FM Report 191- Thursday 22nd February 2007

22 February 2007

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Government saving through better property and FM strategy
The OGC Chief Executive, John Oughton today outlined plans for the effective management of the Government's property estate at the IPD Occupiers/CBI Property in Business Conference 2007 in London. He said opportunities have been identified for realising savings of between £1- 1.5bn a year by 2013 through reduction and rationalisation of the estate, relocation from London and the South East and improved procurement of FM and leases. He said this strategy would be reflected fully in HM Treasury's forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review where the focus will be on continuously improving the delivery of Government's business within a reduced resource base. Currently the Government Estate comprises nearly 300 individual property centres, covering 13m sq m and costs £6bn a year to run.
www.ogc.gov.uk

Green Building Council formed for UK
Next week sees the launch of the UK Green Building Council supported by 36 of the leading built environment organisations. It will aim to dramatically improve the sustainability of the built environment in the next 10 years by radically transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated.
www.ukgbc.org

Changes at Rentokil Initial
Rentokil Initial has re-branded its cleaning and facilities services division into Initial Facilities Services. The division now includes Initial Cleaning Services, Initial Retail Cleaning, Initial Integrated Services, Initial Specialist Services, Initial Facilities Management, Autograph Foodservice (catering to business and industry), Eden Foodservice (catering to schools), Initial Hospital Services and the recently acquired, Insitu Services.
www.initial.com

London retains top billing for expensive offices
London's West End district retains its title as the world's most expensive office location in this year's edition of Office Space Across the World, a global report on office occupancy costs produced by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. One square metre of prime office space in London's West End costs €2,009 a year to occupy. This is 35 per cent higher than the occupancy costs in Tokyo, at €1,493, which this year has overtaken Hong Kong (€1,448) to take second place.
www.cushwake.com

Interserve and Unison formalise partnership
Interserve Facilities Management and UNISON have committed to working together within Iinterserve's Heathcare Division to establish agreed industrial relations framework based on the principles of partnership working. A National Joint Council has been formed to consider and consult on T&Cs, policies and procedures, the working environment, structural reoganisation, employee welfare and the application of Agenda for Change initially in IFM contracts at Carlisle, Dudley and University College London Hospital.
www.interserve.com

FM at Sellafield
Dalkia has been appointed by British Nuclear Group to jointly handle all the FM within Site Services at Sellafield. The site covers 2 sq miles with more than 200 nuclear facilities. The 5- year contract covers all aspects of FM from guarding, access control and parking to M&E services, water treatment and waste. Dalkia will provide street lighting, fire prevention, and soft services such as furniture, cleaning and escort duties.
www.dalkia.co.uk

Forensic FM contract
Carillion has won a national property and FM contract with the Forensic Science Service. The contract covers 17 FSS properties in England and Wales and covers integrated services provided by PME (M&E and PPM) and Carillion FM which will supply a range of facilities services.
www.carillionplc.com

Property asset or liability?
Nine out of ten corporate occupiers across the UK regard their property portfolio as an asset that adds value to their business, according to a new survey published by the CBI and property advisers GVA Grimley last week. Commenting on the survey results, Howard Cooke, Partner at GVA Grimely said, "At a time when commercial property is perceived as a liability and corporates are looking to reduce their portfolios, it is perhaps surprising that such a large majority regard their operational property as an asset. The main message from this research is clear: UK business regards property as a business asset, but its cost remains a major focus."
www.gvagrimley.co.uk

Low carbon not a priority for business
A survey of British business published by nPower last week has found confusion over climate change initiatives and the likely impact of a move to a low carbon economy. Some 60% of respondents to the Business Energy Index said reducing carbon emissions was not a business priority, although the majority of those that were major energy users said it was.
www.npower.com/energyindex

ACS - one year on
Since the Approved Contractor Scheme was launched a year ago by the Security Industry Authority, some 335 security companies in England and Wales have been approved. About half of all licensable people in England and Wales -about 90,000 people - are now working for approved contractors. More than 450 companies have applied to the scheme and are meeting or working towards meeting the ACS requirements.
www.the-sia.org.uk

FM for new 'municipality'
The United Development Company (UDC) of Qatar has employed Larch Consulting to develop a FM space strategy and operational delivery model for the Pearl of the Gulf, Doha, Qatar. The Pearl is a Riviera-style man-made island in an exclusive offshore development in Doha. It is Qatar's first international real estate venture and covers almost 1,000 acres of reclaimed land. Larch will be effectively designing an entire
'municipality'.
www.larch.co.uk

Madrid host EuroFM meeting of 100
The EuroFM Network gathering held in Madrid last month attracted more than 100 people from 12 European countries held at La Salle University. More than half of the delegates who attended were from the host country, Spain, and the conference programme featured examples from recent Spanish experience in FM and PFI. EuroFM is now building up to its conference, EFMC 2007, held from 26-27 June in Zurich's Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. This will feature presentation of the first European FM Awards.
www.eurofm.org

Memory games for the young
The next FMA Young Managers Forum meeting features a guest speaker from Dale Carnegie Training on how to 'Exploit Your Visual Memory'. The event to be held on 29th March at which includes drinks and networking at the offices of Meryll Lynch, 2 King Edward Street, EC1A 1HQ.
Ymf@fmassociation.org.uk

FM in charities conference
A conference for FMs in the charity sector is planned for next month. Charities Facilities Management 2007, the second annual conference of the 150 member Charities Facilities Management Group, is to held in central London on 15th March.
www.upkeep.org.uk/cfmg