Posted March 30, 2001
Office costs survey highlights FM
Over a third of the cost of occupying the typical office is accounted
for by facilities management, rent and rates comprise just over half.
This conclusion, which should not come as news to the FM community but
may surprise those working in property, comes from The Total Office Cost
Survey.
WS Atkins part of £18m PFI for MAFF
WS Atkins is to provide structural and building services engineering for
an £18.2m PFI project, led by Kajima to develop the Ministry of
Agriculture Fisheries and Food’s site in Cambridge.
Compass Group in Japanese joint venture
Compass Group has formed Compass Group Japan - a joint venture with the
Itochu Corporation and Fuji Oil - through the acquisition of an initial
45% in parent company GMJ, to be followed by a further 5% over three years.
Posted March 29, 2001
i-FM launches e-business Award
i-FM is launching an Award for companies and organisations which are exploiting
new technologies, particularly the internet, to improve business processes
and performance.
Jarvis wins second Irish PPP project
Jarvis has won its second education PPP project for the Irish Department
of Education and Science worth £125m. Under the 25 year flagship
contract, Jarvis will develop a new third-level music college for the
Cork School of Music.
Two consortia shortlisted for £230m hospital
PFI
Skanska Innisfree and The Hospital Company have been shortlisted for the
£230m PFI to build Walsgrave Hospital’s new facilities in Coventry.
Posted March 28, 2001
Jarvis wins Ireland’s first schools
PPP
Facilities management group Jarvis has been appointed preferred bidder
for a 25 year contract with Ireland’s Department of Education and
Science to develop five new 'state-of-the-art schools'.
Growth for hospitality sector despite skills
shortages
Contract caterers at the British Hospitality Association’s (BHA)
survey presentation on Tuesday emphasised the importance of marketing
in the increasingly commercially minded industry and the threats posed
by skills shortages.
Rental growth to slow, predicts GVA
There will be a decline in the rate of rental growth in the office sector,
forecasts GVA Grimley. Research carried out by the company indicates that
the rate of growth will fall from 11.7% (over the last 12 months) to 4.3%
in an annual average over the next five years.
Posted March 27, 2001
Employees are personally liable for professional
advice 
In a Landmark test case, Merrett -v- Babb, the Court of Appeal has ruled
that employees will constantly be vulnerable to claims brought directly
against them for advice given on behalf of their employers.
LCC ups security
Facilities management company LCC Support Services has set up a security
squad to screen personnel due to the increasing number of bank, building
society and other security conscious clients.
Bespoke office for BT Genie
MWB BusinessExchange is to provide 2,400 sq m of serviced offices to British
Telecom business unit, BT Genie, at No 1, The Broadway, Hammersmith in
a ‘ground breaking’ contract signed at MIPIM.
Posted March 26, 2001
BT shortlists Land Securities Trillium
and Mapeley for property transfer
In a brief announcement BT confirmed that it has short-listed Land Securities
Trillium and Mapeley for the divestment of its UK property portfolio
AMEY preferred bidder for Edinburgh flagship
education PFI
Amey has been selected as preferred bidder for the £360m ‘Investing
in Education’ PFI project for the City of Edinburgh Council.
New contract for Danka
Danka Services International (DSI), part of Danka Business Systems, has
won a three-year contract to provide reprographics services to Cambridgeshire
County Council.
Posted March 23, 2001
BBC chooses Trillium
The BBC has appointed Insight, the Land Securities/Trillium bid, as preferred
bidder for its proposed property partnership with the private sector
Carillion finally signs £500m BT
FM contract
Almost a year after BT chose the Carillion led Monteray consortium to
deliver FM services across its portfolio, the Project Jaguar deal has
finally been signed.
Select wins five year PRO contract
Select Facilities Services has been awarded a five year facilities management
contract with the Public Record Office in Kew, worth £8m.
McAlpine buys asset management business
Construction company Alfred McAlpine is to buy Proby Ltd, the parent company
of Kennedy Utility Management which provides distribution asset management
services to the utilities sector.
Posted March 22, 2001
News Extra BBC
chooses Trillium
The BBC has appointed Insight, the Land Securities/Trillium bid, as preferred
bidder for its proposed property partnership with the private sector
ISS continues growth by acquisition
ISS has added another six companies to its lengthening list of acquisitions.
So far this year the ambitious Danish service provider has bought 12 companies,
one in damage control and eleven in facility services boosting turnover
by approximately £43m and adding over 2000 employees to its headcount.
Growth for UNITE
Student and NHS worker accommodation services provider UNITE Group, has
announced a 170% increase in turnover to £30m (£11.1m) and
a 260% rise in pre tax profits to £3m (£0.8m).
Trammell Crow Savills launches 'e' service
Trammell Crow Savills (TCS) has launched an 'e-concierge' service to help
its clients' staff balance their work and personal commitments. The service
is being piloted at Ernst & Young, where TCS offers online access
to shopping, dry cleaning and car valeting.
Posted March 21, 2001
Will you pay your staff £4.10?
Earlier this month the Government announced an 11% increase in the minimum
wage, initially introduced two years ago, to £4.10 per hour. The
new rate comes into force in October.
Support services boost Kier Group
Kier Group’s support services businesses, including Caxton Facilities
Management, grew by 38%, contributing to record half-year results. Group
operating profit was up 47% to £6.9m, with turnover up 22% at just
over £590m.
Contract win and increased profits for Amey
Amey has announced increased profits and continued growth in all market
segments. The group’s turnover rose by 34% to £700m (£523m)
and pre-tax profits increased by 37% to £39.3m (£28.7m). Its
forward order book reached a record £3.5bn.
Posted March 20, 2001
New software to raise H&S standards
A new 'easy-to-use' software package designed to help small businesses
improve their health and safety awareness could also benefit larger businesses,
says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
New executive director at Amey
Amey has appointed Dr John Whiteman as group director of business development.
An economist, John was previously with international management consultants
Bain & Company, where he was principal of the firm’s capital
management practice in Australia.
Posted March 19, 2001
Schools to receive £650m PFI funding
Local Education Authorities have been authorised to spend over £650m
on school capital projects through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI),
Schools Minister Jacqui Smith announced yesterday.
Emphasis on workforce in new Best Value guidance
Proper and fair handling of employment issues is essential to achieving
Best Value, says the Government in its new guidance Best Value and Procurement:
Handling of Workforce Matters in Contracting published by local Government
minister Beverley Hughes.
Adjusting your workplace to comply with the
DDA
“When you think ‘disabled’ what are you thinking?,”
asked Keith Bright, one of the speakers at the Facilities Management Legal
Update conference in Birmingham this week. “Wheelchair,” reply
a number of people in muffled voices.
FM market worth £75bn says MBD
Sales in the facilities management sector totalled £75.5bn,
a 5% rise according to the latest quarterly report from Market & Business
Development.
Posted March 16, 2001
Interserve set for growth
Interserve (the renamed Tilbury Douglas) says a "substantial order
book and growing markets", gives it confidence about long term prospects.
BSA satisfied with New Deal review
The review of the Government’s New Deal initiative shows it is realistic,
says the Business Services Association (BSA). “Until now there has
been little real engagement of employers with New Deal, which has been
seen as insufficiently focussed on the real needs of industry,” says
director-general Norman Rose.
Contract extension for Eurest Sutcliffe
Eurest Sutcliffe has been awarded a three year extension to its contract
with Bristol & West under which it provides catering for 1,100 staff
at the company’s new premises at Temple Quay in Bristol.
Posted March 15, 2001
Carillion looks to service business
Carillion's service businesses, which include facilities management company
Carillion Services, saw turnover fall back slightly last year to £306.7m
(£322.7m).
International FM student project seeks sponsors
Facility management students at the University of Professional Education
in the Hague are organising a study trip to the UK as part of an International
Semester.
BRE completes health and safety review
BRE has completed a major review examining the health and safety risks
associated with various hazards in buildings. The results of this work
are available in a new BRE report on the influence of buildings and the
indoor environment on the health and safety of building users.
Posted March 14, 2001
Renewable energy conference
The Building Research Establishment is to host a major one-day conference
in an attempt to encourage architects and building designers to meet environmental
objectives during the design process and to dispel some of the myths surrounding
renewable energy technologies.
Flexible working: still room for improvement says IS
The Industrial Society says the Government should ‘take a stronger
lead in tackling the cultural change employers experience when implementing
flexible working practices and new parenting rights.’
Posted March 13, 2001
US summit on building performance meets
The fifth annual National Summit on Building Performance takes place in
Washington this week (14th and 15th March). This year's theme is Corporate
Agility: Workplace and Infrastructure Management Strategies.
Management development needed, says IS
Research by the Industrial Society shows that UK companies will have
to prioritise the development of senior managers in the next few years.
Pearson for de Lucy
John de Lucy, a familiar face on the FM scene, is to move from CB Hillier
Parker to media group Pearson as facilities director for the company's
new London headquarters.
Posted March 12, 2001
Securicor sells recruitment business to
focus on security
Securicor is to strengthen its security focus by acquiring Dutch security
company Randon Beveiliging Beheer from Randstad Holding and by selling
its UK recruitment company, Securicor Recruitment Services, to Randstad
– an international recruitment company.
Summit and AMEC make key appointments
Summit Support Services has made two appointments to broaden its
service offering and exploit wider market opportunities. Tony Angel joins
Summit as Operations Director from WSP and prior to that Chesterton Workplace
Management.
STEPS signs with Mapeley
The Inland Revenue, including the Valuation Office Agency and Customs
and Excise have now signed the STEPS contract with Mapeley, for which
it was selected preferred service provider in August last year.
Changing jobs too often could be unhealthy
Swedish research shows that people who change jobs often are less
healthy, especially temporary and part time workers in the service sector.
Posted March 09, 2001
Mowlem profits from support services
Profits from support services at Mowlem rose 45% last year, with margins
up 40% to 3%. Mowlem's facilities services division Aqumen increased its
operating profit by 61% to £5m compared to £3.1m in 1999 on
turnover of £150m (£146 m).
AMEC announces increased profits
Services and engineering solutions provider AMEC has reported a 30%
increase in turnover to nearly £4bn (£3bn) in its final year
results, and a 25% growth in pre-tax profit to almost £100m (£79m).
Posted March 08, 2001
Savills looking for growth
International property consultancy Savills, the joint venture partner
with America's Trammell Crow in outsourcing company Trammell Crow Savills
reports pre-tax profits for the eight months to December 2000 of £17.4m
on turnover of £156.7m.
Compass strengthens its position in Germany
Compass Group has acquired an initial three quarters of a German
foodservices company and won a ten year catering contract for the football
stadium VFB Stuttgart, strengthening its position in the German food services
market.
Posted March 07, 2001
Profits up for WSP
WSP’s FM division contributed £5m to the Group’s total
turnover of £138m. Led by Marilyn Standley, WSP FM’s growth
strategy is to focus on strategic FM, particularly consulting which contributes
to the delivery of WSP’s “cradle to grave” service offering.
Bovis Lend Lease wins three year FM contract
Bovis Lend Lease Facilities Management has been awarded a £3m
FM contract with IT company Novell, to provide services at four of the
networking company’s European offices for three years.
Occupiers’ site launched
A web site - occupier.org – has been launched by a consortium
of organisations "to generate and place in the public domain knowledge
of the impact of buildings and workplaces on occupiers' business performance".
Posted March 06, 2001
Relaunched BIFM Awards announced
The BIFM Awards programme has been expanded for 2001 due to the “success
and credibility that the ‘Office of the Year Awards’ created”
as well as “to reflect the growing importance of FM in today’s
workplaces,” says David Hogg, chairman of the judges.
Swisscom sells real estate portfolio but
retains FM responsibility
Swisscom is to sell part of its real estate portfolio - consisting
of 28 commercial and office buildings - to Credit Suisse Asset Management,
for CHF 1.272bn (£527m).
Foot-and-mouth disease threatens construction
The foot-and-mouth crisis has become a threat to the construction
industry, placing a growing number of work sites under quarantine, claims
the National Federation of Builders.
Posted March 05, 2001
ISS growth continues
The acquisitive Danish service provider ISS increased both turnover and
operating profit by more than 40% last year. Operations in the UK contributed
the second highest sales figure.
WS Atkins supports GCHQ
WS Atkins is to provide programme and project support services to
GCHQ for up to five years, to support the construction of its new centre
for 4,000 staff near Cheltenham
Jarvis develops student accommodation in
Glasgow
Jarvis has commenced work on a mixed development scheme in central
Glasgow as part of its University Partnerships Programme, including 185
post-graduate student bedrooms.
Posted March 02, 2001
London hospital PFI for Bouygues
Bouygues UK, the British division of Bouygues Construction, part of the
giant French construction group Bouygues SA, has won a contract worth
around £51m (e80m) to build a new hospital in London under the private
finance initiative.
Upton elected executive VP at C&W
Cushman & Wakefield has elected O.B. (Barney) Upton as executive
vice president of corporate services. He will be responsible for global
coordination of all corporate services business, ensuring consistent,
quality service throughout the world.
Posted March 01, 2001
FM sales and profits down at Rentokil
Turnover and profit at Rentokil’s facilities management business
declined in 2000. Sales were down 6.2% at £445.3m and profits regressed
by 29.3% to £35.7m. However, the company says it is confident that
FM is a growth area.
Majority stake in PUK for sale
The Government is seeking private investors to take a controlling
stake in Partnerships UK (PUK), the successor to the Treasury Taskforce,
set up in June last year to streamline and accelerate the Private Finance
Initiative.
Northumbria awards £20m
PFI to UNITE
University accommodation provider UNITE has been selected as preferred
bidder for a £20m PFI design and build project for the University
of Northumbria, in which UNITE will build 337 off-campus study bedrooms
in self-contained flats.
Compass forms joint venture in Middle East
Compass Group is to form a joint venture company - ADNH Compass Middle
East LLC - by merging its Middle East operations with United Emirates
based foodservice company Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH).