KwikHEAT - Practical Facilities Management

from theeditor:Welcome to the latest edition of Practical Facilities Management. It has beenanother turbulent month in the financial markets but facilities management keepson fighting back.April saw the launch of the new corporate manslaughter law, a landmark in healthand safety legislation, introduced to make companies responsible for their actions,particularly large-scale accidents.However, if research by BT is to be believed then many companies are still failingto plan for such big disasters, with just 4% saying the recent flooding had madethem think about how to deal with any repeat incidents.This month also saw the usual round of contract wins with Vinci going publicabout its latest PFI schools contract win. And despite the continued turmoil in thefinancial markets two fm companies have posted encouraging results.So all in all not a bad month for fm!As mentioned the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act came into forcerecently. Ray Hurst, the president of the Institution of Occupational Safety andHealth, welcomed the new Act, saying: “This should serve as a deterrent to theminority of organisations that would otherwise disregard health and safety and byincreasing corporate accountability, leading to overall improvements in workplacestandards.”The act allows courts to impose substantial fines and order guilty organisations topublicise their convictions.RoSPA also welcomed the act with occupational safety adviser Roger Bibbingssaying: “If anyone dies as a result of gross corporate failings, directors who do nottake safety seriously enough will find themselves in the firing line.”If new research by BT is to be believed the new act has come at a perfect time.According to its research many companies are still not planning how to cope withfloods and big fires like Camden Town and Buncefield. Just 4% of firms surveyedsaid that the flooding last year had made them think about contingency planningmore seriously.Also, and rather naively I would say, just one in three think there will be no coststo their business if they are put out of action because of a disaster. Governmentfigures say the actual cost is likely to be £8,000 to £17,000 on average. BT’sresearch also reveals that only 28% regard continuity planning as very important.Just over a third have plans in place.Elsewhere in news Vinci Investments announced it has won a £14.9m 25-yearPFI schools deal with Newport City Council. Construction is due to begin later thisyear, with completion in late 2009.It wasn’t just Vinci that was celebrating either. Contracting group HBG UKreported that turnover was up by over 18% to £1.04bn in 2007, thanks in part togrowth in the FM division. Pre-tax profit was up 16% to a record £48.7m. Theorder book also looks healthy with £114.7m of secured income for the FMbusiness over next five years. Chief Executive Richard Gregory said: “HBG’sturnover in 2007 exceeded £1bn with a profit margin of 4.7%. This is one of thebest profit margins in the sector.”Elsewhere in the FM sector food and facilities services company Sodexo reporteda 22% climb in revenue for the six months to 29 February in the UK and Ireland.CEO Michel Landel said: “The strong performance of our teams in this first halfgives us confidence that we will achieve our objectives for the current fiscal year.”5