Jarvis preferred bidder for Liverpool schools PFI
Jarvis has yet again been appointed preferred bidder for a schools PFI – this time to build 15 new schools and refurbish three others in Liverpool.
Mixed feelings about parental leave extension
The Government’s announcement to extend parental leave for mothers and fathers of young children, has been approved by trade unions, but criticised by businesses.
EU report highlights importance of innovation
The European Commission has published a report entitled "Building an Innovative Economy in Europe", highlighting how EU enterprises are managing innovation.
Posted April 26, 2001
Interserve wins £40m PFI in Cornwall
An Interserve led consortium has signed a PFI contract for 31 fire
stations in Cornwall, worth £40m. The company said the contract
is the first to include all of the stations within the Brigade.
Mergers and acquisitions
Buhrmann company Corporate Express and Universal Office Supplies are to
merge, following Buhrmann’s acquisition of Samas’ office supplies
division last week.
Throwers awarded MoD contract
Horticultural company Throwers has won a £190,000 per year
grounds maintenance contract with the Ministry of Defence in Bristol for
seven years.
Posted April 25, 2001
BID to improve local quality of life
A new scheme of Business Improvement Districts or BIDs, designed to
help councils and local businesses improve their local area was announced
yesterday by Tony Blair
Unreliable Tube reduces staff morale and productivity
Nearly all of London managers complain about the negative effect the current
service levels on the Underground has on their workplace. This unsurprising
result comes from a survey by the Industrial Society in which 200 managers
in London based organisations participated.
Posted April 24, 2001
ISS enters Japan
ISS has expanded its international reach to Japan through a joint venture
with Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Japan's largest company.
Foster tower for Sainsbury's site
Lord Foster has produced a striking design for the site of Sainsbury's
Stamford Street headquarters, at the south end of Blackfriars Bridge,
opposite Ludgate House, the home of Express Newspapers.
Laing signs £55m police PFI
Contractor Laing has been granted the go-ahead to start work on a
£55m PFI project to design, build and maintain a police firearms
unit in Gravesend, Kent.
Posted April 23, 2001
Linklaters takes City pre-let
Law firm Linklaters is to occupy the 8,800 sq m (95,000 sq ft) development
by Helical Bar at 3 Bunhill Row.
Facilities managers need to prepare for
new security bill 
Facilities managers have been warned that the Private Security Industry
Bill will cause confusion when it comes into force, because the government
has exempted in-house security guards from the requirement to have a licence.
Posted April 20, 2001
Mapeley appoints Coflex for STEPS
Following the announcement that STEPS signed with Mapeley last month,
the company has awarded the Eastern region to Coflex for seven years.
Johnson Controls adopts BIFM qualification
Johnson Controls is the first organisation to run an in-house training
programme leading to the BIFM’s professional qualification.
Haden wins two maintenance contracts
Balfour Beatty’s asset and facilities management arm, Haden Building
Management, has been awarded two building management contracts with KPMG
and the Royal Bank of Scotland, together worth £40m.
Extensions for Trident
Trident has been awarded FM contract extensions with the Barnet Community
NHS Trust and the Harrow and Hillingdon Community NHS Trust. It has also
won a domestic contract with Havering Sixth Form College, on the back
of its existing contract with Havering College of Higher Education.
Posted April 19, 2001
Jarvis chosen for £50m education
PFI
Jarvis has been appointed preferred bidder by The City of Sunderland to
design, build, finance and operate a new City Learning Centre under a
£50m PFI scheme which is among the first to be approved by both
the DfEE and DETR.
NHS in PFI transfer protest
Support staff from hospitals in Dudley protested outside the Department
of Health headquarters in Whitehall yesterday, as part of a long-running
industrial dispute.
Consignia invests £150m in new postal centre
Consignia has signed a deal to build and equip a new £150m distribution
centre with one of the world's most technically advanced postal automation.
It will open near Heathrow next year.
Posted April 18, 2001
Modernisation programme for English schools
Around 120 schools across England will be rebuilt or remodelled under
a £106m investment programme announced by the Government this week.
Contract wins
Rentokil Initial Management Services has won a three year FM contract
with Telfer Foods at the company’s Northampton site, to provide catering,
cleaning, washroom, security, janitorial and waste management services.
Guidance on noise in the office
Ecophon has published a handbook to deal with the issue of noise within
the office environment, ‘Noise and the Modern Office’, which
explores acoustic management systems.
Posted April 17, 2001
Skanska wins its first schools PFI
Skanska Construction has won its first educational PFI for the London
Borough of Newham, worth £23m. Working as part of the Norwich Union
Public Private Partnership Fund (NUPPP) consortium, Skanska will design
and build three new schools on green field sites in the borough.
Honey, I shrunk the office!
We know they've got a lot of space in America but according to the
latest research from IFMA the average office worker has almost 38 sq m
(407 sq ft)! This figure has actually decreased from 44 sq m (471 sq ft)
in 1997 and 55 sq m (589 sq ft) in 1994.
World Workplace Europe programme
The detailed programme for IFMA's World Workplace Europe 2001 event
has been published. IFMA expects over 500 people to make the trip to Innsbruck
for the three-day event in June.
Posted April 12, 2001
Skanska FM & Ramoneur appointments
Jørgen Utzon has been appointed manager of Skanska’s FM operation
in Denmark. The business is owned jointly by Skanska Denmark and Skanska
Facilities Management AB.
WSP buys SA environmental business
WSP Group has acquired Walmsley Environmental Consultants of South
Africa, to be merged with WSP’s existing South African Environmental
business.
Posted April 11, 2001
BT selects preferred bidder for property
portfolio
BT has selected a 50:50 joint venture between Land Securities Trillium
and the William Pears Group, called Telereal, as its preferred bidder
for the BT property portfolio. The news follows last month’s announcement
that Mapeley was short listed together with Land Securities Trillium.
Danka sells outsourcing division for £200m
Danka Business Systems is to sell its outsourcing division, Danka
Services International, to Pitney Bowes for $290m (£200m). Profits
gained form the sale will be used primarily to repay a substantial portion
of Danka's existing bank debt.
Posted April 10, 2001
MacLellan set for growth through FM
MacLellan Group announced a sharp rise in pre-tax profits to £1.8m
for the 15 months to the end of December 2000. This compares with £0.4m
for the year to 26 September 1999. Turnover rose to £101.4m and
operating profits were £2.2m.
ABB to sell 1.5m sq m real estate portfolio
ABB is to sell its entire property portfolio in Sweden to release
capital, and expects to gain 10-15m SKr (£690,000-£1m). One
of the largest property owners in Sweden, ABB’s real estate comprises
1.5m sq m (16m sq ft) of offices and production premises.
MoD pre-qualifiers for Scottish FM
Babcock International Group, together with Balfour Beatty Construction
and WS Atkins, has been selected as one of the groups to receive the pre-qualification
questionnaire (PQQ) for the Regional Prime Contract, for the facilities
management of MoD property in Scotland.
Posted April 09, 2001
MIM signs £30m PFI deal with Notts
police
MIM, the PFI arm of project management company Tropus, has completed financial
closure on a £30m PFI contract to design, build, finance and maintain
a new traffic wing for the Nottinghamshire Police.
French and US acquisitions for Sodexho
Sodexho Alliance has acquired 60% of French company Sogeres and the
entire share capital of US firm Wood Dining Services, in a deal valued
at Eur 526m (£330m). It is also acquiring the remaining 40% of Sogeres,
managed by PAI management, on behalf of BNP Paribas Capital.
Mowlem signs £35m schools PFI
Leeds County Council has signed a £35m PFI deal with a John Mowlem
led consortium, to build and operate seven new schools as well as manage
the financing over 29 years.
Posted April 06, 2001
Jarvis more successful than Odyssey joint
venture
While Jarvis’ joint venture with UBS Warburg, Odyssey Property Services,
has been unable to secure any private outsourcing work since its launch
in April last year, Jarvis itself has won two more educational PFIs worth
£526m.
Flexibility and agility are twin themes of
US summit
Traditional ways of planning and using workplaces were challenged by leading
workplace thinkers at the Fifth Annual National Summit on Building Performance,
held in Washington DC last month.
Posted April 05, 2001
Mears to build FM business
A ‘new’ name may join the roster of FM providers this year.
Blue collar services company Mears Group plans to become a ‘total
facility management services provider’ and expects to either launch
or acquire an FM company within the next three months.
Foreign Office saves £70m
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has saved UK taxpayers £70m
through the sale of properties and streamlining of purchasing, supply
and service contracts, the latter which saved £11.7m.
Meeting H&S demands
Swiss Re has reappointed Cochrane McGregor& Associates (CMA) to update
the workplace health and safety systems at five of the company’s
buildings.
ISS opens staff university
ISS has opened a ‘university’ in Copenhagen to which company
representatives are invited from the 36 countries in which ISS operates.
Posted April 04, 2001
i-FM launches definitive salary survey
The extraordinarily diverse backgrounds of those working in facilities
management and the sheer variety of FM roles has made it difficult to
establish benchmarks for rewards in the profession.
London offices most expensive in the world
London office rents are the most expensive in the world, according to
recent research. Tokyo, Hong Kong and New York City follow.
European FM professionals spot trends
Massive standardisation of workplaces, combined with local customisation;
vast numbers of cross-border mergers, resulting in the dominance of between
four and six multi-service providers;
Fire focus for BIFM Special Interest Group
The inaugural project for the BIFM Building Services Special Interest
Group is to be the development of guidance information on fire alarm systems.
Partnerships UK becomes PPP
HM Treasury has sold 51% of the wholly owned government company Partnerships
UK to private investors, raising £45m. The Treasury and the Scottish
Executive will retain the remaining 49%.
Posted April 03, 2001
NewSchools wins £200m PFI
NewSchools, a consortium consisting of WS Atkins, Innisfree and Mowlem,
has signed a £200m, 25 year PFI contract to upgrade 30 schools in
Cornwall.
Carillion consortium secures court PFI
Carillion is to begin work on a new £30m Magistrates Court facility
in Manchester, after the G4CSG consortium secured financial close on the
PFI project.
STEPS contract starts
MacLellan has commenced the mobilisation of 1,500 staff as part of its
contract with STEPS winner Mapeley – an agreement which includes
the transfer of ownership and management of some 700 Inland Revenue buildings
into the private sector...
Recent appointments
Francis Salway has joined Land Securities’ Board as an executive
director and UNITE has appointed Simon Bernstein as group finance director.
Posted April 02, 2001
Save on waste management, says DETR
A DETR backed report says £200m can be saved in the construction
industry, in London, through better waste management techniques. Compiled
by contractor Bovis Lend Lease and developer Stanhope, the report reveals
the two companies cut waste by 10% at three City of London office developments,
completed between March 1998 and September 2000.
BSA welcomes Learning and Skills Council
The Business Services Association (BSA) welcomes the launch of the new
Learning and Skills Council (LSC), stating that it is a ‘potential
catalyst’ for the development of higher quality and more relevant
skills training.
EC Harris wins its first Polish FM contract
EC Harris has been appointed by Synergia 99 to provide facilities management
support at the Polish Gdansk Shipyard – the company’s first
FM contract ever in Poland.