Going for growth

PEOPLE & TECH

As an FM services organisation, finding and retaining staff is a major challenge. Says Doyle: “Super-low unemployment rates and relatively high wage inflation rates are going to put a particular pinch on recruitment in this sector, so what you’ve got to do is aim to position yourself as the employer of choice in the industry.”

He questions how employers in the sector engage their frontline workers, noting that the recruitment and selection process in FM can be quite basic, where recruits aren’t asked where they feel most comfortable but are simply placed where they’re needed.

Says Doyle: “We’ve come across examples in the past where somebody leaves after a day because they don’t like heights, but their role required them to clean windows in tall buildings or a person who loves spending time through the day interacting with people, being asked to work in a quiet cinema.

“Instead, why not determine what type of working environment works best for them? One of the advantages of our scale is we have an opportunity to offer a range of working environments. In that way, if you can match people with the right environment, they’ll stay with you longer. And if you can engage people throughout their time with the business, including feeling aligned with the client organisation, that is really important.”

Alongside this he also thinks that it’s important the sector ensures that it’s constantly driving fair rates of pay, which allows it to compete with other industries and means the FM services sector can attract people into the industry from adjacent industries, like hospitality.

Doyle applies this philosophy to the increasing use of tech. In April, Bidvest Noonan launched a new cloud-based operations platform ‘Task’ to enhance service processes, employee management, and asset tracking. But as Doyle explains, while Bidvest Noonan’s tech and innovation team continues to test all of the new innovations coming down the line, what he believes they do best is in understanding what customers want.

“What are that customer’s data requirements, what are their ESG objectives, their pain points? And then, with that knowledge we can suggest a number of innovations that can help deliver on that.”

He points out that while AI is still in its foundational stage, investing in creative analytics is already providing customers with valuable insights. For example, deploying sensor technology across estates helps construct cleaning specifications that are more responsive to the days of the week, times of day, and even specific periods such as exams in educational settings.

He says: “In this way we’re able to create more dynamic solutions and the interesting thing about the data that’s being produced is that it leads to insights that actually help the client manage far more than just cleaning rotas, for instance energy management.”

FUTURE PLANS

Unsurprisingly, given its exponential growth Bidvest Noonan is being seen as a disruptor brand in the UK. For a while a number of big players, from Mitie to ISS, have helped consolidate the market, but Bidvest Noonan is making inroads into their territories.

Says Doyle: “We have a size and scale that puts us at the top table when customers are assessing our brand and that creates excitement around our journey and our story. For instance, this appeal has attracted many talented people to join our UK business in recent years.”

Doyle also insists that no matter the scale of the business, maintaining and developing strong client relationships will always be a top priority.

Doyle explains: “There’s been a shift in customer needs, and we’ve got to be able to take their feedback on and you only do that if you actively listen. If we’re simply delivering what was in the specification of a contract we wrote three years ago or seven years ago or 15 years ago, it’s not enough. We need to know what’s happening today, especially changes in the client organisation that might require a different approach. The question is, how do you flex? It is really taking the time to listen and understand what’s going on for the customer and offer them the right solution.”

He points out that being long-term thinkers, the plan that has been created for the next five years aims to see the business double. Opening up new sectors in the UK will be critical to that plan, for instance moving into the social housing space, but there are other market verticals which will present growth opportunities. He doesn’t rule out further acquisitions along the way, but they need to be strategic.

“These businesses would need to bring something different that enhances the offering we have in the marketplace, so if we find something that meets that criteria we may be interested. There are many pillars where we believe we can build on our growth across the UK and Ireland, whether through existing customer-based opportunities, new business or growth through acquisition.

“It’s a very exciting time, I see no reason why we can’t keep expanding at our current growth rate.”