Media Release

First ever European FM Providers survey is launched to improve market transparency

Christoph Heer, Managing Director, Drees & Sommer Switzerland, explains the concept behind the report:

“Thank you to all the FM providers that provided information for the report. Today’s FM market is highly heterogenous and it often proves challenging to compare different providers across Europe. For international organisations and companies this is a challenge that complicates the decision process of which FM provider to partner with. The report presents information about FM providers and the services they offer in the European market in a structured way which can serve as a basis for further analyses and a benchmark for all market participants.”

Dr. Jan Hendrik Lukowski, Consultant, Drees & Sommer Switzerland, highlights the issues at stake:

“Both large corporates and FM service providers are under pressure to cut costs and drive efficiencies. The large occupiers of space across the globe seek an FM service that provides value for money, of the quality promised and ideally with as few individual contracts to manage as possible. This trend is only likely to strengthen and in response, the large FM providers are getting even larger often through mergers and acquisitions to enable them to provide a wider range of services across a greater number of countries. The market is seeing an increasing number of these global integrated FM contracts and there are clear benefits, but there are cons to consider.”

This unique report aims to increase the transparency of Facility Management (FM) providers in the European market. Because of the broad spectrum of FM services, meaningful market data has been largely lacking, and comparability difficult to achieve. The report provides companies that require FM services an overview of the market allowing them to identify and target potential suppliers, taking into account the number of employees, regional and functional criteria.

If a company is interested in an international or even just a national FM sourcing strategy, the right market data would need to be pulled together from scratch, which is generally quite a time-consuming process. This report aims to enable companies to skip this step and offer FM providers the opportunity to showcase their international credentials.

At a virtual report launch event today, hosted by Drees & Sommer and RICS, Philip Ratcliffe, Managing Director at Drees & Sommer UK talked about the new FM landscape:

“Remote working and agile working are nothing new, the only difference now is more people are doing it. But now it has got the ear of the CFO and CEO. The boardroom is listening. The other element is the voice of the user – the wellbeing and productivity benefits that workers are reporting are being taken into account. What is clear though is that there is no one size fits all. What’s best is a mixture of working from home and in the office and each company needs to take those decisions.”

The current report contains an in-depth analysis and summary for 21 FM service providers, as well as an overview of a further 28 service providers. In the future, the report will be updated on a cyclical basis; enriched with more information and the latest trends in international sourcing. In addition, an online database is already in the pipeline which will provide daily, up-to-date data as well as offering a detailed analysis of specific countries or special services.

Paul Bagust, RICS Global Property Standards Director, emphasises the importance of the FM industry during the pandemic and why the European FM Provider Report is so important:

“Our society faces a challenging and uncertain future and Covid-19 will have far-reaching consequences. Facility Management professionals have kept key workers safe and productive through their management of hospitals, schools and critical transport infrastructure. RICS recognises the opportunities that exist in FM and we aim to transform FM through consistent, global professional standards to reduce inconsistency and fragmentation of strategy across the lifecycle of the built environment. Together we will improve consistency and transparency in the property information available and enhance the work of FM professionals across the globe.”

The report is available to download HERE.

 

Drees & Sommer: Your Innovative Partner for Consulting, Planning, Construction and Operation

The leading European consulting, planning and project management enterprise, Drees & Sommer has supported private and public clients and investors for 50 years in all aspects of real estate and infrastructure – both analog and digital. Through future-oriented consulting, the enterprise can offer solutions for successful buildings, high-return portfolios, powerful infrastructure and livable cities. The company’s 3,820 employees in 46 locations around the world work in interdisciplinary teams to provide support for clients from a wide variety of sectors. All the services provided by the partner-run company take into consideration both economic and ecological concerns. Drees & Sommer calls this holistic approach ‘the blue way’.

About RICS 

RICS promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the valuation, development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards - bringing confidence to markets and effecting positive change in the built and natural environments. www.rics.org/