FMJ.CO.UK DIRECT LINE GROUP CASE STUDY
FEBRUARY 2020 25
house around 900 members of sta . Ascot
Services was engaged to help deliver the
refit, which proved so successful it was
asked to assist again with the acquisition
of a new site for the Bristol o ices. The
decision was taken to bring the new
building back to slab, and Ascot undertook
the M&E design, working closely with the
architects to translate the design concepts
and ideas into practice.
Says Lennon: “We also took the
opportunity to talk about how we could
better run the building. Working with our
suppliers Carillion at that time was very
challenging – they didn’t use data, which
meant they didn’t understand the customer.
Because of what DLG does, data analytics is
part of its DNA, so it was frustrating to deal
with an organisation that ignored that. This
was one of the reasons we went to market
to look at alternatives.”
Meanwhile, DLG Property Supplier
Performance Manager Diane Iles, who
has a background in customer service,
was impressed by Ascot’s professionalism
in managing the refit. She was equally
impressed by Mainstay’s concierge-style
management of the residential areas at the
top of the building. “They both had very
di erent backgrounds,” she says, “and we
thought, wouldn’t it be good to get the two
together and play to their strengths? So we
asked them to pitch for the hard and so
services together.”
Mainstay was engaged to provide
workplace services, delivered by a highend
customer-focused front of house and
housekeeping team, while Ascot’s team of
skilled engineers took charge of reactive and
proactive asset management. The contract
mobilised in December 2017. But a month
later, Carillion – still responsible for FM
services throughout the rest of DLG’s estate
– threw a spanner in the works by going into
liquidation.
This meant the procurement process
for the remaining 16 sites had to be
dramatically speeded up. Says Lennon:
“On the plan was something like a ninemonth
procurement process, but following
Carillion’s collapse we had to condense that
into four weeks. We narrowed the shortlist
down to include a couple of big named TFM
providers, along with the Ascot-Mainstay
model.”
Recalls Iles: “The perception was that
a ‘li and shi ’ approach with another
big TFM provider would be the quickest
and safest solution, but we kept an open
mind throughout the whole selection
process. Ascot and Mainstay won the
bid by demonstrating their desire and
passion for delivering the best possible
service. The main things for us were their
combined focus on customer service and
their agility. Ascot had already proved
itself very agile regarding the building
management systems and actively working
with us on energy savings, while Mainstay’s
background in high-end concierge pushed
customer services to a new level.”
SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIP
Thanks to Carillion, the new FM service
team had just three weeks to manage the
transition across an estate supporting
11,000 employees. The Bristol contract
helped set the model for a rapid transition,
with planned training sessions for everyone
involved in FM delivery and teambuilding
sessions for cleaners, front of house sta
and engineers. In addition, an external
consultant provided customer service
training on DLG’s brands, values and
mission, alongside various events designed
to bring everyone together as a team.
According to Iles, from the outset the DLG
property team was collectively defined, with
deference given to expertise ahead of job
title or seniority. All team members operate
under the same brand and operatives wear
the same uniform, no matter what their role
within the team. Successful features of Ascot
and Mainstay’s services have been adopted,
such as Mainstay’s HR documentation and
Ascot’s health and safety ‘toolbox talk’
format. The partnership agreed on all
systems and processes as well as format of
documents, reporting styles and the data
library.
There is a notable lack of formality and
high level of trust among the parties. This
has helped the team to build a collaborative
relationship – a supportive approach that
has resulted in strong results across 28 key
performance areas.
Says Iles: “The overriding principle is that
we are one team with one strategy and one
mission, and we have rolled this approach
out as we deliver transformation to all our
other sites. The KPIs and SLAs have all
been exceeded, with 95 per cent first-time
fix on reactive tasks and 98.3 per cent of all
emergencies rectified within four hours.”
On the plan was something like a
nine-month procurement process,
but following Carillion’s collapse we had to
condense that into four weeks.”