04 June 2018 | Phil Sugden
Phil Sugden, marketing director at Portal Group UK, gives his reasons why FMs need managed office solutions.
Workplace and facilities managers are being empowered and handed greater autonomy as a result of multi-site businesses expanding into capital expenditure free-managed offices.
The capex obligation of buying, equipping and fitting out an office of any size is significant for any business - and that's on top of the critical funds to hire and pay staff.
Businesses of all sizes are now effectively outsourcing the property headache from beginning to end to keep as much capex as possible in the business. Managed office solutions (MOS) providers take over sourcing premises, equipment and fit-out while replacing capex costs for the property itself, with fixed monthly operating costs (opex) charged per desk space.
This model puts the workplace and staff first and, with costs for maintenance and improvements absorbed by the provider, on-site FMs in an MOS model have more power and flexibility.
FMs can be involved at early stages of design and fit-out to enhance the perfect workspace for the end-user with the assurance that further expansion of the space or a complete relocation can be easily implemented with no capex obligation.
The FM becomes the sole contact for clients and the speed at which they are able to respond is dramatically increased.
It is within a fixed-cost agreement so there is no need to seek costs for approval to repairs and replacements. If the requirement changes, the MOS provider can amend it. If a pipe leak is found and flagged to our FM, it can be fixed immediately, as can all issues with fabric, fixtures and office equipment.
Having a single point FM contact integrated into the on-site team means employers and end-users' observations of any faults or potential improvements are heard and acted upon to boost workplace productivity.
The way people work is a driving force behind productivity and profitability.
Phil Sugden is marketing director at Portal Group UK