reveals.

However, 83 per cent of finance directors say they will increase capital expenditure in the next year, up from 43 per cent in 2013’s survey.

Office occupancy highest since credit crunch Office space take-up and occupancy rates in London have climbed to their highest level since the credit crunch, according to a study by TheCityUK, an organisation that promotes the UK financial services industry abroad.

TheCityUK’s ‘competitiveness tracker’ showed office occupancy at its highest since the start of the economic downturn. Just 6.1 per cent of office space in the City and Docklands was vacant in the second quarter of this year – the lowest level since the start of the downturn, according to the Tracker.

The figures indicate that 203,000 square metres of space in the City of London was rented out in the three-month Q2 period. www.fm-world.co.uk

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FM NEWS SIGN UP FOR FM WORD DAILY AT FM-WORLD.CO.UK 20% Not at all

20% A lot

THINK TANK

WE ASKED 100 FMS… We asked 100 FMs if a wider understanding of corporate social responsibility is a hot topic within their organisation

An ‘ethical workplace’ standard entitled the Fairplace Award was launched this month by the Ethical Property Foundation, a property charity. The standard is a series of guidelines designed to encourage greater collaboration and alignment of policies and practices across finance, procurement, HR, and FM – with a view to boosting an organisation’s wider sustainability credentials.

We wondered whether organisations need new initiatives such as this – or are they moving towards the ideals of the Fairplace Award already?

We asked you whether this wider understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a hot

topic within your organisation?

Only 20 per cent of respondents agreed it was very much a hot topic of conversation within their organisations. One respondent said: “Most organisations I know are very interested in CSR and doing the right thing, but often this has to take second place to more prosaic things such as simply delivering the right FM service and keeping costs down.”

He added: “What I do find is that when CSR elements are proposed in a specification or a FM strategy they are always warmly received.”

However, 60 per cent of respondents said it was “a littlediscussed” issue within their firms.

60% A little

One said: “I answered B because at senior level it is expected that Facilities have this in hand, at operational level the focus is on core tasks and again it is assumed it is looked after by others.”

Another respondent said: “It is an old hot topic. The key is to strive and stretch. There is still plenty to be done after you have taken away the bins, upped the recycling facilities, provided facilities for the cyclists, installed the appropriate lighting systems.”

At times, businesses can find it a challenge to know what to do to physically enact CSR measures, according to another respondent.

“My organisation tries hard but sometimes trips over itself with conflicting policy interpretation,” he said.

Others saw the Government’s Social Value Act as a development that will encourage businesses to take CSR much more seriously, even if the act itself may not directly affect private firms in the first instance.

However, 20 per cent said a wider understanding of CSR was not a hot topic of conversation at all within their organisation.

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

Next government ‘will decide UK’s renewable future’

ISTOCK

The next government will be responsible for the UK succeeding – or failing – to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets, says non-profit group the Renewable Energy Association (REA) as it sets out a blueprint for whichever party takes the helm.

The blueprint outlines the key ‘manifesto asks’ for all the REA’s key technologies across renewable heating, power and transport fuels.

The REA says the next government could be the one to turn the budding renewable energy industry into a key economic engine for creating jobs and growth in the energy sector, cutting the UK’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. It asks the incoming administration to: ●

Support the Climate Change Act

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target for low carbon electricity by 2030; ● To fund the Renewable Heat Incentive for new applications after 2016; ● To boost the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to reach the 10 per cent renewable energy target for transport by 2020; and ● To reform the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme to ensure that the market takes account of all sectors’ polluting cost of carbon emissions. to keep the UK on course to meet carbon commitments and back global efforts to tackle climate change; ● Set a new renewables target for 2030 of 30 per cent of UK energy; ● Back the Independent Committee on Climate Change’s recommendation to set a binding

The REA argues that a common theme across all sectors is the need for “clear, stable policy”.

If matched with ambitious government plans, this will create jobs, investment and growth, and help the UK catch up in the global clean energy race, it says.

The UK is currently 26th out of 28 in the EU renewables league table, according to the REA. REA chief executive Dr Nina Skorupska said: “From clean power infrastructure to zero-carbon homes and from heat networks to sustainable transport, this is the most comprehensive guide a government could wish for if they’re seeking to maximise the value of this young, vibrant and innovative industry.

“Looking out to 2020, this manifesto sets out how the government can keep up the progress on renewable electricity, and accelerate the rollout of renewable heating technologies and transport fuels. Certainty beyond 2020 is also vital to enable industry to invest in innovation, expansion, skills and supply chains.”

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THE SCOTLAND QUESTION

The FM market’s fate in an independent Scotland

ISTOCK/PA

HERPREET GREWAL newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

As FM World goes to press, every registered voter in Scotland over the age of 16 is deciding if they want Scotland to become an independent country.

There is plenty of uncertainty about what an independent Scotland may look like, but if the vote does swing in favour of the nationalists, what might this mean for FM? Graeme Davies, FM World columnist and industry commentator, says: “Obviously there is going to be intense negotiation over a period of several months before questions can be definitively answered, particularly on issues of currency.”

If Scotland does choose to break away, there will be “immediate questions to be answered by Scottish-based companies as to what they do

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with regard to their domicile for corporate taxation purposes, even before the currency question is sorted out some companies may want to re-domicile south of the border so as to be more certain of what their future tax regime will be”, adds Davies.

This scenario is likely to bring with it additional costs, initially just around setting up a domicile south of the border rather than moving entire workforces south, he suggests.

New currency?

Many Scottish FM firms may do well in an independent Scotland.

As Rob Farman, of Abacus FM engineering consultancy, says: “FM companies based in the remainder of the UK may not wish to bid for more work in an independent Scotland. Thus, Scottish FM companies may gain.”

However, says Farman, the

downside of this is that it may also leave less of an appetite for the UK to use Scottish companies, so overall the Scottish share of the FM market may reduce.

He adds: “In the hospitality sector, if the image of Scotland is dented, then fewer tourists and companies may venture north of the border for holidays and corporate events, shrinking that element of the FM market.”

John Bowen, FM consultant, also agrees that Scottish FM businesses may still be able to serve their own sector. “But we already have the vagaries of dealing with Scottish law in most contracts north of the border and any move to true international trade will bring in further complexities.”

Although the larger support services firms have been reticent in saying how a ‘Yes’ vote might affect them, firms based in England with contracts in Scotland would have to consider how they treat their accounting for contracts, especially if Scotland requires a new currency.

A G4S spokesman said: “We do not expect a ‘Yes’ vote to have a material impact on our operations.

We are proud of our Scottish business and remain committed to our staff and customers in Scotland.”

G4S has three offices and employs around 5,000 staff in Scotland.

Bowen says that a ‘Yes’ vote could see companies that have promised to pull out of an independent Scotland follow through with that threat, along with the financial services sector.

He says: “Then there will be some short-term losses of demand and therefore jobs until, hopefully, those businesses can be replaced.”

The risk to Scotland’s prosperity as an independent nation is a big concern. Bowen remarks: “If Scotland cannot join the EU and lose the pound they will truly

be on their own and are going to find life difficult; that will be a consideration for any company that wants to trade with Scottish businesses in the same way that it is when you look at trading with any financially unstable nation. I would not want it to come to that and hope that it doesn’t, but there are question marks over how Scotland plans to survive that have not been answered amongst all of the political rhetoric”.

Infrastructure change Adrian Owen, resource manager at Aston University, says the lack of planning around infrastructure changes is another big worry.

“What about departments such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Inland Revenue? And in terms of facilities management, what about the Health & Safety Executive?

Will FM operators and businesses still be accountable to the HSE, or will they be allowed to flout the regulations until they create their own HSE? What about other legislation like building regs?”

Last week, organisations were being urged to review their riskmanagement policy in the light of possible independence. Sue Morris, training director at FM training firm, the Xenon Group, says: “With all the uncertainty there could be the potential for business continuity issues for some firms who trade north of the border and a risk review should be a priority.”

Alan Howes, a property and asset management professional, added: “Just how long and deep the ill effects of independence are likely to last depends on just how acrimonious and extreme the transition becomes. Either way… the damage has already started.

Companies, including FM ones, would be well advised to use this as a wake-up call and revise their continuity, damage limitation and risk appraisals.” www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 18:03

ENERGY

Searching for a decent pay-off on power efficiency schemes

JAMIE HARRIS jamie.harris@fm-world.co.uk

It’s difficult to recall a time that energy has been off the FM’s agenda; improving energy efficiency measures and making a business operate in a sustainable manner are increasingly interwoven into the FM tapestry.

It is clear from the volume and magnitude of opinion, research and government pledges that have been disseminated over the past few months that the topic is of increasing importance to businesses – and consequently the FM. Dramatic projections on the price of fuel bills have only served to add to the furore.

But have substantial forward steps been taken, or is the sector still swimming through custard trying to get to its ultimate goal? www.fm-world.co.uk

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It remains to be seen whether organisations are taking the correct actions. It remains to be seen, in fact, whether organisations are experiencing sufficient pressures to take action.

The message is diluted further by contrasting opinions on the severity of the situation facing UK organisations. A dissonant babble of conversation is causing uncertainty and confusion for decision-makers in organisations.

Failed Green Deal A recent debate on LinkedIn (see this issue’s Best of the Web, page 14) asked why investment in energy efficiency remains still so rare. Despite its perceived importance within organisations, a lengthy return time on investment remains a significant barrier.

Even though from 2016, all buildings with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of ‘E’ or lower will become unlettable, the consensus is that real estate owners are more inclined to raise poorly rated buildings to the required minimum.

If energy efficiency is seen as something to comply with, rather than a genuine priority for organisations to embrace, the discussion will continue to rage on 10 years from now.

Last week, Tim Waterfield of Savills Energy concurred with industry calls for the government to clarify its energy policy. “Energy is too critical an issue to become a political football,” he said.

There has been a raft of recent announcements, including the UK government’s Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), which indicates that large organisations must carry out an energy audit by December 2015, and identify cost-effective energy-saving measures.

There was much disdain, however, for the failed Green Deal and its commercial sister (See FM World, 11 September).

This was because of deliberations over whether the tenant or client should be responsible for its implementation. With shorter leases and a long pay-back time, tenants had no real incentive to sign up.

Even less drastic ‘quick wins’ are unpopular. There was a relatively low take-up of LED lighting (although in the past 12 months this has improved), and capital investment for solar panels and larger combined heat and power systems mean that smaller firms might get left behind. The benefits, beyond return on investment, are tricky to measure.

There is hope, however.

Large-scale showcase projects, such as Cofely GDF Suez’s energy centres at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (see FM World, 3 July) and the Co-operative Group’s Angel Building in Manchester (see FM World, 5 September 2013), benchmarks for organisations.

The centres at the Olympic Park were constructed to provide heating, cooling and power to the park and its venues, helping reach the site’s zero-carbon target, while the Angel achieved the highest recorded BREEAM score, making it one of the most sustainable large buildings in the world.

Peer pressure The confusion and lack of knowledge in sustainable and efficiency issues is also being addressed.

In January 2015, an online Supply Chain Sustainability School is to launch an online resource, designed to support FM service suppliers and clients, and offering a number of workshops and training schemes.

The large service providers, such as Carillion, Kier and Vinci, are all involved in the scheme. Cofely, Interserve and Emcor are set to join them, making a compelling argument for smaller organisations to sign up if they are to remain competitive in the market.

Whether these ‘peer pressure’ techniques are successful is not yet clear – the answer may lie in 2020, when the UK will know whether a number of carbon reduction and sustainability targets have been met.

For now, calls to action will continue to dominate conferences, exhibitions and news pages. But it is less clear to what extent organisations will act on those calls.

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 11

18/09/2014 18:03

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ANALYSIS

NAO has rogue outsourcing firms in its sights GRAEME DAVIES newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

Just when it seemed that investors in companies with significant exposure to government outsourcing contracts could begin to breathe more easily, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) and new allegations overcharging have revived concerns.

After the furore about overcharging for government

contracts, which saw G4S and Serco named and shamed and forced to repay tens of millions of pounds, the NAO conducted a wide-ranging review of government outsourcing contracts. It expressed continued misgivings about the skills in government departments to oversee contract delivery, which left them open to risks from simple poor service and delivery to further fraudulent activity.

Indeed, with five outsourcing contracts believed to be under investigation by police or the Serious Fraud Office, there is a strong chance of more scandals.

The NAO found that out of a sample of 60 government contracts, 34 raised flags. A chief concern is that departments are still beholden to private sector providers for data provision rather than conducting their own dataled checks and balances.

The NAO said government departments were improving in this area, but criticised the lack of urgency of reforms, considering that outsourcing has been a growing part of public service delivery for 30 years. The value of outsourced services has doubled under this government.

Points raised by the NAO are likely to reopen the debate over whether outsourcing really is providing the taxpayer with value

Contract wins

NEW BUSINESS Vinci Facilities has won a £1.5 milliona-year contract to provide planned, reactive maintenance and project works to Affinity Water in a deal over three years. The teams from Vinci Facilities’ technical services operation will provide support services to the Affinity Water Estate, which consists of approximately 450 operational production sites.

Elior has secured a three-year contract with Wiltshire’s largest secondary school to provide its catering and cleaning services. Elior will be responsible for catering to the Sheldon School’s 1,800 students and members of staff at all five outlets, including a diner, sixth-form café, canteen and two grab-and-go outlets.

12 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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ISS Facility Services has won the contract to provide catering services for ELUTEC College of Design & Engineering in Essex. ISS will cater for 250 staff and students via a food retail outlet serving a range of meal options.

The contract begins this month.

Mitie has taken a three-year contract extension to deliver front-of-house services to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mitie’s client services business has managed reception, switchboard, helpdesk and meeting and event bookings for the bank at four locations across the UK since 2007.

Havant-based property and facilities management company Fasset Ltd has secured a contract to deliver all hard

and soft facilities management and space management at Kent Science Park. Fasset is responsible for letting space and delivering FM provisions at six locations across the UK, serving more than 150 business tenants.

Mears 24/7 has been awarded a 10-year plus five-year contract by West Kent Housing Association (West Kent) to deliver its out-of-hours call-handling service. The contract, starting this month, is worth £450,000 over 10 years to provide an out-of-hours repair and maintenance contact service for West Kent’s portfolio of 6,500 homes.

Kier has agreed a new £25 million-ayear contract with the Canal & River Trust to carry out engineering and construction works on the nation’s 200-year-old canal network. The National Engineering & Construction Contract (NECC) will initially run for six years, with options to extend up to a maximum of 10 years. This longer agreement is to encourage greater capital investment, innovation and improvement in services. The NECC will deliver around £25 million of construction works each year.

for money or simply lining the pockets of the private sector at the public’s expense. The reality for most contracts is probably somewhere in the middle, but a worrying issue is a lack of transparency around contracts with private sector operators.

Although headline value and figures are published, the contracts are often not subject to the Freedom of Information rules, which the public sector is.

This secrecy is unlikely to bolster public confidence.

More scandals could be in the offing. Last month The Independent implicated a Serco joint venture named Viapath, which provided services to the NHS, in another overcharging scandal, although it is more likely to have been down to unreliable billing systems and staff shortages than criminal intent.

The government cannot possibly roll back on the scale of outsourcing contracts it is already running. But if scandals involving private sector providers continue it is likely to embolden those in the Labour and Trade Unions who are increasingly calling for a different way of doling out government contracts to involve more co-operatives and even government agencies to bid for contracts themselves.

The fault here is on both sides, namely the private sector for naturally trying to maximise profit margins, which can lead to providers spreading themselves too thinly, and the public sector, which has to take responsibility for its poor oversight and lack of rigour. After all, politicians are always quick to jump on the back of private sector operators who have failed to uphold the highest of standards – but some of the blame has to lie at their own door.

Graeme Davies writes for Investors Chronicle

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:13

Consortium tipped to build and manage new Scottish hospital High Wood Health, a consortium that includes outsourcing firm Serco, has been confirmed as preferred bidder for the contract to build the new district general hospital for Dumfries and Galloway region.

High Wood Health is expected to start construction of the facility next spring.

Dennis O’Keeffe, project director, said: “Following an intense period of competitive dialogue and evaluation, we are pleased to announce High Wood Health as our preferred bidder.

Their proposed solution is one that brings to bear a consortium of designers and contractors with considerable expertise and resources to fulfil our expectations.”

Jeff Ace, chief executive for NHS Dumfries and Galloway, said: “This is the major milestone that we have been working towards for months now, along with two bidders who have

BUSINESS BRIEFS Churchill cleans up at BDO

Serco is part of a consortium given the go-ahead to build a new general hospital for the Dumfries and Galloway region

produced the final designs for the kind of facility that we need so that our staff can deliver the best care possible for our patients.”

High Wood Health is a consortium including Laing O’Rourke and Aberdeen Asset Management, with Laing O’Rourke as construction partner, and Serco providing estate management services. Ryder Architecture, NBBJ, WSP and Hoare Lea are part of Laing O’Rourke’s design team.

The contract award comes a

month after Serco reported a loss after “poor trading” in the first half of the year.

Reorganising costs and loss-making contracts led to a reported pre-tax loss of £7.3 million, a fall of 107 per cent from last year.

Serco was hit by a six-month ban on UK government contracts after a scandal over criminal tagging last year. In May it announced plans to raise £170 million from selling new shares after issuing two profit warnings.

SHUTTERSTOCK

KPMG administrators sell six Northern FM operators KPMG has sold six companies operating facilities management services.

Paul Flint and Brian Green from KPMG’s Restructuring practice in Manchester were made joint administrators for the sales earlier this month. Assets and business from all the companies were sold to security company Select Security (Northwest) Limited, which will continue to service the customer contracts.

As part of the sale, all 273 jobs within the companies have been preserved.

The companies sold were BDi Holding Group Limited, BDi www.fm-world.co.uk

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KPMG Restructuring says it has maintained all jobs at the companies sold

Cleaning Services Limited, BDi Contact Services Limited, BDi CCTV Limited, BDi NW Limited and BDi Commercial Services Limited.

Together the companies, which

are based in Northwich and also have operations in Wakefield, operate a nationwide integrated FM business providing a full suite of support services including manned guarding, key holding, cleaning, CCTV installation and monitoring and waste management.

Flint, associate partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said the company had “been able to conclude a sale of the business and its assets immediately following our appointment, preserving almost 300 jobs and ensuring a continuity of service for customers”.

Churchill will deliver cleaning and associated services to accountancy firm BDO LLP across its 25-site UK portfolio.

Services will include daily office cleaning, window cleaning, washroom management, pest control, confidential waste management, specialist periodic/ specialist works and consumable provision. In the UK, following the company’s merger with PKF (UK), BDO LLP has 25 offices, with an HQ in Baker Street, London.

Maxim snaps up Ross Maxim Facilities Management Ltd, based in Sunderland, has bought Ross Cleaning Services – a commercial cleaning and window-cleaning contractor – as part of its growth strategy.

Ross Cleaning Service has a long-established client base that includes schools, local authorities and housing associations.

Graham Conway, Maxim’s managing director, said: “The acquisition expands Maxim’s geographical coverage and shows commitment to growing a national business while providing a local service to clients.”

The business in Scotland will continue trading as Ross Cleaning Services as a division of Maxim.

King of sustainability Global integrated property and infrastructure group Lend Lease has appointed Paul King as managing director of sustainability for its European region from February 2015.

He joins Lend Lease from the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), where he was CEO, providing leadership in sustainability across the property and construction sectors.

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 13

18/09/2014 15:13

FM BUSINESS IN FOCUS

in better zoning of operations within a building would help “accommodate out-of-hours operations and the likely varying occupancy patterns, thereby allowing parts of the building to be lit and conditioned without servicing the whole building”.

The interviewee: Peter Kinsella, president of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, associate at Lehr Consultants International The issue: Collaboration between design and FM

Improving the feedback loop Peter Kinsella is the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)’s first president not to be based in the UK. An associate at M&E consultancy Lehr Consultants International (Australia), he will remain in Australia during his 2014/15 term of office.

Kinsella aims to increase CIBSE’s international influence, with one area he hopes to improve being the ‘feedback loop’ between building operators and designers – an objective dear to many in FM, too.

“My intention is to stress the importance of designers understanding how a building is going to be used and how it will be operated,” he says.

“This requires a better conversation between the eventual building operators and the design team. And this is not a one-way transfer of knowledge; it’s a two-way street through which designers gain better insight into building operation and maintenance, while facilities managers gain a better understanding of why the building services are being designed as they are.

“Most designers will claim that they do this already – but in reality, is it carried through as thoroughly as it should be?”

14 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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Kinsella is also seeking to promote CIBSE initiatives that would certainly help complement his ‘feedback loop’ aspiration.

These include the institute’s building log book templates for the continual recording of a building’s energy performance, and a campaign to promote the value of the government’s soft landings concept which aims to ensure a smooth transition from construction to the occupation of a building. He’s also taking the soft landings messaging outside of the UK, hoping to arrange a soft landings seminar series to tour Australia and New Zealand next March.

Buildings lifespan According to Kinsella, the issues most pervasive for FMs – and for which FM’s help would be useful in the early design stages – include life cycle costing of plant and equipment.

“Presently there are many projects where the contractor’s liability is essentially limited to

Benchmarking

one year after handover. This leads to decisions on the type of plant and the level of quality being skewed towards the initial price alone,” says Kinsella.

“This situation is obviously shortsighted when considering the expected lifespan of a building and its services, and the situation would be quite different if there were a more extended period of responsibility for the contractor or if the designer fully understood some of the implications of cheapest initial cost-versus-lifespan costing.”

Kinsella says there are other aspects that would prove useful, beyond clear and detailed operating and maintenance manuals and the recording of drawings of building services.

Design issues include the provision of adequate isolation capabilities in a building would be useful “so that you don’t have to close a large part of the building down to enable the servicing of plant”.

Kinsella also believes buildig

“This is not a one-way transfer of knowledge; it is a two-way street where the designers gain better insight into building operation”

Kinsella is also passionate about increasing levels of energy usage benchmarking in buildings.

“If we want to improve building performance we must have a system to evaluate how well or how poorly a building is doing when compared with similar buildings. The system needs to be straightforward, but sufficiently refined to accommodate varying types of buildings and uses of those buildings.”

He adds: “Benchmarking gives that form of comparison so that, to an extent, it is possible to evaluate how you are managing your building and how it compares with similar buildings.”

More integration of construction and ongoing operation and maintenance of a building can take place by better collaboration with facility managers, says Kinsella.

If the facilities management team can provide some much needed influence on decisions during the design process – and then be able to review the design once it is complete – this “would be a good initial step”, he believes.

“Organisations that represent facilities management need to express their advice to the design team and ensure that some of the basic advice is enshrined into typical design documents, and then pressure maintained to ensure that these measures are not ‘value engineered’ out of the job.” www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 16:37

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FM OPINION THE DIARY COLUMN JOHN BOWEN

“MAYBE WE WOULD ALL PREFER THE QUIET LIFE, BUT TACKLING PROBLEMS HEAD ON AND BEING PROACTIVE USUALLY RAISES YOUR PROFILE IN A POSITIVE WAY”

University Local Estates Authority

John Bowen is an FM consultant

R AISIN G THE STAT US O F FM

re FMs undervalued because they A are often invisible? If we want to be recognised we must promote our skills While talking to a group of business people I was asked what a typical day is like for an FM. The type of organisation and the size of site and what elements of the FM mix you are responsible for will play a big part in what a typical day might be. Thinking back to my teams, we had a post of building manager at each of the sites, but one of these worked from the reception desk and doubled as receptionist for parts of the day

and had a team of one-and-ahalf directly employed people, plus one outsourced to look after.

At another site the BM had 27 members of the direct team and 12 indirect to manage, so what would have been common about a typical day for either of them?

What can be hard for outsiders to grasp is the sheer diversity of what an FM may have to deal with. Possibly it is also why we are, in many establishments, held in fairly low esteem; people just

NHS Trust

don’t understand or appreciate our worth. But if the size and scope of the job affect what we specifically do, there is another aspect of how we work that determines how visible we are – that is our approach to the job.

To describe my typical day in the life of an FM I mentioned walking the floor and speaking to heads of departments, but no one in my audience could relate to that; they claimed to have little contact with their FMs and that illustrates a problem.

Maybe we would all prefer the quiet life, but tackling problems head on and being proactive usually raises your profile in a positive way. I used to joke that a good day for me was not being

ambushed before I got to my desk in the morning, but in truth I much preferred that people knew who I was and would approach me directly if they needed to rather than let things fester.

Does your typical day include regularly talking to people at all levels in your organisation? Raising our profile to the point that people see us as an asset and understand how we contribute to meeting goals will take effort on our part. Just as I used to look forward to the days when no one was chasing me with a problem, I now look forward to a time when I don’t get asked what an FM does.

BEST OF THE WEB Views and comments from across the web Why are so few real estate owners making energy efficiency investments? (Facilities management group) Max Shvedov: I’ve never noticed any ‘high level of interest’ about investing into energy efficiency. The bottom line seems to be there are more attractive opprotunities of investing your time and money than investing into energy efficiency at the moment.

Robert Roth: One of the keys to selling energy efficiency improvements 16 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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is identifying property owners and manages who appreciate the impact that reducing energy bills can have on retaining tenants and attracting new ones.

Ike Eslao: Even assuming all energy costs are passed down to tenants, in an ever-increasing energy cost, I don’t see why building owners cannot see how energy savings can improve cash flow and leverage its green points to enhance brand equity of the company.

All these talks of poor

ROI is a refuge of poor management.

Ben Heuser: Light reflective surface decreases energy costs and improves air quality.

Long-term durability, maintainability and cost are in the forefront. It is up to us as contractors to educate others with realistic, demonstrable costs and proven in-use tactics. Designing ‘Green’ buildings is a challenging assignment for any architectural firm. To meet high standards for green

building, one tactic stands out: simply eliminate as many materials as possible.

Looking for additional ways to increase recycling or introducing green initiatives. Any suggestions? (Facilities management group) Sue Runkle: I see a real need for more education and recovery stations involving light bulbs and tubes. While filamant bulbs are being phased out the gas filled bulbs

being sold now are hazardous waste and need to be recycled.

Dan Kelly: Your best bet might be to contact a LEED certified engineering firm to review all your systems and suggest the “low hanging fruit”. There are opportunities for rain water or ground water re-use, for instance, that may have a 2-3 year payback, especially if your facility already has a storm water retention pond and a large roof surface area. www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:19

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BEST OF THE

FMWORLD BLOGS More light in the workplace = better sleep and health Osvaldo Nunez, Design & Trend A new study shows that natural light exposure in the office can improve the health of workers. Those with better light exposure had better sleep; more physical activity and an overall better quality of life than those that received less light.

“There is increasing evidence that exposure to light during the day, particularly in the morning, benefits your health via its effects on mood, alertness and metabolism,” said researcher Phyllis Zee. “Workers are a group at risk because they are typically indoors all day, often without access to natural or even artificial bright light.”

The scientists analysed information retrieved from 49 day-shift workers, 27 of whom worked in windowless environments and 22 who worked in workplaces with windows. The researchers also measured the workers’ sleep quality and health.

“Light is the most important synchronising agent for the brain and body,” said Ivy Cheung, co-lead author. “Proper synchronisation of your internal biological rhythms with the earth’s daily rotation has been shown to be essential for health.”

The scientists found that in contrast to those workers who didn’t have access to light, employees with windows in the workplace received 173 per cent more light exposure, resulting in an average of 46 minutes more of sleep a night.

This finding reveals the role that natural light plays in our work lives, which many of us separate from our regular life. Architects should take these factors into consideration when designing buildings, and create structures that complement health with daylight penetration.

Read the article in full at www.tinyurl.com/l7veq7x

Co-working – east vs west Rachel McIver, the Office Group Moving from a niche market to a fully fledged alternative to the traditional office setup, some 245 people are signing up to co-working facilities every day. Gone are the days when independent workers shelled out £20 a day for a corner at Starbucks.

Co-working tends to create a professional knowledge pool, with like-minded industries pitching up tent in the same area, seen most obviously in London’s Tech City in the East End (Silicon Roundabout).

1. The Black & White Building in Shoreditch: What transformed the Old Street Roundabout into this new hub of innovation and activity was the sheer amount of money poured into it by the government and investors such as Google and Facebook.

Starting in 2008, the Silicon Roundabout now houses around 5,000.

2. West London’s economy has grown at the rate of around 4 per cent, contributing around £27 billion a year to the UK economy through the industries traditionally associated with the area such as media and finance, but attributed also to the independent sector and flourishing start-ups. Imperial West, the business incubationfocused campus of Imperial College London, and the Waterside Regeneration Project in Paddington are only going to buoy the co-working trend.

3. Paddington Station at 19 Eastbourne Terrace: West London’s co-working spaces bring together a mix of small businesses, entrepreneurs and independent workers.

Co-working isn’t solely for tech and creative industries. Ultimately, co-working is about having the freedom to choose how you want to work and where you want to work. Just because all co-workers aren’t at the same roundabout doesn’t mean they’re not getting along just fine.

Read the article in full at www.tinyurl.com/mhkf3xt

www.fm-world.co.uk

17_Opinion.indd 17

FIVE MINUTES WITH NAME: Jason Cracknell JOB TITLE: Hazardous waste manager, Cawleys

Every year more than 15 billion batteries are produced and sold worldwide – and each year in the UK we throw away about 620 million of them.

Laid end to end, these batteries would reach from the UK to Australia and back again.

Many businesses are not going to the trouble of segregating their batteries from the general waste – if it fits in a bin it ends up in a bin!

Since 2009 the European Union has tried to encourage more battery recycling through the Battery Directive. This implements rigorous rules on manufacturing and recycling batteries and accumulators (rechargeable batteries) and the UK was attributed new responsibilities in how batteries should be recovered, treated and disposed. As this affects manufacturers, distributors and end-users, every individual is involved somewhere.

Battery recycling is not as straightforward as you may think. Each battery chemistry (alkaline/ zinc carbon, nickel cadmium (NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion rechargeable (Li-ion), single use lithium and button cells (mercury and silver oxide) requires a different recycling process.

Although the UK has a large number of approved battery treatment operators, the disposal facilities offering pyrometallurgical (where batteries are placed in a furnace and treated thermally), and hydrometallurgical (where batteries are treated chemically to separate the materials that make them up) are not available commercially in the UK. Most find their way to smelting plants in Europe, America or the Far East for disposal.

Look into the products and services you are using. If you are not responsible for the batteries, then how does your service provider dispose of them? Don’t be afraid to ask these questions – there are companies out there that go the extra mile to protect the environment from toxic chemicals.

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 17

18/09/2014 15:14

FM FEATURE

BTFS IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

JAMIE HARRIS

We all know that jobs in FM vary considerably – but then there are jobs like Richard Petrie’s, whose role with BT Facilities Services takes him to the extremities of the British Isles. Jamie Harris reports

18 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 16:37

BTFS IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

www.fm-world.co.uk

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FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 19

18/09/2014 17:05

FM FEATURE

BTFS IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

eet Richard Petrie.

After talking to him about his job you might mistake him for an explorer, photographer, or wildlife documentarymaker. Although these aren’t prerequisites for the role, he puts all of that knowledge to good use in his role as a facilities manager in rural Scotland. He is a long way from the cosy confines of Generic Workplace 2.0.

As area facilities manager for the Scottish Highlands and Islands at BT Facilities Services (BTFS), Petrie is responsible for 262 sites across northern and western Scotland – many of them unmanned – ranging from Shetland and Orkney to Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point on the British mainland.

Along with his team of six, Petrie maintains BT radio stations and small telephone and broadband connection exchanges across 15,000 square miles.

JAMIE HARRIS

M

Out of the ordinary The BTFS team follows strict cleaning and maintenance schedules, which cover all of its 7,000 sites, from large call centres to the BT Tower in London and BT Sport studios in Stratford, to small six-by-eight feet Hebrides Islands telephone exchange sites.

It may seem bizarre to place a fire exit sign in a small carbon fibre unit, but it is necessary to comply with health and safety regulations across all BT locations.

Manned sites will follow daily cleaning and regular maintenance routines, however, for unmanned sites cleaning and maintenance checks are scaled back to more appropriate levels. A member of Petrie’s FM team will schedule visits to each site three or four times a year, depending on its footfall and usage.

Because of the locations of each exchange unit in Petrie’s 20 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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jurisdiction, travel will often take up large portions of the working day. Single-lane roads with few overtaking spots, coupled with tour coaches, caravans, and tourists who will “stop their car in the middle of the road to take photos”, add time to journeys.

“It once took me an extra 90 minutes to reach Kilchoan, on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, as the road was blocked by Highland cows,” says Petrie.

“No amount of revving, tooting, shouting or prodding (from a distance) would get them to move.”

People based on mainland Scotland use small passenger aeroplanes to visit the Shetland and Orkney Isles. Even in August access is largely determined by the weather, which can make the job of getting back to the mainland arduous, or even impossible.

Petrie has developed a local network of assistance if immediate access is necessary.

For many of the Western and Hebrides Isles, infrequent ferry scheduling means that the most efficient mode of transport is to privately hire a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to make several island visits in one day.

To maximise the value of the RIB trips, work is aligned with BT Technology, Service

Lochaber, as seen from the Nevis Range (top); Telephone exchanges on the Isle of Muck (above); Port Clair Radio Station, 2,462ft above sea level (left); Richard Petrie (right)

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 17:05

BTFS IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

and Operations (BT TS&O), and occasionally BT Openreach.

BT TS&O is responsible for the engineering work on networking equipment located at each site. They will run planned maintenance and testing on the cabling, broadband and telephone equipment.

“I’ve costed up the possibility of purchasing an RIB for our island sites, but there just aren’t enough trips to make it financially viable.”

The two teams, BT TS&O and BTFS, try to align scheduled visits to the islands. Petrie manages the visits carefully, ensuring that he can join the technical team, splitting the cost between divisions.

Some of the sites serve small populations on each island. Soay, for example, has a population of two. Rumour has it that the residents are embroiled in a long-standing feud and refuse to speak to each other. Only one of the residents has a telephone.

So Petrie will have to visit Soay twice a year, by RIB, to service a site that only serves one person.

The work Should Petrie manage to reach one of the islands, after bounding across fields of cows, sheep and other assorted farm animals, he carries out his planned maintenance routine. He checks www.fm-world.co.uk

18-22 FM on edge.indd 21

on the security and safety of the structure of the building, planned technical maintenance and equipment testing, and cleaning the interior of each site.

Grounds maintenance is usually carried out across the area of the site, but for smaller islands, where sites may back on to public or private farmland, strimming in the vicinity of the building is more common.

“My team uses their best judgement at each site,” says Petrie. “If we cut back the long grass too far the unit would stick out on an island hillside.” It is more aesthetically pleasing, he says, if some of the sites blend in to the hillside a bit more.

Any faults discovered on the scheduled trip are logged, and a return trip is booked to fix any problems that

cannot be resolved immediately.

BTFS aim to complete all work in-house, but should the team encounter difficulties returning to complete repairs, Petrie is able to sub-contract out to local businesses.

Adapting the model BTFS standardises the process of logging jobs and allocating FMs to sites across its portfolio.

Petrie says he is working with the organisation’s IT team to help factor in travel time to particularly the remote locations.

“On a map, one site may be 30 miles away but what isn’t immediately obvious is that access might only be possible with a ferry, which might not visit every day, or the return flight or boat could take an additional few hours in the day. We

“Landing at Foula, I asked the pilot how many were on the island. He said: ‘Six. And I’m taking them shopping’. I got off the plane, the six got on, it took off. I was alone there for eight hours” – Richard Petrie

are working to try and factor this into our system.”

Among the obstacles Petrie must hurdle on a daily basis are – literally – obstacles. “I was up at a radio station, which is along miles of single-track road,” Petrie recounts, “and on my way back down the hillside, a tree had fallen, blocking the road.”

Petrie is qualified to operate a tree cutter and was able to clear the road alone. The nature of the work carried out by Petrie and his team – alone and in remote locations – means that the team’s operation differs from the rest of the organisation. BTFS is broadly split into three divisions: hard, soft and client services. Although it is sensible for services to be managed by specialists in most of the country, in Petrie’s region the services are not so neatly categorised. The challenges of rural Scotland have resulted in more emphasis on multi-skilled workers.

“It just wouldn’t make sense for us to employ a cleaner, grounds maintenance staff, health and safety staff for each of the sites,” he says.“The added cost of taking three or four staff to one site would be too much.”

Petrie’s team, regardless of their specialist areas, are trained to complete additional work such as cleaning and grounds maintenance. Members of the FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 21

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FM FEATURE

BTFS IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

team have varied backgrounds.

David Rendall, who covers sites on the Orkney Isles, spent 30 years working as a lighthouse keeper. Billy Adamson, responsible for the Shetland Isles, was previously a BT exchange engineer, maintaining the hardware kept at the sites where he now manages the facilities.

A home from home Petrie speaks enthusiastically about the local area. A graduate in stills photography and video production, he is able to take that passion in his life to work.

“When you are travelling on the RIB, the bounce and the swell [of the water] means that you can’t really get on with paperwork,” says Petrie, longlens camera in hand. Sea eagles, seals and dolphins are among the wildlife captured on camera, as well as some spectacular scenery.

Originally from Dundee, Petrie had moved south for work, before family and the stunning Scottish outdoors lured him back.

“I found myself looking after new store communications and construction at the Tesco head office in Cheshunt, which gave me a solid grounding in construction and property legislation.”

After returning to Scotland, he took a career sabbatical to study construction. “This led on to ecology and arboriculture, giving me a good footing in the grounds maintenance aspect of FM.” He began his current role over four years ago with Monteray, before the birth of BTFS and the process of bringing the FM services back in-house. Monteray ran BT’s estate for 12 years before BT acquired the company in 2012. BTFS now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary, which also offers FM services to other organisations. (See FM World, 17 October 2013).

This had an immediate effect 22 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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JAMIE HARRIS

BTFS TEAM

KEEPING THE LINES OPEN Sites: 262 Shetland (52 sites), Orkney (44), Outer Hebrides (54), Inner Hebrides (6), Mainland (106)

on staff.

“It was an overnight transformation,” says Petrie.

“All of a sudden, wearing BTFS uniform and logos branded on vans, you really felt a part of the business.”

Lone rangers With such a small team and so much ground to cover, it is important to keep on top of remote and lone working.

“I will be in touch with each individual most days, and I insist on holding a conference call once a fortnight. For times when the weather could pose problems, that escalates to daily,” says Petrie.

Richard manages the team remotely. “With the geography putting so much distance between us there has to be a great deal of trust. We all manage own daily workload.”

Petrie is proud of his team’s work. Despite operating in the far reaches of the British Isles, they have not gone unnoticed.

“The BTFS senior management team has made trips to see teams across the country. When they flew up to see my team, it was almost one to one. It was great for my team, as they really did feel valued and connected to the company.”

For Petrie, a day at work can be exhausting. Endless travel, unexpected complications and gruelling weather can make for a taxing week. But he thrives on the unique challenges. It’s not for everyone, but his unbridled enthusiasm could convince even the most urban of foxes that the rural way of life is compelling. FM

Richard Petrie and BT staff, spotting a common dolphin, on board an RIB heading to Skye Cuillin

Types of site: 45 radio stations, 8 telephone exchanges (over 20,000 sq ft), 4 engineering centres, 205 small exchanges Team: Richard Petrie, area FM for Scottish Highlands & Islands David Rendall – Orkney Isles Billy Adamson – Shetland Isles Neil Robertson – Western Isles Ronnie Cameron – Cleaning and grounds at remote mainland sites Steve Aburrow – Remote mainland sites for planned and reactive maintenance Works conducted by BTFS for BT include: Cleaning and waste management ● Grounds maintenance including specialised tree work ● Energy management ● Reprographics and mailroom ● Security, front-of-house and 24-hour helpdesk ● Technical planned and reactive maintenance including gas, oil and electric heating, BMS, air con, plumbing, L8 compliance, lifts, water testing, LCR ● Equipment testing including PFE, lifting equipment, eyebolts, roof risk, PAT, fire risk assessments ● Health and safety & workplace consultancy ● Projects and construction ●

A day in the life Petrie’s job is extremely varied, but a typical day on the mainland might look something like this: 07.30 – Check job queues and e-mails. Go to first site 08.00 – Phone the team to discuss the day ahead 08.35 – Arrive at first site to complete annual building inspections, fire-risk assessments, environmental audit and any other planned tasks scheduled for that site 09.50 – Travel to next site on the scheduled list 10.45 - Arrive at second site for similar set of routines 12.00 – Leave second site and travel to third location 12.30 – Arrive at third site to provide escorted access to a restricted roof space for a third party company 14.00 – Meet a team member at a fourth site to discuss a reactive job that is proving unusually complicated 15.00 – Leave fourth site having agreed on plans 16.00 – Back to office to do admin work, order supplies and schedule priority tasks 17.30-18.00 – Leave office to travel home

www.fm-world.co.uk

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FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 23

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16/09/2014 12:32

FM FEATURE

INSOURCING FOR OWNERSHIP?

NICK MARTINDALE

A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP T When debating whether to keep FM services in-house or turn them over to an outside provider, the ramifications of the decision are both commercial and personal, says Nick Martindale Illustration: Jacob Stead

24 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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he idea of outsourcing aspects, or even the entirety, of FM services is well established in both the private and public sectors.

The logic is sound; services can often be delivered for less than it would cost in-house, and outsourced organisations take over the associated hassle around hiring and training staff, including coping with the high levels of turnover that are often associated with the sector.

Yet even those who are firm advocates of outsourcing would probably admit to a few nagging doubts, and chief among them would whether any external provider – and particularly the staff on the ground – can really feel the same sense of ‘ownership’ and direct responsibility for the delivery of services to their colleagues that should, in theory at least, be achieved with an in-house team.

Steve Vincent-Marshall, director of facilities at Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh,

Hampshire, took the decision to bring back a cleaning contract in-house around six years ago when its existing provider went out of business, and immediately saw a significant improvement in both the standards of service and the enthusiasm of the same staff who previously worked for the external contractor.

“They wore college polo shirts and we gave them all brand new equipment, and all of a sudden the cleaning standard increased like you wouldn’t believe,” he says. “It was purely down to people having their own areas, feeling part of the college, being involved in all of the social side and just taking ownership.”

TUPE-ing in The staff were brought across under a TUPE arrangement, and received a small increase in the hourly rate as well as new equipment, but Vincent-Marshall believes just as much of the extra productivity is down to the little things that come with employing

people directly.

“All cleaning staff are invited to come to staff meetings, and they all get Christmas cards from the principal,” he says.

Other categories have also been brought back in-house, including security, catering, grounds maintenance, minor building works and decoration.

“Outsourcing works for some, but in-house just works better for us,” says Vincent-Marshall.

Neil Edmond is operations director at BT Facilities Services (BTFS), the new in-house FM team for BT, which brought staff in-house after taking over service provider Monteray. He believes the move helped him to create a more engaging proposition for staff, including paying the UK living wage rather than the national minimum wage.

“We were at a point where we couldn’t quite see what value we were getting from the management fee and felt we would rather reinvest that back into the people who were www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:16

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24-27 Taking Ownership.indd 25

FM WORLD | 11 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 25

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FM FEATURE

INSOURCING FOR OWNERSHIP?

working for the organisation,” he says.

Other factors have also helped to develop a stronger sense of employee loyalty and ownership, too, including being able to offer staff some of the benefits that come with working for a larger business.

“There are aspects of being an employee in an in-house team which give me advantages over being an outsourced team in a client office,” he says.

“The obvious ones in BT would be being able to give broadband for £1, access to BT Sports and options to buy into a BT ShareSave scheme. I’m not going to deny that as we stand today – especially with the fortunes of BT quite resurgent – it is something that people feel pretty good about.”

Specialist attributes There are times when having such a degree of ownership – or specialist attributes – is not just desirable, but essential.

Ian Flockhart, a partner at construction consultancy Pellings, gives the example of two clients where a genuine empathy in customer-facing roles was essential.

“We had a group of schools being built under PFI,” he says.

“They wanted to retain the soft services side because they had special needs children so the staff within the reception had to relate to them. With a contractor you probably wouldn’t get that as much. Another organisation was the National Trust, which preferred to do the meet-andgreet customer services side in-house because they knew their business, buildings and properties better than an external contractor would.”

But this is not to say that it is impossible to get the same sense of ownership even when those delivering services work for an 26 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

24-27 Taking Ownership.indd 26

NICK ICK MARTINDALE

outside organisation.

Martin Pickard, managing director of FM Guru, uses the football analogy of playing for club and country.

“I don’t think there’s necessarily a conflict of interests if you’re working for an outsourced service provider; it doesn’t mean you can’t be committed to, or care about, the interests of the occupying organisation,” he says.

But he believes clients in particular need to get better at managing people on their premises who are not directly employed by them. “I’ve seen horrific things where when people were in-house they weree allowed to eat in the restaurant,, ors but once they became contractors they had to sit in the car park and eat sandwiches,” he says.

“If you treat people like second-class outcasts who have to wearr a different colour badge then inevitably they’re not going to feel as committed as if you looked after them properly, as part of your team.”

He also points out that it can be easier to motivate people when they are working for external businesses as there is a greater emphasis on performance management. es do “Often when companies crease in outsource they see an increase gh they performance, even though have the same people,” he says. anage “People don’t tend to manage their own staff with quitee the same rigour.” n Edmond, too, has seen examples of where two parties can develop such h at close relationships – both managerial level and on the shop uinely floor – that staff are genuinely ually engaged, and this eventually filters through to better service d store levels and even increased ationship sales. It’s this kind of relationship that he’s now looking to develop with external clients.

“I don’t believe that whether you’re insourced or outsourced should mean that one is inherently more successful than the other,” he says.

“Today, undoubtedly, I’m able to capitalise on being part of that BT family as BTFS. But I have to then go into my next client relationship, which will be non-BT, and deliver the same without that. But that’s why I’m employed to do the job I do; I have to think of different and more innovative and motivational ways to achieve that.”

Outsourced providers also have to make efforts to ensure that their employees can buy into the culture of their client, suggests Anthony Bennett, ownerdirector at bespoke hospitality services firm Bennett Hay. “The very design of an outsourced set www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:16

INSOURCING FOR OWNERSHIP?

of services can sometimes get in the way of a joined-up service,” he says. “The key to ownership is for the combined FM team to be trained in the behaviours that the client wants to see in its building.

“The most effective approach is to put individual outsourced companies’ policies and procedures to one side and shape a service delivery around what best reflects the client,” he adds.

“Ownership can definitely be achieved, but service providers have to be more open-minded and look at the wider service offering, not just their area of specialism.”

Horses for courses The size of the provider may also be an issue. FM World spoke to a head of facilities for a public sector organisation who strongly www.fm-world.co.uk

24-27 Taking Ownership.indd 27

opposes the government’s push towards outsourcing, and particularly the trend towards large contracts with the biggest service providers. He believes smaller players are more likely to deliver a better service, based on a broader understanding of individual client needs, with staff who feel accountable for that.

“If you’re dealing with a smaller regional or local organisation for which you are a reasonable-sized client, they are going to be much more responsive,” he says. “In-house isn’t always more responsive; it’s very much horses for courses. But our experience is that small local contractors will be proactive in coming forward with ideas, and there’s a relationship there. They want to

do a good job for you, as opposed to box-ticking.”

In reality, what is outsourced – and how important staff ownership and responsibility are – will depend at least in part on the nature of the service being provided. Pickard argues that anything involving staff being based on a client site on a permanent basis is naturally suited to being delivered in-house.

“One aspect about FM outsourcing that is different compared with other sectors is that these are services where people come and live in the building,” he says. “So reception, catering, post; these are the ones where you want that sense of ownership and community, and for them to really understand the DNA of the organisation.

But with a visiting pest control person or a maintenance engineer who comes and services the boiler once a fortnight, it makes no difference whatsoever.”

Yet some employees may actually feel a greater degree of empathy and affiliation with their end-client than with their own employer.

“If you’re working for Fred Bloggs FM, which no one has ever heard of, you’re going to feel very different if you then go to work for a global brand like Mercedes-Benz or Unilever,” says Pickard. “Being able to say you work for a brand you can feel proud of will help a lot.”

This hints at a wider problem, he believes, about just how the FM sector perceives itself.

“I’ve long complained that the facilities industry prefers to put its head down and keep out of the headlines rather than promoting the great work that our sector does for the economy and society,” he adds.

“If we made more of the good things we do as a sector, then perhaps people would feel proud to work for us.” FM

“We were at a point where we couldn’t quite see what value we were getting from the management fee and felt we would rather reinvest that back into the people who were working for the organisation”

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 27

18/09/2014 15:17

Are you ready for winter? We are...

The team at De-ice has spent the whole of spring and summer preparing ourselves and our customers for ice and snow this winter. We are ready to provide the highest levels of service, to ensure sites remain safe and operational during periods of adverse weather.

Companies have legal duties regarding snow and ice on private premises. The potential cost of claims ranges from a few thousand to millions of pounds, and that doesn’t include the potential for bad publicity and damage to reputation.

Implementing a solution needn’t be an expensive or time-consuming exercise. We promise it won’t be a headache and that we will give you the best solution on the market.

Don’t get caught in the cold. If you haven’t made a plan, it’s not too late. Contact De-ice and we’ll help you to get on top of winter.

Selected forthcoming features in FM World:

www.de-ice.co.uk

Tel: 0845 2413020

23 October issue: Remote monitoring 6 November issue: Ventilation and air conditioning 20 November issue: Workplace interiors 4 December issue: Office ergonomics

Call us to advertise in our special feature issues and reach the largest targeted FM audience of over 24,000 readers. Contact Norbert Camenzuli on 020 7880 7551 For a full 2014 features list visit:

www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us

Features are subject to change - please contact the editor for further details. FM World welcomes contributions and ideas for articles.

Send a short synopsis to Martin Read at martin.read@fm-world.co.uk.

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

Future Features HPH 2014.indd 1 28 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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16/09/2014 12:32

VISITOR MANAGEMENT

JOHN HINDE

WHO GOES I THERE? A pen-and-paper badge system that records only basic information about guests on your company’s premises just doesn’t cut it these days. John Hinde looks at the market for visitor management systems

www.fm-world.co.uk

29-30 visitor management.indd 29

t is critical for organisations occupying large buildings to be able to manage and restrict access. But it is a Herculean task considering the number of tradesmen and visitors that can enter premises on legitimate business. The answer for most is an access control system – but the technology and the market are in perpetual change.

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires organisations to keep track of those on the premises.

But as Wayne Street, technical manager for ID Management says, security and presentation have joint roles to play: “Systems can check out who is entering premises and make sure that they have passes and possibly seek other documents that support their entry.”

Visitor management involves creating a deterrent effect; taking pictures and details of a person coming in adds this because he or she knows their

details have been captured. Data processing can means items such as keys can be tracked.

Nigel Cogram, senior sales manager for Dot Origin, says a drop in the cost of visitor management systems means that organisations “can issue photo ID on a cheap medium so that everyone who works in a facility can quickly identify who the visitor is, and who should be escorting them.

“A number of organisations use companies such as Regus to provide offices, and the fact that hot-desking in those organisations allows home working means that the more flexible the office environment, the greater the likelihood of people not knowing others who work in the organisation.” A photo pass mitigates this issue.

But Julie Minn, business development manager for Identilam, says such systems are only needed by sites that need to manage security and evacuation processes.

GETTY

FM FEATURE

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18/09/2014 16:38

FM FEATURE

VISITOR MANAGEMENT

JOHN HINDE

GETTY

Touch in Technologies such as RFID and the internet have benefited visitor systems. There has been a clear move, says Minn, away from handwritten paper visitor badges to using photographic images to control access, distinguish visitors and track their movements – including entrances and exits.

Street admits the technology is not new, but RFID cards are replacing barcodes and magstripe to scan people in and out.

Cogram and Minn add biometric data to the mix. Says Cogram: “Some of the more interesting developments that have arisen have been those involving biometric data.”

Minn also says using intranetbased systems to arrange, accept and record visits allowing preproduction of a visitor’s badge for collection on arrival means that not only do staff on reception expect visitors – so do those being visited.

Two technologies to watch are facial recognition and near field communication (NFC).

“NFC is the technology that allows communication between things like smartphones and RFID cards. Most importantly, it’s what can be stored on the card and how it can be secured.”

NFC can also allow storage of security-checked information via a password. This might involve a pass that shows the person’s name but also contains secured emergency contact information.

Facial recognition technology could automate the entire process of checking a visitor in and out.

For many organisations a pass would still be required but, as Street notes, by taking a high-res image of a face a company can check if the person has visited previously, print a photo pass and allow low-level access control.

“By tracking a face around the site we can know exactly where the visitor is – their face is a lot

30 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

29-30 visitor management.indd 30

probably include name of visitor, name of employee they are visiting and the date.

For the front of the card, Street suggests pre-printing things like the company logo. It’s also worth printing – and Street regards this as paramount – an expiry date to make it obvious when someone should (and shouldn’t) be on site. At the same time, other information such as area access permissions and whether someone should be escorted can be printed so that it’s obvious to all. “If done well,” says Cogram, “different designs and colours can also be implemented depending on the type of visitor; visitor, contractor or internal visitor.” Organisations can combine design and pass expiry to disable a card after a certain time. more important than a name and a lot harder to hide.”

Smart pass Cogram thinks health and safety is a key driver for a smart pass system. “Businesses at all levels should be looking to control visitor movements so that everybody knows who is in building so that the organisation is aware of who needs to be evacuated in an emergency.” But he also believes that the system should know who is walking around a facility – and who should be escorting them.

The number of checks that need to be carried out (internal or by an external body), the number of entrances and the information gathered on each visitor (assigned parking, time slots, keys, access to certain parts of the building) also have a bearing on specifications.

Street also reckons that organisations should have backup plans. These might cover what to do in case of emergency and what to do with visitors if a system goes down (including camera and printer failures). And what form should a pass take – plastic, paper

or pre-printed badges?

Integrate the pass system with anything else the organisation uses. Talk to system manufacturers to discuss other uses for a smart card. “In the case of access control most manufacturers have bolt-on packages to make visitor badges allow, say, pass-based access to Wi-Fi,” says Cogram.

There will always be debate about where smart cards should be used inof paper passes. This will depend on the functionality required, but Street thinks the clincher is whether there’s a security need for smart cards that are hard to replicate. Such systems, he says, are best suited to those organisations that have access control systems.

All in the detail Organisations can add detail on fire and safety regulations and escape procedures on the back of the card. Indeed, Cogram notes that most systems allow users to define the card artwork as required, usually with a picture of the visitor followed by any number of fields that would

The pitfalls As with the deployment of any technology, it’s possible for organisations to overcook the specification. According to Cogram, firms usually start by looking at systems that are far too complicated to implement, with the result that staff do not use them.

“A case in point being that taking a photograph and possibly biometric data takes time, and unless visitors are aware of this before arrival then meetings can be late to start.”

Another issue to consider is how a management system is to be used. Organisations invariably make the effort to ensure that visitors are signed in correctly, but not the same effort to make sure they are signed out.

Organisations need to understand when introducing a visitor management system what it is they are trying to achieve and who the likely visitors are. But thinking about the end user who will have to implement any visitor policy will also reap rewards. FM John Hinde is a freelance writer specialising in workplace systems

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 16:38

THE END IS NIGH! For HCFC R22 From the end of 2014, the use of the popular refrigerant R22, for equipment service and maintenance purposes, becomes illegal.

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16/09/2014 12:33

FM MONITOR MARKET INTELLIGENCE

INSIGHT ECONOMY

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

UK LIGHTING MARKET REPORT 2014-2018

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

PROSPECTS FOR THE UK LIGHTING MARKET REMAIN POSITIVE INTO THE MEDIUM-TERM WITH ANNUAL GROWTH RATES OF GROWTH OF AROUND 4-6 PER CENT TO 2018, WHEN THE MARKET COULD REACH

£2.2 BILLION

Bank of England base rate: 0.5% as of 18 September 2014.

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

£1.6 BILLION

IN 2013 – A 5 PER CENT INCREASE ON 2012. THE OUTLOOK FOR 2014 IS FOR GOOD GROWTH OF

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

Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) grew by 1.5% in the year to August 2014, down from 1.6% in July. Falls in the prices of motor fuels and food and non-alcoholic drinks provided the largest downward contributions to the change in the rate. The largest, partially offsetting, upward effects came from clothing, transport services and alcohol.

Source: (www.ons.gov.uk)

THE LAMP MARKET SAW 15% GROWTH 2011-13. THE MOVE TO IMPROVE LIGHTING QUALITY, PARTICULARLY THE TREND FOR WHITER LIGHT IN OFFICES AND RETAIL HAS INCREASED DEMAND FOR HIGHER-VALUE LED AND FLUORESCENT PRODUCTS.

5-6%

BASED ON A REVIVAL IN HOUSE BUILDING AND COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION. Source: AMA Research

CONSTRUCTION GROWTH

USE OF SMART METERS IN BUSINESS

CONSTRUCTION & HOUSING FORECASTS – 2014-2018

HOW IS DATA FROM YOUR ORGANISATION’S ENERGY METERING CAPTURED AND USED?

£ millions

Total

New work

RMI

155

50% 41.3%

40%

38.3% 39.3%

38.3%

135 30%

115

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

75

10%

55

0%

Hourly rate from 1 Oct 2014

Aged 21 and above

£6.50 (up from £6.31)

Aged 18 to 20 inclusive

£5.13 (up from £5.03)

Aged under 18 (but above compulsory school age)

£3.79 (up from £3.72)

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

£2.73 (up from £2.68)

13.3%

A

35 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Total GB construction output saw a 4 per cent jump in 2013 to £121.7 billion after a 5 per cent fall in 2012. New work grew by 5 per cent to £74.9 billion.

Non-residential work – the largest sector – grew by 3 per cent in 2013 to a value of £75.6 billion.

In H1 2014 housing rallied, with 7 per cent growth in output in 2013. Help to Buy bolstered the sector. Total construction is set to grow by 7 per cent in 2014 to £131 billion. In the medium-term, annual growth rates of 3-8 per cent are forecast to 2018, when total construction will be £158 billion.

SOURCE: AMA RESEARCH

32 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

24.5% 24.5%

20%

95

Category of worker

27.0%

23.5%

EMPLOYMENT

32_Insight_New.indd 32

15%

THE UK LIGHTING MARKET WAS ESTIMATED TO BE WORTH AROUND

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

Of companies surveyed, about a quarter offer data downloads via a building management system [column A]. 41.3 per cent send spreadsheets to select staff [B]. There is an online data system for FMs/engineers at 38.3 per cent of firms [C], while 27 per cent of firms operate an online system used by a wider range of staff [D]. 38.3 per cent of respondents send carbon reports to key managers [E]. 24.5 per cent operate internal benchmarking of emissions across several buildings [F]. 24.5 per cent compare external emissions benchmarking with peers [G]. About a quarter of surveyed firms send data to all staff [H], but there was no data for about SOURCE: ACCLARO ADVISORY 13.3 per cent [I]. www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:17

FM MONITOR GEOFF PRUDENCE C. ENG FCIBSE MBIFM

BUILDING ENGINEERING PRIMER NO.1 MAINTENANCE STRATEGY This is the first of a regular series of articles on building services to support FMs managing buildings. It focuses on developing a maintenance strategy for managing the building and its engineering services.

Overview Best practice for buildings within a property portfolio is to have a defined asset management and building maintenance strategy, defining policy and approach to keep the building and its services operation safe, maintain asset value and keep people safe.

CIBSE Guide M Maintenance Engineering and Management provides an overview to develop a strategy. The approach selected for implementation could be planned, reactive, or a combination of strategies.

Common faults and fixes There may be an in-house client engineering function, service contactor or a variation of both responsible for maintenance.

There may not be a defined approach to maintenance or a known engineering asset list to base an implementation plan on. ● An initial asset and maintenance requirement survey could be carried out by an engineering/asset surveyor. ● Problems occur when the plan is not aligned to the real needs of the core function of the buildings. ● Over-complex designs and systems, cause difficulties and skills/ability to operate/ maintain. ● Fix by using best practice guides, codes of practice and competent skills to develop plans and manage maintenance. ●

Compliance concerns Managing risks and compliance www.fm-world.co.uk

33_Primer.indd 33

is the most important aspect of building management. This can be reduced at design stage, with engagement of FM/systems thinking and information flow through the BIM philosophy.

Data/records and management systems are important in managing compliance. There must be clear procedures with designated people that are monitored and recorded regularly.

Particular priorities are: ● Lifts and escalators (LOLER Regs 1997) ● Lightning protection ● Pressure systems safety regulations ● Fire safety BS 5839 detection and alarm systems ● Gas safety ● Water quality ● Ventilation hygiene and local exhaust ventilation.

Maintenance considerations A maintenance strategy can be developed using CIBSE Guide M as an overarching best practice approach. Once the baseline of buildings and assets to be considered are established, a progressive method can be used to categorise the buildings and critical engineering services that support core functions. Typically: ● Category A sites – Core business function, priority sites, severe operational/reputational damage on failure of any critical engineering services. ● Category B sites- Core business function, may contain some critical areas, but duplicated in other sites. ● Category C sites- Common type and replicated elsewhere.

Impact would be managed on an individual site basis and supported by business continuity/alternative arrangements. Following the defined priorities, then existing information, topped up by surveys to establish the condition of the

Creating a robust property management strategy for FMs

Design standards Plan of work BIM/1192 3/4

SFG 20

BS 8544

NRM 3

Plan, Do, Check, Act-Build, Maintain, Renew

Building Operational Risk Management and Compliance

buildings. Bringing this together with the priorities and standard maintenance specification (B&ES SFG 20), gives a consistent approach to be tuned to the needs of the operation.

Examples being: ● Priority 1 Maintenance – Statutory maintenance. ● Priority 2 Maintenance – Essential maintenance-fit for function business focused assets/ systems only. ● Priority 3 Discretionary Maintenance – Priority of need, resources and return on investment.

The life cycle costing element can be applied using BS 8544:2013 guide for life cycle costing of maintenance during the in-use phases of buildings and RICS NRM3 New rules of measurement, order of cost estimating and cost planning for building maintenance works.

The final stage of developing a strategy will be selecting the method of management and delivery – in-house, outsourced, a

combination of resourcing from specialist, single skill contracts through to bundling and TFM contracts. The FM will have a robust strategy to prioritise against budget discussions and availability to maintain the building well, supporting the customer core business against operational risk.

Technological developments Technology continues to evolve, driving more dynamic analysis and realtime reporting. The SFG 20 spec allows customisation to suit particular assets and priorities. Life cycle costing databases continue to progress, but systems organisations are developing end-to-end planning, management and operational tools to engage design philosophy, building/ engineering system design decisions information through to construction operation and maintenance, also linking CAFM, BMS and security/fire systems. True BIM?

Reference sources www.CIBSE.org CIBSE FM Group (via CIBSE website) CIBSE Guide M-Maintenance engineering and management 2014 PAS 55 and BS ISO 55001 : 2014 Asset Management overview, principles and terminology.

B&ES SFG 20 Standard Maintenance Specification BS 8544 Life Cycle costing NRN 3 New rules of measurement, Order of cost estimating and cost planning for building maintenance works.

Building Operational Risk Management – GP Prudence 2007 Geoff Prudence is Chair of CIBSE FM, the BIM4FM cross industry workgroup and also BIFM Building Services, Data Centre and Critical Services Network.

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 33

18/09/2014 17:50

FM MONITOR TONI KLARE

HOW TO...

Toni Klare, FM Intelligence Centre (FMIC) director, Bellrock

HELPDESK MAKEOV ER

nformation technology is taking on a much larger role in helping clients get answers from – and disseminate information to – company helpdesks. Toni Klare explains

I

The world of facilities management is changing, which means that the centralised customer communications centre should be changing too.

Terms like call centre and helpdesk are all too familiar, but they imply that the phone is the only contact method and that their primary purpose is to react to problems.

Over the past few years the emergence of two significant trends means that FM helpdesks are having to reinvent themselves.

The first of those trends relates to communication. Within two years email enquiries have gone from being 20 per cent of our customer contact (the remaining 80 per cent being phone) to 50 per cent of all enquiries. In 2013 our team at Bellrock dealt with more than 75,000 inbound emails.

The second trend – establishing itself as the grip of the recession tightened – is the growing interest in management information.

Suddenly, everyone in property and FM needed to know much more about all aspects of services in order to reduce cost and improve performance.

It is no surprise that the application of new technologies is having the single biggest impact in responding to these trends.

IT solutions have always played a big part in creating a more efficient helpdesk; what would be considered rudimentary technical capability such as call-queuing 34 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

34 How To Helpdesks.indd 34

and pre-determined questions and scripts were, in their day, seen as ground-breaking. So what are the latest innovations we can use to reinvent our helpdesk as a facilities management intelligence centre (FMIC)?

1⁄

Manage email in the same way as a call:

Calls are monitored, managed in queues, audited and metrics are applied that enable the contact centre manager to improve service levels. When emails became a more prevalent form of communication the process was for each one to be read by an agent and then transferred to a central folder with an email sent to alert the agent selected to respond. Software is now on the market that enables emails to be routed automatically through the system to the relevant agent.

Picking up key words – ‘urgent’, for example, means that they can be assigned a priority, or a request for some information rather than a callout will enable the system to apply the correct routing for that work. Template responses can be drawn up so that speed of communication is increased and consistency in terms of language and terminology is applied. The relevant template is then selected by the agent and sent to the customer.

2⁄

Integrate live chat:

Research tells us that an agent should be able to manage six active live chats at the same time. From a management point of view this makes live chat an attractive feature to integrate in to any contact centre. However, there are two notes of caution. Live chat is best used for simple queries such as an update on a job and permission to proceed with cost uplifts. If the customer understands this, then this channel is much more productive. Training for agents is absolutely essential in terms of standard responses and managing customer expectations so that customers have a positive experience and continue to use the channel.

3⁄

Online enquiry monitoring:

Writing bespoke scripts for a user interface or client portal means customers can log their jobs online without input from an agent. These scripts present as questions relating to the particular building and asset, and ensure that the compliance information is also logged.

The system then channels the request directly to the relevant contractor. In some cases live chat can be integrated into this system to help with any process or system queries. The contact centre’s role changes to solely creating the relevant management reports from the data. Typically, a system such as this effects a 90 per cent migration to online ordering and reduces the resource requirement by 80 per cent.

4⁄

Postenquiry surveys:

Many clients consider that the customer being able to voice an opinion is as important as measuring the performance of a contact centre. Traditionally, this has been a burdensome activity as the agents themselves conducted feedback surveys. It was estimated that in order to collate 100 responses, 500 calls would need to be made.

With an automated system a survey can be conducted straight after the call and can be tailored to particular events or topics.

From a client perspective, this enables much more relevant and rich customer feedback.

5⁄

Managing Service level agreements

Automated reports can make a big difference to how managers organise and direct activity in their helpdesk system. The types of data that can now be generated, including call profiling and details on agents and call-ins, help with the accuracy of resource planning and training requirements. This leads to an improved level of customer service as processes are streamlined and resources reflect the activity levels. Reinventing the contact centre is about applying features that have the most impact on efficiency and customer service in a facilities management context.

Some fascinating technologies enhance customers’ experience of working with such an FM information centre, helping to generate an enhanced understanding of cost and performance for clients. FM www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 16:39

FM MONITOR CRAIG BAYLIS

Craig Baylis, partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP

LEGAL UPDATE F OOD ALLERG EN L A BEL L I N G

raig Baylis, a legal practitioner in licensing law, explains how forthcoming legislation on food allergens, which can cause reactions from skin rashes to anaphylactic shock, will affect the whole food industry

C

These days most people are aware that there are certain ingredients in food to which people are allergic and which can in some cases cause severe reactions.

Consumers understand that some people can be severely allergic to peanuts, but there are also common allergies to shellfish, soy beans, milk or even celery.

At the moment the law requires that foods that are prepacked must identify on their labels certain ingredients that are specified in current legislation.

This list establishes 14 food allergens that have to be indicated on the labelling whenever they – or ingredients made from them – are used at any level in pre-packed foods.

The list of 14 currently includes items such as peanuts, soy beans, milk, celery, mustard and sulphur dioxide at certain levels.

Many food producers have been overly cautious about their foodstuffs causing allergic reactions and so it has become increasingly common on food labels to see references that the products “may contain” nuts or is “made in a factory that also handles nuts” or “made on equipment that also processes nuts”.

The food industry became too obsessed with the idea that www.fm-world.co.uk

35_Legal_Allergies.indd 35

if all of their products were not labelled with the possibility that there might have been some cross-contamination with allergen, then if allergic reactions ensued, they would face the prospect of litigation against them. These warnings, therefore, have become very widespread and can be seen on almost every food item.

These different phrases describe the potential for risk, but are not indicative of the severity of the risk and the Food Standards Agency has become increasingly concerned that the “may contain” labelling is being used too much when it isn’t really necessary.

Clearly, this undermines valid warnings on products and so the agency wanted to reduce the unnecessary use of the “may contain” labelling.

Pre-packed and non-packed So the legal rules for food labelling in relation to allergens will change from 13 December.

The new regulations are based on the existing labelling provisions and do not add to the current list of 14 items which are specified as allergens that have to be labelled.

The biggest change for the food industry is that the regulations will now apply to foods that are sold non-packed as well as foods that are pre-packed.

There will be a three-year transition period to allow businesses to make the necessary changes to their processes and labelling designs in order to meet the new provisions.

The other main change in relation to the regulations is in exactly how the allergen information should be given to consumers.

The new leglisation requires substances and products causing allergies to be indicated in the listed ingredients. The likely preferred method is to highlight the offending item in bold.

So, for example, an ingredient listed in the future may look something like this: “Sunflower oil, water, white wine vinegar, sugar, pasteurised free range egg yolk, extra virgin olive oil, cheese (milk), anchovy paste.

“Anchovy paste contains anchovy (fish), salt, olive oil, spirit vinegar.”

Where products are being sold which currently do not need to have an ingredients list – for example, in an office restaurant

“The Food Standards Agency has become increasingly concerned that the “may contain” labelling is being used too much when it isn’t really necessary”

or canteen where the food is not pre-packed and may consist of salads or hot foods that are served direct to customers, a food business operator will now have to comply with the legislation highlighting allergens in exactly the same way as an ingredients list on pre-packed food.

Informing the customer This information could be written down on a chalk board, a menu board or a chart or even provided orally by a member of staff.

It does not need to be given in writing, but it must be given.

Clearly, writing it down so that anyone can see it will avoid mistakes or omissions.

It is important to remember that these rules only cover information about the 14 major allergens intentionally used as ingredients.

The rules do not cover allergens present following accidental contact or crosscontamination.

The key message everyone involved in food preparation and supply should remember is that after 13 December 2014 the new rules should start to be followed.

Identify potential allergens by reference to the specified list of 14 contained in the regulations and make sure that their presence is highlighted in any ingredient listing.

You will find be able to see additional helpful information and guidance on the websites of the Food Standards Agency, the British Hospitality Association and The British Retail Consortium. FM For more information see: www.fsa.gov.uk, www.bha.org.uk, www.brc.org.uk

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 35

18/09/2014 16:39

FM MONITOR DOMINIC ROBERTSON

HOW TO...

Dominic Robertson, commercial director of Truegrit Ltd

W HAT YOU N EED TO K N OW A BO UT GR I T T I NG

he gritting season is fast approaching.

There is health and safety legislation to meet, and the responsibility of keeping properties safe and open. Dominic Robertson explains what to look for when considering the gritting service

T

1⁄

Pay-as-yougo versus fixed price

Most gritting companies offer both a pay-as-you-go service or a fixed price contract for the entire winter.

The advantages for a fixed-rate contract are that you can fix the budget for this service and you are passing the risk management over to the supplier – including full liability.

The disadvantage is the level of visits on which the supplier is basing the fixed rate.

This can work out very high when you look at what you have paid out during a mild winter but, to be fair, most fixed-price contracts tend to be run over two or three winters to spread the financial risk for both parties.

An advantage of the pay-asyou-go approach is that during a mild winter you only pay for a limited number of visits.

However, should the weather turn out to be a hard one, the boot is on the other foot.

Also, on a pay-as-you-go system you are open to operators using a customer-unfriendly approach to gritting – with a lot of unnecessary gritting taking place.

There are some important pointers to consider if going down the pay-as-you-go route.

36 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

36 How To Gritting.indd 36

2⁄

Detailed weather forecasts

All credible gritting/snow-clearing companies will buy in a forecast service and not rely on the free internet forecast as they only give air temperature.

The purchased forecasts give far more detail such as road surface temperature (RST), the timing of any hazard and the actual hazard type such as a white hoar frost, ice and snow.

Sometimes a forecast can come in where the air temperature is just above freezing but the RST is below freezing.

This can cause confusion if a gritting plan has been received by a site manager and they check the free weather website which does not have the weather as freezing.

These conditions are dangerous as the freezing road surface temperature draws the moisture from the warmer air temperature

onto the road, creating a slippery white hoar frost.

Most forecasts use colourcoded warnings – green, amber and red. Green means all temperatures above freezing.

Red means the temperature is sub-zero and there are hazards created by the freezing conditions. Amber can be just above freezing or several degrees below freezing, the reason that it is amber and not a red warning is that there are no hazards associated with the freezing temperature.

But do remember it is not the temperature that is the hazard, but the conditions caused by it.

Gritting companies should use an agreed sub-zero RST as the trigger to implement the service, but this should only be on a red, not an amber warning, otherwise you will be wasting money. This is worth checking.

The forecast information received can give the forecast hour by hour over a 24-hour period. There are occasions when you can get a sub-zero RST forecast on a red warning only for a few hours overnight and will be above freezing later on before daybreak.

If you manage a site that is not live until the morning then in this instance there is no need to grit as the risk has disappeared

“Do remember it is not the temperature that is the hazard, but the conditions caused by it. Gritting companies should use an agreed sub-zero RST as the trigger to implement the service, but this should only be on a red, not an amber warning”

before people come to work. It is important to check to see how your gritting supplier deals with this marginal forecast.

The company should operate a system that is smart enough to prevent a blanket gritting policy.

3⁄

Build in customer flexibility

Some property managers will say if there is a risk, then you must grit. Then there are others who want control and can turn off the ‘gritting tap’ if they feel that a planned gritting visit is not needed.

In fairness to gritting operators who operate on a national basis, the sheer number of sites they are dealing with means that they have to use an automated system to check callout triggers and implement gritting.

Long gone are the days of phoning all the contacts when the weather comes in, as it is far too time-consuming.

Having said that, there is a middle way because gritting suppliers should be operating automated callout systems to inform you that gritting is planned, but then give you a timed window to allow you to cancel a planned visit.

A completely risk-averse property manager doesn’t have to use this option. If other managers received a planned gritting notification and they feel there is salt still down from a previous visit and it is doing its job, then they should be allowed to cancel a visit.

Check with your gritting supplier to find out what customer flexibility is built into its system. FM www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 16:40

Call Jack Shuard on 020 7880 8543 or email jack.shuard@fm-world.co.uk For full media information take a look at www.fm-world.co.uk/mediapack

FM innovations ▼ OCS celebrates sports successes

▲ New generation of gutter cleaners A new generation of high-reach gutter cleaning equipment has been launched after five years of development by Spacevac Technologies Ltd. It removes operational guesswork as it comes with a close circuit TV camera on the cleaning head; it reaches higher than any other product – 14 metres.

Unlike traditional high-reach gutter cleaners, the Spacevac is extremely lightweight and can be assembled on the ground by one person – others have to be assembled in the vertical position by two operators. W: www.space-vac.co.uk

Martin Gammon, OCS’s CEO UK mainland and Europe, joined SportsAid partners and ambassadors, along with athletes, past and present, at a Commonwealth Games Home Nations reception last month. The event was attended by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, SportsAid’s Patron.

OCS and SportsAid run the OCS Young Sports Person Awards to fund emerging UK sports talent.

Former OCS Young Sports Person Awards winners achieved three gold, six silver and five bronze medals during the Games. Gold medals were won by Louis Smith and Sam Oldham in the men’s gymnastics team event, swimmer Dan Wallace won the 400 metres individual medley gold and a silver as part of a 200 m freestyle relay team,. Multiple medals were won by Laura Halford – who took a silver and two bronze in rhythmic gymnastics – and athlete Jodie Williams, who was awarded silver and bronze in individual and team sprint races.

Jangro launches new ID Jangro has launched a new corporate ID to celebrate 30 years as a leading innovator in the cleaning supplies industry. With £120 million turnover and 41 outlets, it is has more points of sale than any other janitorial supplies company in the UK and Ireland.

The ID is being launched on Jangro Members’ vehicles, stationery and promotional materials. The first packaging to adopt the new colourful house style is the Jangro Professional range. This will soon feature on the Premium range – products for demanding tasks; the Enviro range of products that have minimal effect on the environment and the Contract range of no-frills commercial products for everyday cleaning tasks. The label is colour-coded to each range fand has been updated with illustrations.

QR codes have also been added,.

W: www.jangro.net

▲ De-Ice all set for the winter ahead On 26 October British Summer Time (BST) will come to an end, and from 1 November the De-ice winter 2014-15 service will officially begin.

Over the past seven months we have been planning and preparing, getting ready for what we hope will be a busy season. Our mission is to ensure that, in the event of any period of adverse weather, disruption is minimised, and that our clients’ sites are kept clear of frost, ice and snow - ensuring safety for staff, customers and suppliers. Failure to do this could result in costly claims.

September is our busy time, finalising contracts for the season. We’re urging companies which haven’t as yet finalised their winter planning to make contact.

It isn’t too late. Can you afford to be caught out this winter? W: www.de-ice.co.uk

▶ Keraflo launches Tanktronic Keraflo, manufacturer of Aylesbury float valves and tank management systems, has launched a user-friendly version of its digital water tank control system Tanktronic. It provides a cutting-edge solution for buildings with water tanks to service a big reserve of water, i.e. hospitals, hotels and office buildings.

It is installed in prominent buildings such as The O2 Arena. One Tanktronic unit can control either one or two single water tanks or a twin-tank system. The enhanced model has features such as the Repeater Panel, which enables control from 100 m away W: www.keraflo.co.uk E: info@keraflo.co.uk

Get Ahead With JTL’s Level 2 Apprenticeship

in Facilities Services The Intermediate Apprenticeship at Level 2 in Facilities Services is the ideal route to building a career in such a fast-growing profession.

JTL offers a part-funded Apprenticeship for those working in the sector looking for promotion and advancement. It takes between 12-18 months to complete depending on experience and current qualifications.

Call Joanne Pusey on 07825 937611

www.fm-world.co.uk

37_Products.indd 37

www.jtltraining.com

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 37

18/09/2014 16:47

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

Comedian and actor Hugh Dennis will host the BIFM Awards this year BIFM AWARDS

ENERGY

Has Hugh got news for you

EMEX and BIFM partnership

Hugh Dennis will be hosting the BIFM Awards on 13 October at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Hugh Dennis is a popular and highly sought-after awards host, comedian, actor, writer, impressionist and voiceover artist, best known for being one half of Punt and Dennis with comedy partner Steve Punt, and playing Pete Brockman, the father in BBC One sitcom Outnumbered.

He is a team captain on BBC Two’s hit topical panel show Mock The Week – having appeared on every episode. He also writes/presents Radio 4’s award-winning comedy The Now Show. In 2011 he became the host of new comedy-improv sketch show Fast & Loose. He has also been a guest host on Have I Got News For You. While establishing himself on the comedy scene, Hugh turned a natural flair for impressions to better use and got a job providing voices for Spitting Image. From this Hugh became a regular guest on The Jasper Carrott Show and in 1985, along with Steve Punt, formed half of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on BBC Radio 1, later graduating to TV. On the awards evening, alongside the popular charity casino, further entertainment will be provided by The Lionels.

The Lionels are a four-piece band based on the South Coast.

The band have been together for over five years and have a simple approach, which is that if a song doesn’t keep people on the dance floor, it doesn’t get played!

Tickets are available for the BIFM Awards, book now and join more than 1,200 FM professionals 38 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

38-40 BIFM news.indd 38

to see the 2014 winners announced. Available from www.bifm.org.uk/awardstickets, the ticket options are: ● Individual tickets - £250 +VAT ● Tables of 10 - £2,400+VAT ● Tables of 12 - £2,760+VAT i If you need any assistance with your booking, or if you have any queries, please contact +44 (0)1279 712 640 or email awards@bifm.org.uk

BIFM CHARITY

Windsor Half Marathon The BIFM Bolts (head office running team) take on the Windsor Half Marathon on Sunday 28 September.

The team, which comprises Neil Everitt, Chris Moriarty, John Nahar, Jen Rowntree, James Sutton and Laura Zitver, is running the 13 miles to raise money for one of the BIFM chairman’s charities – Children with Cancer.

Any members who wish to support the Bolts and help them reach their fundraising target of £1,000 for Children with Cancer can do so at www.justgiving. com/BIFM-CWC Thank you for your support.

EMEX is an annual exhibition that takes place on the 19 and 20 November 2014 at ExCeL London.

BIFM and EMEX are delighted to announce their partnership working on great content and marketing outreach so that members visit the show as part of the growing responsibility facility managers have for good energy management.

The Energy Management Exhibition is for everyone responsible for reducing their organisation’s energy consumption. This can be achieved through better energy buying, staff training and innovative technology. Attendees will be able to find and talk to companies that have developed the best solutions to decreasing your energy costs.

It is free to register to attend the show. There are 100-plus exhibitors and more than 80 seminar sessions and more information can be found at www.emexlondon.com.

As part of this partnership BIFM has agreed some special exhibiting packages with the organiser, so please either call

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:18

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

020 8505 7073 or use the web form at www.emexlondon.com/ contact and in both cases do quote ‘BIFM Corporate Member Exhibitor Package’.

BIFM will be exhibiting on stand D70.

KNOWLEDGE

Good Practice Guides Good Practice Guide

SPACE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

Don’t forget that BIFM members can access the full suite of BIFM Good Practice Guides at no charge. Each guide has been written by FM experts and provide practical guidance on core topics and specialist issues within FM, including: ● FM Procurement ● Building Controls And Building Energy Management Systems ● Energy Audits ● Recycling And Waste Management ● Inclusive Access, Disability And The Equality Act ● Benchmarking ● Space Planning And Management ● Business Continuity ● Commercial Removals ● Customer Care ● Implementing A Sustainability Policy www.fm-world.co.uk

38-40 BIFM news.indd 39

GUEST COMMENT

Cathy Hayward is managing director of FM communications agency Magenta Associates

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE?

f you haven’t seen at least 50 videos of people being deluged with buckets of icy water, then you clearly don’t use social media. The past few weeks have been an inescapable stream of videos of celebrities and the not-so-famous dumping water on themselves to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

The ice bucket sensation has not just raised awareness of the disease, but been a major fundraising success. The ALS Association reported $70.2 million in donations compared with $2.5 million during the same time period last year.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a brilliant example of how to harness social media for good.

But how can organisations and individuals in the FM sector boost their profile through social media?

The key to success is setting goals in the first place. Why do you want to be on social media, what are you looking to achieve? Too many individuals and organisations set up social media channels in a fit of enthusiasm one afternoon, spend a few weeks attracting an audience before realising the maintenance of these accounts takes time and resources.

Once you have set your goals, then measure your success. If awareness was the goal, you might look to show increased brand mentions in social media (using tools such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck), a greater share of the online voice, etc. If sales was the goal, your website traffic data might help you to attribute a rise in visits, etc.

Once you’ve set goals, then consider what you’re going to say; good content is king, and is the key to social media success. Balance is the answer. There are roughly five types of tweets: personal messages, retweets and replies, questions, commercial messages, and miscellaneous messages. Make sure you have a mixture of all of them, but don’t be too sales-y. Experts differ on the ratio of marketing tweets and posts – between one in nine or one in 15 seem to be acceptable parameters.

Then consider the type of content. Research by specialist agency Headstream revealed that links, followed by photos, videos and lastly status generates the most likes; photos, videos, followed by links and status generates the most comments; and video, photos, likes and lastly status generated the most shares. If you want more people to share material and comment on it, then post fewer statuses and more video, photos and links.

The Ice Bucket Challenge went viral because it inspired people, and there are countless other similar examples such as Jobsite’s The Apprentice-style video, Data Center’s Lego challenge, and GE’s Instagram project.

If you’re looking for a campaign or idea to go viral, or at least to inspire facilities professionals and boost your own social media credentials, then aim for something fun, inspiring, genuine and peoplefocused.

I

“ONCE YOU’VE SET GOALS, THEN CONSIDER WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY; GOOD CONTENT IS KING, AND IS THE KEY TO SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS”

i Cathy Hayward is managing director of FM communications agency Magenta Associates, deputy chair of the BIFM London region, a BIFM Awards judge and runs a social media in FM training course for BIFM Training

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 39

18/09/2014 15:18

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

BIFM TRAINING ● Procuring And Running Catering Contracts ● Procuring And Running Cleaning Contracts ● Procuring And Running Guarding Contracts ● Refurbishing Office Interiors ● Risk Management ● Security Management ● Selecting FM Software ● Vacant Property Management i Access all GPGs at www.bifm.org. uk/gpgs

MEMBERSHIP

New members BIFM would like to welcome: ● CP Bigwood Management LLP – FM service suppliers, contractors ● Hemlow Ltd – product supplier, provider of a specific product ● i-Clean Systems Ltdn– consultant, provider of advice and guidance ● LockRite Locksmiths Limited – FM service suppliers, contractors ● Simpsons Solutions Ltd – consultant, provider of advice and guidance ● Soluclean Ltd – product supplier – provider of a specific product ● UK Electric Ltd – product supplier, provider of a specific product ● Vaclensa Plc – product supplier, provider of a specific product i Learn more about corporate membership at www.bifm.org.uk/ corporatemembership, email corporate@bifm.org.uk or call +44 (0)1279 712675

IRELAND REGION

Ireland Awards Entries in the BIFM Ireland Region Facilities Management 40 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

38-40 BIFM news.indd 40

Recognition Awards, sponsored

by VickerStock Engineering Recruitment, close at 5pm on Thursday 9 October.

Now in their fourth year, they recognise extraordinary organisations and individuals operating within the FM industry in Ireland.

Awards categories are: 1. FM Professional of the Year This award recognises outstanding personal and professional performance of an individual employee within facilities management in the private, public or voluntary sectors in Ireland.

2. FM Project of the Year This award focuses on the lasting impact of innovative thinking.

A ‘major’ project is one that makes a significant contribution to almost every aspect of an organisation’s operating style and affects most of its employees.

Major projects entered into this category can include any business or building type operating within the private, public or voluntary sectors in Ireland. They may also include projects that primarily focus on either ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ processes of FM – or indeed a mix of both.

3. FM Team of the Year This award recognises the outstanding contributions made by an FM team operating within the private, public or voluntary sectors in Ireland.

Winners will be announced at the BIFM Ireland Region Conference on 14 November 2014 and will receive a trophy and prize to the value of £250.

For further information on the conference, or to enter the awards visit www.bifmireland.org.uk i

CAN YOU ACHIEVE ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL?

ver the past 10 years waste management has become a visible subject for organisations, largely associated with the costs of disposal to landfill. Recently focus has turned towards increasing recycling and achieving zero waste to landfill – although there is no agreement of what this actually means.

A 2012 survey by Sustainable Business magazine showed that resource efficiency is one of the main cost savings that organisations can achieve. FM’s role to procure, manage, and co-ordinate is critical to embedding the necessary change in behaviour.

A fundamental understanding of waste legislation for FMs is assumed, and every business or client will expect this to be the case. My experience of auditing over 1,000 properties has raised hundreds of regulatory breaches – from the simple forms not being completed to more serious hazardous waste being taking away by unlicensed contractors.

But the whole idea of waste management needs to be changed – from an end-of-pipe removal of a problem as seen by many, to a revenue generation opportunity – where there’s muck, there’s brass! We need to move towards looking at waste as a resource that can bring in a revenue stream that is cost-neutral, and subsequently towards zero-cost waste management.

This requires a fundamental shift in our thinking; waste is dealt with by cleaners, catering firms and our engineers. Removal is through the council or waste partners, with recycling promoted as a fuzzy promise supported by poor-quality data. There will always be a significant cost associated with this approach owing to the labour-intensive activities of disposal and segregation. Instead, we should be looking at a model whereby waste isn’t generated – through suppliers and how we use materials. Examples include an organisation with high levels of food waste from a discounted restaurant. By reducing the plate size, the amount of food waste dropped dramatically.

The BIFM Training Waste Legislation and Management course provides the tools to understand your regulatory responsibilities, to capture and analyse data on waste generation, and to re-tender your waste services to achieve a zero-cost waste management.

Author & BIFM Trainer: Sunil Shah, Acclaro Advisory.

Next date: 3 December 2014, Central London.

Fees: £385+VAT for BIFM members or £480+VAT for non-members.

O

i For a detailed programme or to book, please call 020 7404 4440 or email info@bifm-training.com or visit our website www.bifm-training.com

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:18

FM DIARY INDUSTRY EVENTS 13 October | BIFM Awards 2014 The BIFM’s annual awards ceremony, bringing together the leaders in the sector with the winners to celebrate excellence in FM, giving national recognition to the leaders in the profession.

Finalists to be announced in August.

Tickets from £250 + VAT, with 1,200 FM professionals attending.

Venue: Grosvenor House Hotel, London Contact: Visit www.bifm.org.uk/ awards2014 – to book tickets or tables for the event, contact the BIFM Awards team on 01279 712 640 or email awards@bifm.org.uk 3-7 November | Workplace Week 2014 Organised by workplace consultancy AWA, to raise money for BBC Children in Need. A number of organisations, including Google, Mntel, Innocent Drinks, BDO, Edelman, Guardian Newspapers and PwC, are to hold 90-minute tours, in a celebration of workplace innovation. Also a selection of fringe events, hosted by Herman Miller, Kinnarps and Humanscale. A one day convention at PwC’s More London office, near London Bridge, is to be held on 6 November.

Venue: Various, London.

Contact: For the full programme, visit www.workplaceweek.com 19-20 November | Energy Management Exhibition Supported by BIFM. Exploring the latest measures to reduce energy use, regulations and grants, Low Energy Companies and Energy Performance Contracts.

Venue: ExCeL, London.

Contact: Jason Franks at 0208 505 7073 or visit www.emexlondon.com 27 November | The Building Services Summit 2014 Building services equipment is responsible for more than 80 per cent of energy consumption in commercial buildings. The Building Controls Industry Association has joined forces with the Building & Engineering Services Association to announce the 10-80-10 – Building Services Summit. Speakers include Deborah Rowland, head of property asset management, UK Ministry of Justice, James Pitcher, head of energy and environment, Tesco, and Michael Dick, head of buildings, City of London. www.fm-world.co.uk 45 | 8 MAY 2014 | FM WORLD

41_Diary.indd 45

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

Venue: Barbican, London.

Contact: buildingservicessummit.co.uk CHANNEL ISLANDS BRANCH

upon-Tyne NE1 5XU Contact: Email Michael.anderson@ esh.uk.com of visit www. tinyurl. com/ls86edw to book tickets.

Edinburgh Contact: Email Michael Kenny at mkenny@fesfm.co.uk SOUTH WEST REGION

13 November | Breakfast seminar – space management and acoustics Full details to follow.

Venue: Harry Bound Room, Les Cotils, Guernsey Contact: Email Naomi Fry at naomi.fry@investec.ci.com or call 01481 706474

9 October | North region AGM A regional update at this annual general meeting, which also includes the Retreat York Social Project.

Venue: Retreat, 107 Heslington Road, York YO10 5BN Contact: Email Sue Gott at north@ bifm.org.uk or visit www. tinyurl. com/l3e9eaj to book tickets.

IRELAND REGION 26 September | Visit to Victoria Square A visit to the Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast. Centre manager Sam Clarke, architect and M&E contractor to host.

Contact: Dan Uprichard at danuprichard@ymail.com 24 October | A behind-the-scenes visit to the Nomadic This is the boat that ferried passengers to the Titanic for its illfated maiden voyage. The Nomadic has been restored and is berthed in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast Contact: Dan Uprichard at danuprichard@ymail.com 14 November | Ireland conference Hosted by Jim Fitzpatrick, former BBC Northern Ireland business editor. Presentations to be announced in the near future.

Venue: Titanic Building, Belfast Contact: Email Stephen Welch at stephen.welch@niassembly.gov.uk LONDON REGION 4 November | Evening event An evening considering fitout, project management and professional services. More details to follow.

Venue: T. Rowe Price International Ltd. 60 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4N 4TZ Contact: Email Jacqueline Stanton at jacquelinemstanton@gmail.com NORTH REGION 2 October | North East local FM social event A quiz night, supporting two charities: Retreat in York, and the Brain Tumor charity, chosen by sponsors Hays. £5 entry fee. Start time 7pm.

Venue: Bonbar The Assembly Rooms, Fenkle Street, Newcastle-

9-10 October | Social responsibility project Following on from the North region AGM. Four projects, including an extension of Retreat York’s charity shop, conversion of the current library into therapy areas and decoration of the coffee lounge and entrance lobbies. The region is looking for people to donate materials and goods, funds, or to donate time on either days.

Venue: Retreat, 107 Heslington Road, York YO10 5BN Contact: Email Sue Gott at north@ bifm.org.uk 14 October | Sheffield University Technical College (UTC) tour More information to follow.

Venue: Sheffield University Technical College Contact: Email Bob Rabagliati at bailiff@trinity-estates.org.uk 6 November | Developing supply chains Practical advice for facilities professional on the key techniques and methods involved in negotiating with suppliers. From 5:30pm.

Venue: Newcastle College, Rye Hill Campus, Scotswood Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 7SA Contact: Email Mick Anderson at michael.anderson@esh.uk.com

28 October | Dorset evening seminar A seminar on drainage and water services, thermographic testing and its benefits. Sponsored by Property Consortium Drainage.

Venue: Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8EB Contact: Email Nick Fox at nicholasjamesfox@outlook.com or visit www.tinyurl.com/ovcxczp to book tickets.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS 8 October | Sustainability AGM The sustainability special interest group’s annual general meeting.

Venue: Arup offices, 13 Fitzroy St London W1T 4BQ Contact: Simon Grinter at simon. grinter@london.gov.uk 21 October | Women in FM – Generation Z Young person panel and debate about the future of the workplace.

More details to follow shortly.

23 October | Catering and hospitality - Future talent, adapting for success A debate, discussing the current challenges faced within the FM and catering professions, and looking at the opportunities available to attract generation Y into the sector. Also a presentation to the Westminster Kinsway RBS student chef of the year.

Venue: Royal Bank of Scotland, Aldgate Union, 10 Whitechapel High Street, London, E1 8DX Contact: Paul Greenwood at paulg@tricon.co.uk or visit www. tinyurl.com/pbradkg to book tickets.

SCOTLAND REGION 30 October | All about FM! 2014 conference The Scotland region’s annual conference, including talks from Fergus Ewing, Minister for Energy, Enterprise & Tourism, Simon Toseland, head of health and safety at Workpalce Law, David Walker of Aegon UK and John McGurk, head of CIPD Scotland, as well as BIFM CEO Gareth Tancred and BIFM chairman Julie Kortens.

Venue: Murrayfield Stadium,

12 November | Risk & business continuity - Business resilience forum From 8:30am. Operated with RiskCentric and DSM. Discussions on communicating in a crisis, building the business case for continuity planning and more.

Venue: The Old Hangar, Elton Road, Sibson, Peterborough PE8 6NE Contact: Steve Dance at steve1dance@btinternet.com or visit www. tinyurl.com/oxplm6o to book tickets.

FM WORLD | 25www.fm-world.co.uk SEPTEMBER 2014 | 41

18/09/2014 16:40

FM PEOPLE MOVERS & SHAKERS

BEHIND

DATA

THE JOB NAME: Dave Sutton JOB TITLE: Site services manager at Magnox (Hinckley Point A site) ORGANISATION: Interserve JOB DESCRIPTION FM services across the site coupled with health, safety and environmental policies

DAVESUTTON

TOPIC TRENDS communication and the increase in email seems to stop this from happening, so it would probably be checking emails!

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

Innovation plays a valuable part in the FM industry, allowing service providers to create more effective ways of delivering services while generating fewer costs. But as an industry, reporting and maintaining records is a time-consuming process, so I’d like more streamlined reporting systems in place to reduce this.

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

Ensuring compliance with legislation

9

9

AVERAGE

DAVE SUTTON

What attracted you to the job?

It was the opportunity to oversee an entire operation as well as working with a professional team to provide a quality of service of which I’m very proud.

Any interesting tales to tell?

I was once asked to take part in a security exercise.

All I had to do was leave my bag in an agreed place with my name and number attached, and when I My top perk at work is… was called I had to say it was mine and I’d left it by The opportunity to interact with people from all mistake. But when the call came I panicked and said walks of life and being part of such a fast-paced and I didn’t know my bag had been taken, resulting in reactive environment. plenty of phone calls and finally a summons to meet with the security officer and the police to rectify the How did you get into situation! facilities management and WHAT SINGLE PIECE OF what attracted you to the If I wasn’t in FM, I’d ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A industry? probably be…

YOUNG FACILITIES MANAGER I am a chef by trade, but this Running my own cake shop in STARTING OUT? experience invoked a passion Cornwall.

“Respect the knowledge and for operations management experience of the people around Which “FM myth” would you and I found an opportunity you, as it’s through them you will most like to put an end to? to transition into FM. I have learn most effectively and quickly” That FM is just about cleaning discovered numerous similarities and catering. The reality is that between catering and FM, but the world of FM covers everything and anything since making that move I’ve never looked back. from mechanical and engineering to building What’s been your career high point to date? maintenance, landscaping and fire door maintenance.

Working as a site services manager at my current It is a highly skilled profession and I think this gets site has been amazing. Applying my knowledge forgotten a lot of the time.s of catering and FM in a nuclear environment has How do you think facilities management has enabled me to better manage my transitional skills changed in the last five years? while enhancing my ability to work under pressure.

Innovation and technology mean that service What has been your biggest career challenge to providers are now offering a wider scope of services date? in more efficient ways, with a keen focus on saving Providing facilities management on a money for the client while still delivering best value. decommissioning project at a nuclear power And how will it change in the next five years? station has to come top here! It is an ever-changing As outsourcing continues and the economy gets environment and one that tests your skills to the stronger, I would hope that this will lead to longerlimit while you work hard to ensure that quality term contracts, enabling even more innovation in the service is delivered in such testing circumstances. facilities management sector.

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

I like to maintain control of all of my responsibilities.

However, I’m very much about face-to-face 42 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

42_Behind the Job.indd 42

Do your friends understand what FM is?

Many of them still think I work in catering, as this is probably the main service people think about when you say the words ‘facilities management’.

Introducing/ working with new forms of IT

5 8

Working on energy-efficiency initiatives

7 5

Adapting to flexible working

5 2

Maintaining service levels while cutting costs

8 10

Adapting FM to changing corporate circumstances

8 10

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:19

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

jobs.fm-world.co.uk

RECR_FMW250914.indd 043

Appointments

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 43

18/09/2014 15:52

We deliver access to justice by providing the people, buildings and technology to support the operations of the Courts and the Office of the Public Guardian.

Senior Estates Managers (Development & Delivery) Headquarters, Saughton House, Edinburgh 2 x Permanent (Full Time) 37 Hours per week Starting salary circa £45,000 per annum We are seeking two highly motivated and experienced property professionals to join our senior management team within the Property and Services Unit.

Senior Estates Delivery Manager Setting the operational direction for estates management you will lead, coach and motivate staff in your team to deliver planned and sustainable operation and maintenance of the Scottish Court Service estate. You will help to provide the vision and ambition to develop the SCS estate to ensure buildings and facilities are best placed to implement the transformation of court service delivery under the Making Justice Work programme which aims to deliver key facilities and infrastructure improvements in how the courts and Office of the Public Guardian serve the judiciary and public by delivering an annual programme of capital improvements and prioritised investments to address statutory compliance and backlog maintenance.

In addition you will be responsible for all aspects of the running and managing the total facilities management outsourced contract.

Senior Estates Development Manager Setting the strategic direction for estates management you will lead the planning and sustainable development strategy, for the operation and running of the SCS estate. You will lead, coach and motivate staff in your team to drive and develop key facilities and infrastructure improvements in how the courts and Office of the Public Guardian serve the judiciary and public.

As such you will have demonstrable experience of challenging estate strategic thinking to deliver cutting edge effective and efficient delivery models.

Both jobs require a proven track record of managing complex estates and managing hard and soft services. You will have notable experience of running large capital programmes and ideally be a Chartered Member of a professional property Institute e.g. RICS, CIOB, CIBS, RIBA. A 2:1 bachelor’s degree level qualification or equivalent in Facilities Management, Building Services, Construction, Engineering or Architectural or another subject of merit to the post is desired but not essential.

In return we offer an interesting work environment, flexible working arrangements; various policies aimed at helping you balance the needs of your work and home life, exclusive offers and discounts, access to funding for further education, vocational qualifications, 25 days holiday entitlement, 11.5 days Public and Privilege holidays and a civil service pension.

If you are interested in this challenging and rewarding opportunity, you may apply online at www.scotcourts.gov.uk/recruitment For further information on the post please contact David Currie on 0131 444 3322 or email dcurrie@scotcourts.gov.uk The closing date for applications is 17 October 2014.

Interviews will be held week commencing 3 November 2014.

The Scottish Court Service is exempt from the protections of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974).

This permits us to ask applicants details of both spent and unspent convictions, along with details of any formal cautions that you may have.

All successful applicants will require a standard level Disclosure check completed before employment can commence.

The SCS is committed to equality and diversity in employment and service delivery.

44 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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www.scotcourts.gov.uk jobs.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 15:53

YOUR CHANCE TO WORK ON AN ESTATE THAT’S LIKE NO OTHER SENIOR ENGINEERING ROLES IN BUILDING SERVICES London, SW6 From offices to helicopter bases, forensic laboratories to stables, our estate is extensive and incredibly diverse. Joining us as either our Head of Engineering or as a Senior Building Services Engineer gives you the opportunity to take some exceptional technical challenges that will ultimately help us to reduce crime – and the fear of crime – across London.

Head of Engineering £54,314 plus £3,501 location allowance We’re looking for qualified engineer with experience in a similar role to lead our engineering strategy and programme plan.

You’ll play a critical part in developing our property portfolio by leading our in-house team of engineers to improve and modify buildings. You’ll also lead on mechanical and electrical engineering resilience, maintenance and forward works planning.

Your efforts will underpin our Corporate Real Estate (CRE) programme, ensure legal compliance and reduce our carbon footprint, as well as the financial impact of utilities. You’ll be used to managing diverse teams, preparing client briefs and specifications, delivering projects and working with large multi-functional supply chain contracts.

Senior Building Services Engineer £39,501 plus £3,501 location allowance Acting as a Project Lead interface, this demanding role will take your engineering skills further. You’ll deal with an external supply chain, providers and contractors to support mechanical and electrical engineering resilience, maintenance and forward works planning. You’ll also help with the design evaluation of new developments and refurbishments, and drive environmental initiatives. You’ll need a relevant Building Services/Engineering qualification and ideally experience of Energy Management systems and BMS. We’ll also be looking for considerable engineering and facilities experience and an enthusiastic, determined approach.

To apply, please visit our website to download an information pack and application form.

Completed applications must be returned by 26 September 2014.

We view diversity as fundamental to our success. To tackle today’s complex policing challenges, we need a workforce made up from all of London’s communities. Applications from across the community are therefore essential.

www.metpolicecareers.co.uk

Join the evolution

School Surveyor

Operations Managers

(Estate Manager)

At Not Just Cleaning we are one of the fastest growing Support Service organisations in the Southeast. Due to continued expansion we require additional Operations Managers.

We are committed to doing things differently by investing heavily in qualified and skilled people and maximising their effectiveness through our award winning technology. We are seeking self-motivated, experienced, proactive Operations Managers to deliver world-class Cleaning and Support Services to prestigious blue-chip contracts in London, South East and M4 Corridor respectively.

We are looking for individuals who are passionate about Support Services, can demonstrate management experience in Cleaning and the consistent achievement of customers’ requirements. You will have an interest in the application of technology and technological processes to ensure customer expectations are met.

Magdalen College School Oxford, OX4 1DZ. Tel: 01865 242191

We are committed to providing a competitive salary and benefits package.

To apply for these positions please forward your CV and covering letter, stating career and salary expectations to Charlotte Pusch, HR & Training Manager, email recruitment@notjustcleaning.com

.

Not Just Cleaning Ltd

www.mcsoxford.org HMC Boys 7-18 and Sixth Form Girls

www.notjustcleaning.com Tel. 0118 944 8111

The Sunday Times Independent School of the Year 2004-5, 2008-9

RECR_FMW250914.indd 045

The school wishes to appoint a School Surveyor (Estate Manager) to be responsible for the planning, costing and managing of estate development and maintenance issues whilst overseeing the resolution of day to day estate matters.

Further details of the position and a Support StaͿ application form can be found on the Job Vacancy link of the website: www.mcsoxford.org.

A completed Support StaͿ application form and covering letter of application should be sent by email to Mrs Sarah Hunter, Bursar’s PA (shunter@ mcsoxford.org) by Midday 3rd October 2014.

Magdalen College School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and the successful candidate will be required to undergo statutory checks before the commencement of his/her employment.

FM WORLD | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | 45

jobs.fm-world.co.uk NJC QPV.indd 1

Magdalen College School, founded in 1480, is one of the country’s leading independent day schools. The Governors have recently adopted a Masterplan for developing the site, which will involve an extensive programme of new buildings and refurbishment of existing buildings over the next Àve to seven years.

16/09/2014 16:22 QPV.indd 1 Magdalen College

18/09/2014 15:36

18/09/2014 16:03

FINAL WORD

NOTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD OF FM

NO 2

DAYS

THE SAME

You're concentrating on your project - and then this happens…

LEAVE. ME. ALONE… Frustrated by the sales team doing a conga every time they hit target or loud water-cooler discussions about a TV show you don’t watch?

You are not alone.

Organisations have spent years asking ergonomic consultancy gurus to find ways of placing staff into open-plan offices in a drive towards shared workspaces.

But now it seems that largescale remote working can’t come too soon for many. And why? The rise of the open-plan office.

The number-one complaint from office workers is a lack of privacy, says research by IPSOS and the workspace futures team of office

furniture company Steelcase.

The international study reveals that 85 per cent of people quizzed say that they are unhappy in their work environment and can’t concentrate on their jobs.

For 31 per cent, the only way to complete tasks is to get out of the office entirely.

Nearly 70 per cent of those questioned worked in open spaces or in a combination of individual and open-space offices. The results reveal a clear link between satisfaction with surroundings and levels of engagement.

More than 10,000 workers across 14 countries were polled.

The main findings were: ● Office workers lose 86 minutes a day because of distractions; ● Too many employees are ‘chronically disengaged’ at work; ● They are unmotivated, unproductive and over-stressed; ● They have little capacity to think and work creatively and constructively; and ● The right balance between private and collaborative working spaces can deliver a step change in engagement and productivity.

Bostjan Ljubic, vice-president of Steelcase UK and Ireland, said: “The drive for collaborative working spaces was founded on getting people working better together. It has been enormously successful and has delivered efficiency on a major scale.

“But too much interaction and not enough privacy has reached crisis proportions, taking a heavy toll on workers’ creativity, productivity, engagement and wellbeing."

The survey showed that 95 per cent of respondents say the ability to work privately is important but fewer than half (41 per cent) say they get this opportunity.

But most don’t want to turn back the clock to the days of isolation in individual offices – they want privacy within openplan settings so they can work without distractions.

“The workplace needs to offer a variety of public and private spaces… Privacy and engagement are ultimately linked. Privacy is a universal, basic need.”

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT'S STEALY RESOLVE The next time something goes missing at work, don’t just assume it must have been the work experience kid ‘whodunit’.

Research from Avery UK suggests that the most lightfingered people in the office are middle-ranking members of staff or even the boss. Trainees, temps, and junior employees are, it seems, the least likely to walk off with company property.

The study of 2,000 UK workers was commissioned by Avery UK in aid of this Hands Off Week (last week), a national

awareness campaign encouraging organisations across the nation to protect their possessions and safeguard company property.

Workers in more than one in 10 businesses said important tools of the trade went missing on a weekly or monthly basis.

Small specialist tools and stationery were the most commonly stolen objects; almost 65 per cent said items had been swiped from their desks; a further 38 per cent said food theft was common too, with food from the office fridge and even

lunch boxes going walkies.

The Hands Off Week research also suggested that one in 10 employees citing the disappearance of odd items – inflatable animals, a garden gnome, a dressing gown, hi-vis clothing, scales, spoons and even an X-ray machine.

Pilfering cost companies an average of about £1,334.85 last year. Despite this, a quarter of respondents said that their companies don’t take special precautions such as labelling, locking up or hiding company

property.

Fiona Mills of Avery UK said: “Our research found that almost three-quarters of respondents said that losing key items from the workplace would affect their ability to work. Yet just a few security solutions like labelling company property or displaying effective signage could help make all the difference… to help both businesses and their staff protect their possessions, deter theft and improve the chances of their lost property being rightfully returned.”

ALAMY

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OUT 9 OCTOBER

FEATURE: MILITARY MIGHT – HOW FM BENEFITS FROM FORMER ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL /// PROPERTY LEGISLATION AND LEASES /// BACTERIAL INFECTION IN WATER /// FIRE SAFETY /// ENERGY PERFORMANCE /// ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND BUSINESS ANALYSIS

46 | 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

46_No2Days.indd 46

www.fm-world.co.uk

18/09/2014 16:41

THIS SEASON’S

PICKINGS “It was the best course I have undertaken in the last 5 years.

I thoroughly enjoyed the pace, energy, enthusiasm and incredible depth of knowledge conveyed to me in such a short time�

Iain Harley-Saxton The FM Business School [Advanced]

OCTOBER

13-17 Management Development [ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership & Management] 14-16 Understanding FM [Foundation] 15 Customer Focused FM 15-16 Effective Space Planning 16 FM Contract Models 16 Personal Effectiveness Skills NEW 21 IOSH Managing Accessibility 21 Building Surveying & Maintenance 21-24 IOSH Managing Safely 22-23 Understanding & Managing Building Services 23 Understanding CDM Regulations 28-29 Managing Relocation, Fit-Out & Move 28 The Tender Process * * ask about our discounted 29 Contract Management * contracting trio 30 Negotiating to Win * 30 How to Procure a Fit Out for FMs

NOVEMBER 03 4-6 5-6 11-13 11-12

Trends & Innovation in FM FM Business School [Advanced] Making Catering Contracts Work Understanding FM [Foundation] IOSH Risk Assessment in Practice

NEW

+44 (0)20 7404 4440

Telephone info@bifm-training.co.uk | www.bifm-training.com facebook.com/bifmtraining

twitter.com/bifmtraining

linkedin.com/company/bifm-training

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Simplifying Our goal to consistently simplify roof maintenance keeps our clients’ client’s businesses running smoothly and safe from water ingress year on year. ƫƫ %#$!/0ƫ/0 * . /ƫ+"ƫ$! (0$ƫĒƫ/ "!05

We operate on a national scale delivering a wide range of services working at height. We offer our services to every sector, including facility management, defence, retail, independents, corporate real estate, and managing agents.

Core Services đƫ ++"ƫ !, %./ƫĥƫ !,+.0/ đƫ +),.!$!*/%2!ƫ ++"ƫ //!0ƫ 1.2!5/ đƫ 100!.ƫ !ġ(%*%*# đƫ 100!.ƫ !, %./ƫĥƫ (! *%*#

Range of clients both large and small

Tailormade Services đƫƫ ( **! ĥ ! 0%2!ƫ %*0!* * !ƫ ' #!/ đƫƫ //!0ƫ * #!)!*0Čƫ !, %./ƫĒƫ !,+.0/ đƫ ! (0$ƫĒƫ "!05ƫ 1 %0/ Additional Services đƫ "!05ƫ %.!ƫ */0 (( 0%+*ƫĥƫ !/0%*# đƫ . %*ƫ (! *%*# đƫ '5(%#$0ƫ (! *%*# đƫ 5!ƫ +(0ƫ !/0%*# đƫ %#$0*%*#ƫ +* 1 0+.ƫ !/0%*#

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MEMBRANE LINED GUTTER SYSTEM

Freephone 0800 0283 479 www.tgm.co.uk Nationwide fleet of vehicles and technicians

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