FM

leaders
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THE FUTURE OF FM: Emerging trends

FM LEADERS FORUM: DISCUSSION PAPER

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 2
Executive summary ...................................................................................................................... 3
The panel ..................................................................................................................................... 6
The discussion .............................................................................................................................. 7
Has FM become a strategic player? ........................................................................................ 7
Does FM have an identity crisis? ............................................................................................. 9
How will the continuing economic downturn affect FM? .................................................. 11
What is the impact of technology on FM? .......................................................................... 12
How will trends in legislation and regulation affect FM?.................................................... 15
How can FM attract top talent? ........................................................................................... 17
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 19
About the panel ........................................................................................................................ 21
Glossary ..................................................................................................................................... 23

Publisher

Published by the British Institute of Facilities Management

© BIFM March 2013

If you have any questions, please email membership@bifm.org.uk

Disclaimer

The discussion contained within this document reflects the views of those in attendance at
the FM leaders forum event and do not necessarily reflect the views of the British Institute of
Facilities Management.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 1

Emerging trends
FM LEADERS DISCUSSION FORUM

Introduction

Ismena Clout, Chairman, BIFM

For the first FM Leaders Forum of 2013, BIFM brought together a panel
of industry commentators to identify some of the key themes, trends
and discuss the prospective outlook for the facilities management (FM)
industry over the coming year and beyond.

Each of our attendees submitted questions emerging trends offer a chance to

and topics they felt worthy of discussion to
give the debate a framework. The ideas
that emerged were many and varied, but
tended to focus on a few key areas: the
strategic role of FM, its relationship with
other business disciplines, and the
implications of the continuing economic
downturn. There were also lively debates
around compliance and trends in
legislation, the impact of technology, and
the need to attract top talent to the
profession. Unsurprisingly, many of these
issues overlapped or were revealed to be
interconnected.
Everyone agreed that the economy
continues to be one of the biggest
challenges facing the profession. However,
rather than blame it for dragging the
profession backwards, the point was made
that we should see it as a motivational
factor – a chance for FM to prove its value.
The group explored the way that business
requirements are changing, driven not just
by the economy but also technology,
sustainability, new legislation and the
social demands of workers, and how all this
has a potentially massive impact upon the
FM function. The overall message was that
innovate and show off the potential of FM.
However, in order to do so, FM must stay
ahead of these trends. It must learn from
the ongoing advances in technology in
order to drive innovation. It must seize and
exploit the opportunities opening up from
developments such as building information
modelling (BIM). And, crucially, it must find
ways to persuade the brightest young
brains to make a career in FM, building on
the progress that has been made towards
professionalising the industry.
The fundamental question facing the
industry and profession is how FMs can
keep one step ahead of the demands of
their customers, and this is where BIFM’s
FM Leaders Forum discussions play their
part. FM has to anticipate demand,
providing answers to questions yet to be
asked. BIFM’s Leaders Forums help to
identify those questions. By recognising
that emerging trends are catalysts for
positive change, FMs can start to apply
new ideas, systems and processes to
clients’ markets and facilities. In this way
we can drive our industry forward,
demonstrate our worth, and secure our
place at the top table.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 2

Executive summary

This FM Leaders Forum could never be a definitive guide to everything that is happening
within the sector. Such a big topic will always be worthy of more than one conversation and
depend on the mix of people in the room at the time. However, it did express a snapshot of
views. What was interesting was a recurring theme that had also appeared in our previous FM
Leaders Forums. That was the perception of FM within the business organisation and more
importantly how its value is perceived at board level.

Too often, FM providers are called upon to far as to suggest that FM’s future depended
deliver core services without having any on distancing itself from the property side
say in the underlying corporate strategy. of things in order to avoid being associated
Appreciation of the value that effective, with cost.
strategic facilities management can bring
to a business is still widely lacking, and
varies greatly from customer to customer.
Size, sector and culture all affect how a
business perceives the facilities function.
No one believes this is going to change by Many of the trends identified
itself; it is for facilities management to earn in the FM Leaders Forum
recognition.
represent opportunities to
Many of the trends identified in the FM change the way FM is
Leaders Forum represent opportunities to perceived.
change the way FM is perceived. For
example, there is growing awareness of the
importance of the working environment to
staff wellbeing and productivity. Facilities
managers are well placed to take a
Even the current economic situation
proactive role in the workspace and seek
throws up opportunities for FM to shine.
out what end users and occupiers want
While the pressure to cut costs can
from their facilities. By improving
compromise service quality, it also provides
workplace effectiveness and therefore the
a chance to impress with innovative
productivity of the organisation, FMs can
measures to increase efficiency and add
enhance their role within the business.
value to services and assets. The discussion
Another opportunity lies in relations with revealed the power of thinking ahead:
the other two key enabling functions: HR compliance with environmental standards
and IT. FM needs to move from being and health and safety legislation could be
perceived as the cost to being the function perceived as a burden, but by providing
best placed to add value. A strong the organisation with the necessary
argument was made for collaborating with information and knowledge to comply and
HR and IT in order to drive change and drive improvements, FMs can add real
innovation in a way that clearly benefits business benefit.
the business. One panel member went so

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 3

Indeed, transforming raw data from CAFM
and other systems into information that
can be used by managers for decision-
making is an excellent way for FMs to make
themselves indispensable. Increasingly
sophisticated systems are delivering ever
more data, but the analytical tools to turn
this data into useful knowledge are still
lacking. Here is an opportunity for FM to
step in and manage the information flow
to the benefit of the business. Again, the
proliferation of Smartphone apps might
appear to be more relevant to individual
consumers, but they also have huge
potential value for the workplace – and
who better than FMs to exploit this?
Many facilities managers are finding it hard
to grasp the essence of building
information modelling (BIM), but as the
government commits to implementing BIM
on all public projects by 2016, this is a
development that cannot be ignored. As
one panel member put it: ‘BIM is the
biggest potential topic for kicking FM up
into the stratosphere from a business point
of view that I’ve ever seen.’ If FM can
succeed in influencing the development of
BIM, it can potentially influence the whole
life of a facility from design to
decommission.
One of the industry’s successes has been in
professionalising facilities management,
through the development of a
comprehensive qualifications framework
and the recruitment of graduates directly
into the profession. The presence of
graduates has had a galvanising effect in
many organisations.
However, efforts to attract top talent need
to be redoubled in order to ‘force the
pace’, as one panel member put it. This
was where the debate came full circle,
linking back to the initial discussion about
perceptions. It is not just boards who need
to be convinced about the importance of
FM; it is the GCSE, A level and graduate
students thinking about their future career.
The panel’s final message? There is
everything to play for, but the ball is firmly
in FM’s court. It is for FM to claim parity
with IT and HR. FM must change the way it
is perceived. FM must earn recognition and
prove itself to the rest of the business and
take its place around the board table. FM
must demonstrate the ‘bit of magic’ that
says: this is what we do. This is the part we
played. If it wasn’t for us, this wouldn’t
have happened.

The discussion highlighted:

FM has the opportunity to transcend the hierarchy within the organisation as it
touches everyone in the workplace, built environment and beyond.
Perceptions of FM and its strategic role depends on the size, culture and style of
individual organisations.
FM needs to find ways to demonstrate its value to the organisation.
FM should develop a collaborative approach with other workplace functions,
particularly HR and IT, to facilitate change and innovation.
The ongoing economic crisis may pressure more organisations to outsource their
facilities services.
Tough operating conditions may favour large supplier organisations at one end of
the scale and niche operators at the other, squeezing middle-sized companies.
Developments in computer hardware, software and communications are benefiting
FM operations, improving reporting and efficiency, but improved analytical tools are
needed to help manage the increased flow of information.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 4

FMs need to make greater use of the data available to them, transforming it into
knowledge that can benefit the business.
BIM represents an opportunity for FM to play a leading role in the lifecycle of a
building, although for this to happen FMs require a better understanding of the
technology and how it can benefit FM.
FM needs to focus on recruiting graduates to build on the progress that has been
made towards professionalising the sector. Ways should be found to introduce
potential candidates to ‘real-life FM’ through temporary placements.
Changes to the way environmental regulations and health and safety legislation are
enforced represent both a burden and an opportunity.
FM providers need to be wary of the trend towards transferring more risk to
suppliers in long-term building management contracts.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 5

The panel
Leaders from across the facilities management sector and beyond are invited to take part in
the FM Leaders Forums. This forum’s participants included:

PARTICIPANT JOB TITLE ORGANISATION

Peter Chambers Commercial manager Emprise Services plc
Ismena Clout Chairman BIFM
Greg Davies Head of service development Assurity Consulting
Kevin Fitzpatrick Chief operating officer NJW Ltd
Jason Gurd BIFM Home Counties Committee BIFM
Philip Leigh Chief operating officer ISS
Aneysha Minocha Associate director of energy GSH Group
services
Mark Mitchell Service delivery manager, UKI Accenture
workplace
Martin Read Managing editor FM World
David Sharp Managing director Workplace Law
Derrick Tate Assistant director, real estates PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
advisory

For further information about the participants, their experience and expertise please refer to
pages 21-22.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 6

Emerging trends
The discussion
Has FM become a strategic player?
Ismena Clout: FMs are becoming more involved in making decisions at strategic level, but is
this consistent across all organisations? If not, how can this be achieved?
Jason Gurd Our role as FMs is to punch
above our weight. We may not have the
authority to tell the CEO where they are
going to sit, but that shouldn’t mean we
shouldn’t try. It is our role to lead and
influence these things regardless of where
we actually sit within the hierarchy. We
have that unique opportunity to transcend
the hierarchy because we deal with people
at all levels within it, so we should just
ignore the organisational structure, get
involved, and make the decisions when we
need to.
Mark Mitchell FMs have an important role
to play in terms of reducing the operating
costs of the business and driving
efficiencies in our use of space. We are
constantly reviewing the way that we use
our buildings and our space, so as to have
a positive impact on the way the business
operates.
Aneysha Minocha From an M&E
engineering perspective we do get
involved a little more in strategic decisions
around asset upgrades and how things will
be delivered, especially where this has an
impact on business continuity. From an
energy perspective we find it gets more
strategic straight away with the customer,
especially if you’re talking larger portfolios
and investment of six figures and up in
terms of upgrading their assets and making
them more energy efficient.
Our role as FMs is to punch
above our weight. We may
not have the authority to tell
the CEO where they are going
to sit, but that shouldn’t
mean we shouldn’t try.
David Sharp We did a survey last year in
support of ThinkFM with some focus
groups, involving around 500 people, and
one of the questions we asked was, to
what extent do you think the board of your
organisation values the contribution that
FM makes? A quarter of respondents said
their boards don’t recognise the value that
FM delivers. That statistic has probably
improved over the years, but it’s still
shockingly bad. The other part of the
answer for me as a service provider is that
if we want to talk seriously about any large
projects, we have to go in above facilities
manager job level to get engagement at
any kind of strategic level. If you’re talking
to the global director of facilities services,
you’re going to get buy-in. If you’re talking
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 7
to the facilities manager, they may be well
briefed on the issues, but they don’t have
the influence with the board.
Peter Chambers Some clients, particularly
in the retail, leisure and hotel sector, who
benefit from increasing their footfall and
reducing turnaround times, appreciate
having an FM who understands their core
business. If you’ve got a theatre that wants
to get three shows in per day rather than
two, you have to have your FM provider on
board. For other clients, where the core
operation is static and they’re less
interested in increasing the amount of
throughput through the building, we can
provide a very standard service. So on
some sites we’re just going in and
delivering a core service and maintaining a
standard, whereas on others we can go in
and have a discussion: if we provide our
services differently, it will allow you to
perform better. Some organisations
naturally tend to appreciate far better the
impact that good FM can have on their
business.
Some organisations
naturally tend to
appreciate far better the
impact that good FM can
have on their business.
Kevin Fitzpatrick I spent six years at Sodexo
and on the whole I’d say FM isn’t really
involved in major company strategy. Even
the corporate real estate head may not be
on the board. However, they’re often the
next office down with a thick carpet and
reserved parking slot, and they have access
to the board, so if FM is part of the
corporate real estate function it can get
access to the board and influence strategy
through that route. I’m not sure I’ve ever
found that even a global FM leader who
inputs significantly into strategy has the
operational responsibility to execute it.
When there are strategic decisions, I tend
to see a turf war between HR, IT and FM.
Martin Read Some of the more interesting
case studies we have done are from
smaller businesses where someone with an
FM background or who is tangentially
connected has got on to the board, and
that has revolutionised the way FM is
delivered. It’s more difficult to see that at
larger organisations where there are more
departments and more areas of hierarchy.
But it feels to me that positive change is
happening. There is still a distinction
between the rhetoric and the reality, as
there is with so many things in FM, but
people are talking a good game about FM
becoming part of strategy-making.
Derrick Tate Where we see more
traditional FM models with a lot of in-house
management delivery, they are not
particularly influential on strategy. But
where it can happen is where they’ve
started to develop trusting relationships
with senior people through the access they
have to them and demonstrate where they
can add real value. Where it’s an
outsourced contract, if it’s a typical just-
services contract there’s not a particular
influence, but where FM is procured and
managed as a proper partnership then it
can be very influential because that
partner can be responsible for a large
chunk of the client’s organisation and
spend. We do a lot of work advising clients
on their FM strategies, and typically we get
calls from finance directors. If FMs were
influencing strategy we would be getting
more calls from FMs.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 8
Does FM have an identity crisis?
Ismena Clout: How do we distinguish ourselves from other business disciplines? Is FM going
to end up lumped together with IT, HR, real estate and property into something called
‘workplace’? If so, can FM as an industry survive?
Kevin Fitzpatrick I think the route to
success is for FM people to build alliances
with HR and IT. In the boardroom the HR
director will be there and the CIO will be
there; they may not have a vote but they
are at least in the room when the big
decisions are made. So the FM team needs
to work with those people to enhance the
productivity of the organisation. Let’s say
FM comes with ideas about open plan and
flexible working. The IT guy owns the
technology and the tools, the HR person
knows about how to incentivise, reward
and measure the output. If they all work
together the company will benefit and the
profile and contribution of FM will rise.
Martin Read Because HR, IT and FM are
collectively the departments of
empowerment, they are the ones that
make things happen. But how do we get to
a stage where FM is at the same level?
Mark Mitchell We work very closely with
colleagues across the Enterprise workforce
and beyond; for example, we’ve recently
integrated our IT and FM project teams so
they now work together on IT/FM projects.
We work closely with procurement, and
together we negotiate the contracts, the
service level agreements and the KPIs.
There are challenges, obviously, and
differences between the way that each
team operates, but ultimately because we
are one workforce with a simple leadership
structure, there is more collaborative
working. As a result the business benefits
from the different departments working
towards the same end.
Ismena Clout Certainly there have been a
number of contracts in the past year where
the whole function is outsourced together,
so FM is getting lumped in with HR and IT.
Is this a positive trend?
Jason Gurd There is something to be said
for collective bargaining. The board might
ignore the facilities person or the HR
person or the IT person, but when all three
of them turn up together they are difficult
to ignore.
If they all work together
the company will benefit
and the profile and
contribution of FM will
rise.
David Sharp FMs have to establish
themselves as the work environment
productivity people. FM is in a dangerous
place if it goes in the direction of getting
too close to people like RICS and the
property side of things. When you come
back to those enablers, HR, IT and FM, FM
is perceived as the least enabling; in some
ways it’s perceived as the cost. Companies
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 9
have to invest in HR and their people, and
technology brings efficiencies and
productivity gains. But you’ve only got to
look at what happened in the high street
As an industry we are really
poor at understanding what
the total FM cost is,
including the associated
management time that
accompanies it.
over Christmas to see that corporations are
withdrawing from physical presences. They
regard property as cost, so the closer FM is
associated with property management the
less bold a future it’s got. The market
opportunity is to establish benchmarks
around the value that FM adds to
productivity, what can be gained in terms
of value, not just in getting more out of the
space but delivering more to the end user.
Aneysha Minocha It’s the wellness factor. I
don’t know how you quantify that, but if
people are motivated to work in a space it
leads to high productivity, and people will
align themselves to the values of the
organisation. It’s all about how a space
impacts, and that’s where FM plays a really
important part.
Philip Leigh As an industry we are really
poor at understanding what the total FM
cost is, including the associated
management time that accompanies it. It
never ceases to surprise me, looking at
either our own internal organisation or our
customer’s organisation, that we’re just not
very good at joining up the dots and
therefore really understanding the true
cost of providing the catering, the security
or other services. Our big challenge is to
understand what the total cost is, because
only then can you really start to influence
the strategy of the business. You can go to
your FD or CFO and say: this is how you are
spending the money, and this is how we
can do something different that changes it.
I just don’t think as an industry we are very
good at that.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 10
How will the continuing economic downturn
affect FM?

Ismena Clout: If difficult economic conditions continue, how is that going to affect the FM
industry?

Derrick Tate It will push more outsourcing.

A lot of organisations have resisted major
change for various reasons, but more and
longer-term financial pressure will push
them, they have no choice.

Peter Chambers From an outsourced People are going for

service provider perspective, the
continuing economic downturn has meant
that we increasingly have to consider
whether or not a client is a ‘good’ client.
The due diligence we do on our potential
clients is becoming just as important as the
due diligence we do on our subcontractors
and suppliers. We have to consider ability
to pay and speed of payment.
Philip Leigh We’ve had large blue-chip
customers trying to force us to 90- and
120-day payment terms. We have to say
no, because when you’ve got thousands of
people to pay every week you just can’t
operate in that commercial framework.
Jason Gurd Looking at the big deals with
the big suppliers, they can drive a great
deal when they’re offering several million
pounds’ worth of business in one hit. But if
you’re buying for a couple of thousand
square foot, those bundled deals aren’t
that great. There’s a sense that some
people are moving away from the big
bundled suppliers and looking more at
those who specialise in one particular
supply subject. So there’s opportunity at
both ends of the scale.
the big companies, for
their scalability,
flexibility and breadth
of services, or the
niche; you don’t want
to be a middle-sized
retailer.
Kevin Fitzpatrick I think you’re right, the
middle is being squeezed. People are
going for the big companies, for their
scalability, flexibility and breadth of
services, or the niche; you don’t want to be
a middle-sized retailer, you want to be a
specialist delicatessen or Tesco, because if
you’re middle-sized you’re going to get
killed. If you’re middle-sized you’re a bit
nowhere, you can’t offer the economies of
scale but you also can’t say we’re the best
at food or we know cleaning and we don’t
pretend to know anything else.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 11

What is the impact of technology on FM?
Ismena Clout: There’s a lot of talk about how technologies are providing FMs with access to
data they may not have had before. Is this going to enable FMs to perform better or is it just
going to become a hindrance?
Martin Read It is a benefit, absolutely. As
we have been saying, the best thing you
can do is highlight what FM is, what its cost
is and what its value is, and the wave of
technology we’ve been seeing can do that
in abundance and connect into all the
other departments we’ve been discussing.
Greg Davies I think FM is fantastic at
gathering data, but it’s taking that to the
next stage, turning it into information and
knowledge and applying it. I see
technology as an opportunity for FM to get
the business to make more educated
decisions. So in a discussion about the
repairs budget I can say yes, I can take five
per cent off that, but this is the likely
implication over two or three years. Now
you make the decision.
I see technology as an
opportunity for FM to
get the business to
make more educated
decisions.
Jason Gurd We’re capturing a lot of data at
the stage of complexity where it’s most
suitable for our own internal usage. We’ve
yet to hit upon a key metric or score that
we can actually take to the board and say
look, your FM is performing at 9.6, well
done, it’s up from 9.3 last month.
Martin Read But that’s extraordinarily
difficult to do, because FM is different
things to different types of sector.
David Sharp Five focus groups all told us
the same thing – lots of data, not enough
analysis, not enough intelligence.
Philip Leigh How do you get our industry
further up the ladder? By providing the
CFOs with meaningful numbers that they
can understand. Translate the detail that
we need to do our day-to-day jobs into
something that says this is why we should
go for a new building, or move to flexible
working or whatever.
Mark Mitchell We use analytics to drive
efficiency within our office space to
increase utilisation and to monitor how
effective we are being at using our space.
We use the data in the MIS to keep
leadership informed of progress and
successes and to demonstrate to the rest
of the business how well we operate our
space on their behalf.
Jason Gurd The real evolution if we want to
prove how we provide a benefit to the
organisation is to start linking into the
metrics for other functions. Can we claim
that our new work environment is actually
contributing to that reduction in absence?
That it’s helping the sales people to get
those increased targets?
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 12
Ismena Clout BIM is a hot topic, but what
does it really mean for FM?
Peter Chambers BIM is effectively about
taking data relating to a building that has
been produced by different disciplines
such as architecture, construction and M&E
and putting it all in one place. You can
look for clashes and get early warning of
problems and issues, and come up with
solutions to fix them at an early stage. A lot
of people from the architecture and design
side are keen to use it as a selling tool – we
understand BIM so employ us. But there’s
yet to be a true understanding of how,
once you’ve spent six years designing and
constructing a new building, that data can
be used to optimise the next 100 years of
operation, which is where the significant
cost of the asset will be.
Martin Read BIM is the biggest potential
topic for kicking FM up into the
stratosphere from a business point of view
that I’ve ever seen. But the only reason we
are talking about it is because there is a
government commitment to it on public
projects. It becomes valuable when it is
applied to the existing building
environment, and we can make a huge
song and dance about that 100 years of
operations, and point out that everything
else is subservient to the facilities
management side.
Ismena Clout If FM and the operators don’t
get involved and take it up then it’s not
going to go anywhere, because the real
value lies in how using BIM affects a
building’s ongoing costs.
Derrick Tate PF2 will be key because all
those projects will come on stream and
they should be utilising BIM. OK, there’s no
soft FM component to them, but
maintenance should be modelled in, and
how that then integrates with CAFM
systems will be key.
Jason Gurd Doesn’t all this impact a
timescale that in this economic
environment we’re not really interested in,
with benefits 10 or 15 years down the
line?
Martin Read Isn’t that the problem in a
nutshell, where FM can only be costed
when it’s seen as long term but we’re in a
situation where it’s being seen as short
term?
BIM is the biggest
potential topic for kicking
FM up into the
stratosphere from a
business point of view.
Peter Chambers The Ministry of Justice
have released a statement saying that on
the Cookham Wood prison project, by
using BIM techniques and working
collaboratively with Interserve, they will
save £800,000. So we are starting to see
the numbers.
Ismena Clout How is hardware affecting
FM? How are devices like tablets and
phones changing the landscape?
Derrick Tate Data centres and comms
rooms are becoming less important
because there is more use of the cloud and
offsite hosting and so on. Mobile wifi and
3G signal on site are becoming really
important, and also the interface with the
users of a building or site. There are going
to be a lot fewer people phoning helpdesks
and sending emails and a lot more people
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 13
tweeting or using apps on their
smartphones to register a request for a
meeting room or report faults.
Martin Read Tablets have really only existed
since 2010, and they have totally brought
through to the individual end user the
ability to interact directly into the cloud,
and basically speed things up. What we’re
not necessarily seeing is each organisation
accessing or adapting to that speed of
delivery at the same rate, and that’s going
to take time.
Tablets have brought the
individual end user the
ability to interact
directly and basically
speed things up.
Mark Mitchell I think it is also about
changing customer expectations. We are
now looking at the possibility of tablet-
operated beverage vending, and we are
using smartphone apps to enable
employees to interact with office and desk
booking systems; we are looking to expand
this into other facilities in the workplace.
And the customer expectation is
increasing; our people aren’t saying ‘what
apps are you developing?’, they’re saying
‘why can’t I do this on an app yet?’ and
‘why can’t I order my lunch from my desk
on my smartphone?’
Aneysha Minocha From an engineering
perspective, we are finding that there is
more telemetry available to connect to
different assets. That means we can get
asset-level information back into our
remote centres and analyse the
information, and predict when the asset is
going to fail, or when it needs to be
repaired, upgraded or replaced.
Information is much cheaper now, we can
get data every few minutes if we want to,
and there is a host of different options
available to connect to assets hardwired
into buildings, individual boilers, air-
conditioning units, it could be anything. It’s
a condition-based approach telling us the
pressure, the temperature, the vibration,
and what that means for the performance
of that asset, the impact on downtime for
a customer and impact on energy bills.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 14
How will trends in legislation and regulation
affect FM?
Ismena Clout: What trends do you see emerging that might become compulsory legislation,
and how are those trends going to impact on FM?
Greg Davies We don’t have proactive
health and safety inspections any more,
but the HSE is running a consultation at the
moment, CD247, which has identified 10
areas where they’re going to maintain
proactive inspections of workplaces by the
HSE and local authority from a health and
safety perspective. Regulations won’t
change, but the enforcement of them will.
FM kills, it’s one of the disciplines in the
organisation where if you get it wrong it
can have fatal consequences, and that
needs to be recognised and managed
accordingly. In environment as well, we’re
going to find that directly or indirectly
there is going to be more regulation and
scrutiny. Environmental monitoring
standards, quality management systems,
corporate social responsibility information,
it all needs to be verifiable. If you look at
the four main elements of CSR –
workplace, environment, community and
marketplace – 50 per cent of it is in the
domain of the FM and we ought to be
putting more information into that which is
qualified. We’re back to the discussion on
data again, what information and
knowledge can we put back into the
organisation that adds business benefit,
that is not currently visible to the
organisation? That’s a massive opportunity
as far as I’m concerned.
David Sharp Sustainability, sustainability,
sustainability, that’s where it’s going to be
for FM in regulation. DEFRA is looking to
rationalise 186 different pieces of
environmental legislation. That doesn’t
necessarily mean there will be a lot of new
legislation, I think the work is going into
the guidance about how you can comply. I
think we will see a lot more regulation, but
the regulatory effort is going to be into
getting a less prescriptive, more risk-based
regime from government. It’s interesting, if
you’re fined for failing to comply with
environmental legislation you can be
prosecuted, but the fining regime isn’t that
huge and there are some caps. But the
Proceeds of Crime Act is being used to
impose unlimited fines.
Regulations won’t
change, but the
enforcement of them
will.
Greg Davies It’s about how much they can
calculate your business has benefited. If
you are fined for fly tipping the fine goes
back to the Treasury, but money recovered
by the EA under the Proceeds of Crime Act
goes back to the EA. It’s the same as FFI
intervention with the Health and Safety
Executive. If you are a government agency
and your funding has been cut, but on the
enforcement side you can start generating
revenue, is it more or less likely to happen?
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 15
David Sharp It’s like the polluter pays, isn’t
it? It’s already being introduced under
health and safety, now it’s being
introduced by the back door under
environmental law. You’re now paying for
your mistakes as a revenue-raising activity.
Greg Davies You’re absolutely right. It’s not
about behaviour or infrastructure any
more, it’s about revenue generation.
Ismena Clout Will FM play a growing role in
corporate risk management?
Greg Davies If you look at the top ten
business continuity interruptions produced
by PCI every year, you’ll see that in every
case it’s the IT, HR or FM people who will
have to manage the fallout from it. So can
they not be consolidated down into a
corporate risk where FM takes the lead? It’s
all about delivery and outcome, isn’t it? We
say FM is about helping to identify
corporate strategy, but do we really need
to be there? Or are we the mechanism by
which the strategy is delivered, because
that seems to be as important if not more
important.
Philip Leigh It will be interesting to see if
we carry on down the route of passing risk
from the owners of the building to longer-
term supplier contracts. That’s not
happening on a wide scale, but it’s an
interesting thought that we could see
more risk transfer in the future.
When doing large deals
you will end up with a
risk ownership matrix
and you have to be very
clear who’s responsible
for what risk.
Derrick Tate We need to bear in mind the
value for money of risk transfer, because
when you’re doing large deals you will end
up with a risk ownership matrix and you
have to be very clear who’s responsible for
what risk. The more risk you put on the
supplier, the FM company, as long as they
have got control and are able to influence
it, it can be good value for money for them
to accept that risk. But where it’s more
unquantifiable and they haven’t got good
control, you get high risk premiums put on
which can make the whole thing
uneconomic. It’s important to identify
those areas that FM can influence and
where value can be added, and be very
clear in the contractual documentation
who has the ownership of risk.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 16
How can FM attract top talent?
Ismena Clout: The qualifications structure is now in place, but how do we make FM more
appealing as a career? How do we make sure we are attracting the cream of the crop?
Jason Gurd I like to talk about the
successes, the things we do well. We joke
amongst ourselves about being the people
who clean up when it all goes wrong, and
it can be fun being the hero who comes in
and saves the day, but that’s not really
what we do, that’s not management, that’s
coping. We’re a management profession
and we plan and organise and put in place
strategies and processes. Yes, you call us if
your air-conditioning breaks down, but
we’re also the people who are thinking
about how we’re going to build the
infrastructure to serve your air-conditioning
needs in three years’ time.
There is an assumption that
FM is unattractive because
it is all to do with the bins,
as opposed to the variety,
the creativity that’s often
required, the thinking on
your feet.
Martin Read There is an assumption that
FM is unattractive because it is all to do
with the bins, as opposed to the variety,
the creativity that’s often required, the
thinking on your feet. I think we assume
too easily that it’s not something that
would be attractive to people. If you’re
aiming at teenagers it must be about what
feels good, what is fundamental to them,
and taking control, project managing, that
kind of thing can appeal to a certain type
of person.
Aneysha Minocha I think it’s about selling
that variety, the multidisciplinary element
to it. Part of it is about kids’ perception and
awareness of FM when they leave school
and come out of university, when they’re
making decisions about the industries they
want to be in. We need to say have you
thought about this as a really exciting
career, using your mathematical and
analytical degree in providing a
workspace? There are so many ways of
applying the subjects that students do at
university, or school for that matter.
Greg Davies I think this is one of the
successes we should be celebrating. When
we talk to FMs now, more people are
vocational, they are trained in FM and FM is
something they have chosen as a career
path. That has been a dramatic change.
Philip Leigh We run graduate programmes
and it’s amazing the impact the graduates
are having on the people who have been
in the business for a long time. They come
in, they are smart people, highly
motivated, highly resourceful, and they are
really forcing the pace. We need to watch
our backs because these guys are whizzing
up behind us. I think that’s fantastic.
Aneysha Minocha Is there an opportunity
for organisations to create a platform for
people who are going through the
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 17
qualifications to actually get placements as
well? Short-term placements that allow
them to get exposure to the industry and
the real challenges on the ground?
Jason Gurd We definitely do need more
opportunities where those who want to go
into facilities can have some exposure to
actual FM. I wonder if certain sectors like
the not-for-profit side could take more
advantage of that, let people come in and
work with the facilities department for a
few weeks or months to learn more about
what FM is like outside the classroom.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 18
Conclusion
The conclusion draws together the key
themes from the conversation. Emerging
trends in FM represent a range of
opportunities for the industry to raise its
strategic profile, if it is willing and able to
change and adapt to changing conditions.
FM’s strategic role and value is still widely
underestimated. As the economic
downturn continues, FM is still regarded as
a soft target for cost-cutting. While some
organisations are awake to the value that
FM can add to services and assets, this
varies hugely from company to company.
Smaller organisations in particular tend to
have a limited view of FM as the people
who empty the bins.
How can FM raise its profile and win
recognition for the value it provides?
Although there are enlightened businesses
that have a strategic FM function and
understand its role in improving workplace
effectiveness, for example, in many
organisations FM is eclipsed by HR and IT,
dismissed as the ‘cost’ while the other two
drive efficiencies and change. The panel
felt it was vital that FM asserted its distinct
identity within the organisation, while
being prepared to work collaboratively
with HR and IT to enhance its standing.
Technology is an area regarded as
particularly fruitful. CAFM and other
systems are providing ever more data, but
the panel noted that this does not
necessarily equate to useful and
manageable information. FMs need to find
a way of exploiting this data to produce
meaningful information, supporting
managers to make better business and
operational decisions. Similarly, FMs could
apply developments in consumer software,
particularly Smartphone apps, to the
workplace, helping to meet workers’
growing demand for convenient software
solutions.
It is clear that there is still a lack of
understanding about how building
information modelling (BIM) can
potentially propel FM to a leading role in
the design, commissioning and
management of buildings. It is vital that FM
has a say in the development of the
technology, ensuring that information
needed for operational management is
included in building models. However, FM
may struggle to prove its case at a time
when short-term thinking precludes
consideration of long-term cost benefits.
FM might struggle to prove
its case at a time when
short-term thinking
precludes consideration of
long-term cost benefits.
The panel explored the potential impact of
new enforcement regimes on FM. It was
noted that the trend is for rationalisation of
legislation in areas such as sustainability
and health and safety. However,
enforcement may become more stringent,
particularly as some government agencies
seek to increase revenue through fines.
Quality and compliance are therefore more
important than ever, providing FMs with
the opportunity to develop monitoring and
measurement systems to help the business
meet its obligations.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 19
What was apparent was that this FM
Leaders Forum was very much contstrained
by the time allowed for the discussion. In
spite of this, and the challenges still facing
the industry, the panel’s main conclusion
was that FM can grow and evolve if it
accepts emerging trends as a catalyst for
action.
If the many and varied opportunities are
embraced, FM will be in a strong position
to win recognition as a powerful strategic
enabler driving the business forward.
Encouraging top young talent into the
profession will have a refreshing effect,
helping galvanise FM into the kind of
creative, proactive thinking needed to
exploit rapid change. It is time to ‘seize the
day’.
The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 20
About the panel
Peter Chambers, Commercial manager, Emprise Services plc
Peter is a facilities management professional whose experience in specifying and mobilising
FM contracts post-construction and project managing major refurbishments has convinced
him of the need to integrate the built environment disciplines. He believes there are clear
advantages to using BIM during the design and construction phase and intends to explore and
realise the opportunities BIM can provide to improve the efficiency of existing building stock.

Ismena Clout, Chairman, BIFM

Ismena became the 11th chair of the BIFM in July 2012. She is director of her own company,
Ismena Ltd and focuses on business development, introduction meetings and PR for
companies launching into the FM sector, her clients include powerPerfector, Sustain Ltd and
Safelincs. Before that she worked for many years as a client-side operational FM.

Greg Davies, Head of service development, Assurity Consulting

Greg has worked for over 24 years in compliance management with experience in many
different subject areas, including legionella, health and safety, fire, asbestos, sustainability and
access. He was the author of the 2010 BIFM good practice guide to risk management, and
advises on corporate compliance in health, safety and environmental issues as well as building
value and resilience into organisational policies and procedures.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, Chief operating officer, NJW Ltd

Kevin works at NJW, a company specialising in workplace management software and services
in the UK and internationally, where he leads the operational business and develops new
products and service offerings. Previously he was operational excellence director at Sodexo,
and prior to that held global operational, CIO and CTO roles at Honeywell, GE and Manpower.

Jason Gurd, BIFM Home Counties Committee

Jason entered the FM profession at the bottom level almost a decade ago and worked his way
up through various organisations, large and small. He disseminates his vision of best-in-class
FM services to peers through volunteering, networking, writing and leading by example. He
has a reputation as an innovator, a progressive and (sometimes) a maverick, and in 2012 was
nominated as one of FM World’s Rising Stars.

Philip Leigh, Chief operating officer, ISS

Philip has extensive experience of FM ranging from contract specification and bidding through
to operational delivery. As part of ISS’ UK executive board he is responsible for a portfolio of
around £300 million, including the integrated solutions, food and hospitality, front of house
and security businesses. He is a strong advocate of evolution towards fully integrated support
services.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 21

Aneysha Minocha, Associate director of energy services, GSH Group
GSH is a major provider of technology-driven energy and facilities management solutions.
Aneysha is responsible for developing its energy offering by strengthening the range of energy
services and the energy-led engineering capability. She has over 13 years’ experience in the
property services sector with expertise in carbon, sustainability and corporate social
responsibility strategy development and implementation.

Mark Mitchell, UKI Workplace service delivery manager, Accenture

Mark leads the delivery of hard and soft FM services, workplace risk management including
health and safety, and archive and records management. Before joining Accenture he worked
in the construction, oil production and water industries, as well as for the public sector. He
has also been self-employed, managing teams in SMEs and in large public and private sector
organisations.

Martin Read, Managing editor, FM World

Martin is the managing editor of FM World magazine. He has experience as an editor, writer
and publishing project manager in the B2B, client publishing and membership organisation
sectors. His previous titles have been in the logistics, public transport and group travel sectors.

David Sharp, Managing director, Workplace Law

David is the founder and managing director of Workplace Law, the regulatory consultancy
specialising in health and safety, environmental management and employment relations for
the FM sector. He is chair of the ThinkFM 2013 Programme Advisory Group, and a committee
member of BIFM People Management Special Interest Group. He writes and presents regularly
on value drivers in FM.

Derrick Tate, Assistant director, Real Estate Advisory, PwC

Derrick is an expert in strategic sourcing of FM and through his work with both private and
public sector clients understands client requirements and how clients make strategic and
commercial decisions. He also has direct expertise in the FM market and understands supplier
capabilities and market trends. Derrick has an MSc in FM and is a guest lecturer on FM at UCL.

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 22

Glossary
BIM

Building information modelling. A process involving the generation of digital representations

of the physical and functional components of a facility. The resulting building information
models become shared knowledge resources to support decision-making about the facility
from the conception stage, through design, construction and operational life up to eventual
decommissioning. The Government requires collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset
information, documentation and data in electronic form) on its projects by 2016

CAFM

Computer-aided facilities management. Any software package or system designed to support

facilities management. Well-known examples include Concept from FSI and QFM from Service
Works

CD247

Consultative document issued by the HSE to seek views on its draft National Local Authority
Enforcement Code. Produced in response to the Löfstedt review recommendation for the HSE
to be given a stronger role in directing local authority health and safety inspection activity

CEO

Chief executive officer

CFO

Chief financial officer

CIO

Chief information officer

Company voluntary agreement (CVA)

(Also company voluntary arrangement.) A legally binding agreement between an insolvent

company and its creditors

CSR

Corporate social responsibility. Defined by the EU as a ‘concept whereby businesses integrate

social and environmental concerns in their daily operations and in their interaction with their
stakeholders on a voluntary basis’

DEFRA

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 23

EA

Environment Agency

FD

Financial director

FFI

Fee for Intervention (FFI) is HSE’s cost recovery scheme. Under The Health and Safety (Fees)
Regulations 2012, those who break health and safety laws are liable for recovery of HSE’s
related costs, including inspection, investigation and taking enforcement action

HR

Human resources

HSE

Health and Safety Executive, the national independent watchdog for work-related health,
safety and illness

IT

Information technology

KPI

Key performance indicators

M&E

Mechanical and electrical

MIS

Management information system. Computer system that collects and analyses data to
measure performance in given areas of a business and facilitate strategic or operational
decision-making

PCI

Payment Card Industry

PF2

The Government’s new approach for involving private finance in the delivery of public
infrastructure and services through long-term contractual arrangements, following a review of
the Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

RICs

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 24

Service level agreement (SLA)

Contract between a service provider and a client detailing the nature, quality, and scope of
the service to be provided

Telemetry

The wireless transmission and reception of data from remote sources for recording and
analysis

The Future of FM: Emerging trends | 25

About FM Leaders Forums
The FM Leaders Forum is a medium through which BIFM
gathers together leading minds and practitioners from the
facilities management sector and beyond to debate
different subjects and topics to inform the membership,
the FM sector and the BIFM.
Those involved in each forum depends on the subject area
being addressed, leaders from across the sector and where
appropriate from outside the sector will be invited to take
part in the discussion forum.

About BIFM
The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) is the
professional body for facilities management (FM) in the UK.
Founded in 1993, the Institute represents and promotes
the interest of members and the wider FM community.
The Institute delivers a range of services and benefits,
including information, qualifications, continuing
professional development, training and networking for
over 13,000 individual and corporate members.
Our strategy is to increase participation and collaboration,
promote professional standards, support career
development and build an effective relationship with
stakeholders including government.

British Institute of
Facilities Management
Number One Building
The Causeway
Bishop’s Stortford
Hertfordshire CM23 2ER
T: +44(0)1279 712 620
E: info@bifm.org.uk

www.bifm.org.uk