I'd just like to start by offering a very warm welcome to all of our readers
attending the Facilities Show this year. If you would like to meet us in the
flesh you can find us on stand B25. Any comments on the magazine or facilities
management issues in general would be much appreciated.
I think the highlight of The Facilities Show is going to be the one-day
workshop, Marketing Facilities Management Services, which has been developed
specifically to build on the new facilities management industry market
intelligence report that was published in April. Well worth a look. The workshop
will look at buyer behaviour, market size, growth and trends in the facilities
management market and apply them to the real-world marketing strategies that can
be adopted by facilities management contractors.
If you want to see the marketing of facilities management services in practice
then look no farther than British Telecom. BT in conjunction with Stiell
Facilities, Haden Building Management, Turner & Townsend and Interior Services
Group, has just launched Outsmart, a facilities management package for large
private clients with a heavy IT requirement. Alba Management Consultants will
market the service to clients under the corporate PFI (private finance
initiative) banner.
Ed Smyth, managing director of Alba said, 'companies will now be able to enjoy
the fruits of the PFI that their public
sector counterparts have enjoyed for some years.' Outsmart aims to give private
sector companies all the benefits that a large collection of specialist
companies can offer, with the added bonus of just a single point of contact.
That said the government's PFI came in for some stick recently (BT take note).
John Gains, chief executive of John Mowlem said that Mowlem was spending between
£5 million and £7 million a year on preparing bids for PFI contracts. He said
there is, 'no consistency' in the bidding process, with bids often taking 18
months to two years to come to fruition. He certainly has a point. Every
education authority and regional political authority manages the PFI process in
its own particular way. This makes bidding for contracts a costly and
unpredictable process. How long before the government introduces a standardised
contract? And will BT at al.
experience the same problem with corporate PFI? Only time will tell.
You may want to take a peek at our special location supplement. It looks at
various locations throughout the UK and has lots of useful advice, hints and
tips for those planning on re-locating or expanding to new premises. As you are
all too aware, the facilities manager is becoming more and more involved in the
decision making process when locating to a new site. Our guide may well hold
that vital piece of information you are looking for. If you are not seeking a
location yet, save it, it could prove invaluable in the future.