11 June 2018 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
Will FM service outsourcing be increasingly focused on specialist services while cleaning and other more directly client-facing activities are brought in-house?
That's the theme of this month's FM World Think Tank. It's currently top of mind because the University of London, which has seen high-profile conflict with unions in recent months, intends to ensure outsourced contracts for as-yet unspecified specialist services while at the same time working with trade unions and contractors to change its contract model and take FM staff into the university.
The university says that it is "certain that a mixed economy will be adopted as this will give us the best balance of quality, cost and sustainability".
It is putting in place "contracts designed to provide both the specialist expertise and the flexibility to respond to the varying needs of the university". It is "currently developing our service models to define our requirements".
The question we're asking is - will we see more of this?
Could more organisations move to running a mix of in-house and outsourced provision?
And could this kind of model become popular outside the education sector?
A) Yes, we'll probably see more such 'mixed economy' approaches
B) No, a mixed economy of service provision is difficult in practice
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