CASE STUDY LGIM & BELLROCK
MOBILISATION AND BEYOND
Mobilising the contract was a complex process,
as operationally, it involved a range of assets,
including multi-lets, retail parks, industrial
centres and a range of commercial o ice
occupiers with di erent needs. Because each
site is di erent, the way it is managed is aligned
to an individual ‘Asset Operation Plan’. This
encompasses a range of targets including energy
management, project works, social value and
upcoming lease breaks. But unlike the typical
hierarchical model between managing and
FM operations, everyone works in partnership
to help create welcoming and productive
environments for occupiers.
Says Smart: “To get the contract up
and running required dedication,
commitment and good
communication, all of which
was led by LGIM pulling it
all together with Bellrock
and the managing
agents. When the first
COVID-19 spike kicked
in we’d just completed
the mobilisation of our
final assets and gone live,
consequently if you’re going
to stress test the operating
model, the operational resilience
and the capability of the team being
put them into the environment we were
in back in April.”
Tyson agrees: “We’d already set out to have
close occupier relationships so when COVID hit
we saw that of our two main aims, proximity
(i.e. getting closer to the occupier) and agility
we’d really need to see how agile we were. We
set up fortnightly meetings with our occupier
representatives at an asset level, including PMs,
asset managers and SDMs to check on progress,
it was so successful it’s now something we’ve all
agreed won’t go away a er the pandemic is over,
as we’ve built up such a positive relationship.”
Measuring occupancy satisfaction rates is
always a point of stress for FM and the Mercury
Model has truly grabbed the nettle by employing
the use of QR codes to get a snapshot of dayto
day user satisfaction alongside a regular
strategic occupier survey. Using Net Promoter
30 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021
Scores more o en
seen in the hospitality
or consumer facing
businesses LGIM have
been able to drive focus
on these scores alongside
traditional metrics.
Says Tyson: “The QR
code posters were installed
in around 32 o ices at the
beginning of 2020. We ask just a
couple of questions, ‘what can we do to
improve and would you recommend this as
a place to work out of five?’ We didn’t know
what to expect when we opened up a direct
channel to our teams for feedback but we
didn’t expect the balance between positive
and negative which came from listening and
taking direct action. We learnt quickly that
if we acted on feedback relating to cleaning
standards for example we would o en get
a thank you as a follow up. It is anonymous
but drives the site teams to be proactive and
engage with building users to understand
what they want. We are now seeing assets
consistently scoring 4’s & 5’s across the
board.
“Regarding COVID we also used QR code
posters which asked the simple question, ‘Do
you feel safe in this building?’ This allowed us
to respond instantly to concerns and monitor
the measures we had in place. Our approach
during COVID also led to a tenant based in
Scotland asking what other space we had in
Manchester as they had confidence in our
ability to operate versus other landlords they
currently have space with.
“That’s the Mercury Model in a nutshell, if
you retain your customers, you grow your
rentable value and in theory they should buy
more space from you over time.”
As the contract comes to the end of year
one, according to Smart, mobilisation and
transition have been achieved and the
focus is now on transformation - what he
describes as “game changing innovation in
IoT, sustainability, occupier experience and
predictive maintenance”.
“We have designed programmes to
deliver IoT led interventions into building
performance, predictive maintenance of our
assets, all of which will drive, e iciency, value
and an improved occupier experience. We’re
looking at our sustainability programme in a
di erent way, including detailed analysis of
the utilities performance of the properties and
have already kicked o thought provoking
workshops with all stakeholders including
asset managers, managing agents, FMI,
brainstorming what does good actually look
like?”
In the longer term, the aim is to get to a
point where an occupier comes into a space
and they drive the conditions that are most
productive. For example, agree the level
of light, the zones for quiet work, control
distractions, and once these parameters
are determined, as a landlord commit to
providing this optimised environment.
Says Tyson: “If we are able to say as part of
the deal you’re going to get good productive
and healthy space, demonstrated to building
users with live data, unless a commercial
property down the road is doing the same
thing they will never want to leave. We’ve
invested significantly in this area to have
more control, more agility, more proximity to
enable us to outplay the market on service.”
But the key to the success of the Mercury
Model is the strategic use of data. Concerto is
able to measure how a building is performing
– not just from a statutory compliance
or reactive helpdesk but from a building
performance score, including energy, air
quality, humidity and the level of service.
“That is what Mercury model is,” says Tyson.
“How we give our occupiers a service that
they can understand – not a load of statutory
stu which is just a given, in a way that they
can turn around to their stakeholders and
say ‘we’ve created a healthy productive
workspace and our teams love being in it.”
If we are able to say as
part of the deal you’re going to
get good productive and healthy
space, demonstrated to building
users with live data, unless a
commercial property down the
road is doing the same thing
they will never want to
leave.”