Perfect balance

Dan Andrews, Executive Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) tells Sara Bean why being an FM business from a global player provides clients and staff with the best of both worlds

As the global leader in commercial real estate services and investments, CBRE might be perceived as being primarily focused on Corporate Real Estate.

The Local Facilities Management arm of CBRE’s Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) business employs over 7,000 employees across more than 850 contracts in the UK and covers a diverse portfolio, ranging from iconic towers in the City of London to hospitals, airports, museums, stadiums and manufacturing environments.

Says Executive Director at CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS), Dan Andrews: “CBRE is a strong brand, so potential clients who come from the property management or the asset side may not be aware of the FM delivery arm, which means sometimes people aren’t familiar with what we can deliver. Our contract values range from £10,000 for a small tenant to £10 million, and can include a wide range of technical, engineering, and integrated services in between, depending on the client’s business.”

He adds that although part of a larger enterprise: “It’s a fantastic business to join if you want to be entrepreneurial, as the people in it really do make it such a fun place to work. Because of our business unit model, it’s about as close as you can get to the benefits of a small business; you work within a tight-knit team who are empowered to deliver bespoke services to clients, and there is a lot of room to innovate. For our customers, the business unit model means we stay connected and closely involved with all of our contracts.”

Andrews has worked across a range of organisations, moving into an FM role while at the Department of Transport and later working for an SME, which he left to join Norland Managed Services in 2014, just as it was being acquired by CBRE.

“I’ve had a fantastic journey,” he says, “with numerous roles, working with different sectors, clients and meeting a variety of challenges, and through it all have appreciated how entrepreneurship is encouraged within CBRE, where it’s easy for good ideas to be made reality.”

ENHANCING BUILDING PERFORMANCE

Following CBRE’s recent acquisition of Industrious, a leading provider of flexible workplace solutions, GWS has been incorporated into a new business segment – Building Operations & Experience (BOE), which comprises CBRE’s Enterprise Facilities Management, Local Facilities Management, Property Management and Industrious.

The principles on which the business is based remain the same. Andrews explains that each of Local Facilities Management’s business units are built around the customer and client base, whether aviation, heritage, towers, or another sector, to create a customer centric service.

He says: “Because of our unique model, we operate at every single layer, from London Towers to smaller M&E contracts. Our approach puts the client first and differs from many other FM providers – every site is unique and we ensure the right delivery model is provided, whether that be a team of onsite engineers or mobile engineers providing services as and when required.”

CBRE GWS aims to deliver solutions that enhance the performance of clients’ buildings and workplaces, offering a range of hard and soft services, including engineering, cleaning, security, catering, front of house, grounds maintenance and post room services.

“We offer pretty much any service within the FM sphere,” says Andrews. “Quite often customers will come to us and ask, ‘can you help us out?’ Because there is no like for like, for us each customer is unique, because their businesses are so unique.”

He explains: “Every project begins with an analysis of the customer’s needs, what they want to achieve and their business outcomes, with the solution built around them. It’s halfway between consultancy and FM service delivery in approach.”

While engineering services are always self-delivered, CBRE use best in class supply partners for soft services such as cleaning, catering, security and front of house, usually in partnership with bespoke soft services suppliers. Andrews stresses that the IFM delivery model involves picking the right supplier for each customer, for example while one cleaning provider may be ideal for one client, a different model could be required elsewhere. This also supports societal goals says Andrews:

“Partnering with SME organisations often helps support a client’s specific business objectives, for example, their social value strategy, so shopping around for the best fit helps push more diverse suppliers and supports the local business model as well.”

The Local Facilities Management business model is structured around Account or Contract Managers who are fully responsible and empowered to deliver the range of services to either one or a portfolio of clients. CBRE also aims to add value for customers using subject matter experts across ESG, Procurement, People, QHSE and so on. Says Andrews: “There’s very little bureaucracy, and as we grow as a business and those business units get slightly bigger and win more work, we invest and split the business unit. I’ve been involved in splitting two business units during my time at GWS, and it’s great, because you see all that talent coming in within the organisation, and they can grow and develop.

“It means our people have a clear understanding of what opportunities exist for expanding their responsibilities and career progression. I came in as an Account Manager and have moved from Account Manager to General Manager to Business Unit Director and now Executive Director. That’s not unique within GWS.

“We’re also doing a lot of work bringing new talent into the business. We have ESG graduate programmes alongside our general graduate programmes and more apprentices joining than ever. I think one of the great things about GWS is that people can see a clear career journey.”

A focus on customer retention has resulted in double digit growth over the last 10 to 15 years, as explains Andrews, while winning work is great for the growth, maintaining long customer relationships is key.

“We put a lot of emphasis on retaining clients and one of the biggest things we’re proud of is that our client retention rates are 97 per cent which is industry leading.”