Aptly described as the most “positive event in the industry” by veteran attendees, Nedap, the Facilities Management Forum returned this 2016 bigger and better than ever with a comprehensive seminar programme and an increasingly innovative range of product and service providers attending the event. Just when we said it couldn’t get any better, the event made a strong comeback this this New Year, re-establishing its unchallengeable position as market leader.

Taking place on the 25^th and 26^th January at the Radisson Blu Hotel, London Stansted; the event brought the industry together to discuss relevant business solutions through a series of face-to-face meetings – integral to our core philosophy. With countless networking opportunities and interactive seminars on the best facilities practices; the Facilities Management Forum provides an unparalleled platform to build your network and expertise effortlessly – a perfect recipe for a productive two days out of office.

Over the course of its 17 year lifespan the Facilities Management Forum has grown from strength to strength establishing its position as market leader. Being the principal place in the industry for Facilities Managers to get their fix on the latest industry innovations; the event is well-attended by some of the biggest household names including The View From The Shard, Links of London, Pizza Hut Restaurants, Nandos, Virgin Holidays and many more.

Suppliers attending the event are equally plentiful; carefully handpicked based upon the business requirements of these delegates, our suppliers offer a range of innovative products and services, to name a few planned and reactive maintenance, M&E, security, catering, total facilities management, cleaning, energy management, amongst many others. This year we hosted the likes of Mitie Facilities Management, Salisbury Group, Ocean Integrated Services, Iron Mountain and LCC Support Services, alongside many others.

So how does the Facilities Management Forum differ to other events the industry?

Within an industry dominated by trade shows and exhibitions; the Facilities Management Forum comes as a breath of fresh air to industry professionals. The event is significantly smaller in size exclusively inviting senior decision-makers and handpicking suppliers that provide a sought-after product or service; ensuring attendees leave with plenty of business contacts relevant to their current and forthcoming projects; avoiding the hustle and bustle of a trade show.

Over the course of the two-day event delegates and suppliers get together for a series of face-to-face meetings, seminars and endless networking opportunities.

Kicking off this year’s event, Andrew Mawson, Managing Director of Advanced Workplace Associate presenting the latest research which takes a look into how businesses can create working conditions that help each individual’s brain be effective as it can be. Andrew did a great job at mentally preparing us for a productive two days and before we knew it, it was time for our coveted face-to-face meetings.

Within the increasingly competitive world of facilities management, the importance of a good business relationship between businesses and their product and service suppliers has become critical. With this in mind; our Facilities Management Forum team uses a unique formula to match together like-minded delegates and suppliers for a series of face-to-face meetings. Central to our core philosophy; our renowned face-to-face meetings provide the opportunity to network on a personal level – after all evidence shows that we are more likely to do business with companies we have met face-to-face. Our face-to-face meetings were a huge success throughout the day, with Ocean Integrated Services describing the event as – “A very good few days with positive outcomes from a number of meetings”.

The day was then finished off with choice of two seminars; the first presented by Rachel Dick, Senior FM Consultant at Mace Macro shedding light on the type of data and information business require to make informed critical decisions, the second presented by Johnny Dunford, Director of Corporate Real Estate at BNP Paribas discussing how to measure and make improvements to office space productivity.

After a busy day, it was finally time for some fun! We provide a handful of relaxed     opportunities over our infamous gala dinner, drinks and some evening entertainment to ensure attendees get to know each other that little bit better. We had a fun-filled evening in store for our guests; a Fun Money Casino, a Reaction Board and to top it all off an F1 Simulator Competition. Everyone had a great time and got stuck in battling to win a bottle of champagne!

The next day, we were all up bright and early – ready for another productive day. To start the day off, Reece Woods, Partner at Building Transformation hosted a group session arming Facilities Managers with the information to achieve greater clarity on façade restoration processes, methods and risks.

After an insightful seminar, it was time for another set of face-to-face meetings and some much-needed coffee breaks! A lot of positive interaction went on during the final business meetings of the day and everyone was pleased with the contacts they had made. We had a final networking lunch and before we knew it, it was time to go back to the office but this time armed with a handful of useful contacts.

After another successful two days; the Facilities Management Forum firmly re-confirmed its position as market leader; providing an unparalleled platform to learn, share, network and engage amongst the best brains in the industry.

Event Manager, Luke Webster comments;

“This year’s January FM Forum was another huge success with an outstanding line up for both suppliers and delegates, providing the ideal platform to build business relationships. I’ve had some great feedback and look forward to widening our audience for the July Forum.”

The next Facilities Management Forum will be taking place on July 11^th & 12^th 2016. For the next event we can expect a broader range of product and service providers offering an innovative range of products and services. To book your place onto this event or to register your interest, please click here.

Follow @FMForum on Twitter for the latest event updates.

The Sentencing Council’s new guidelines on sentences and fines to be levied out for health and safety offences are took effect on 1st February. They will now act as a definitive guideline for both the Magistrates and Crown Courts on a range of cases – including corporate manslaughter for individuals or firms.

The guidelines are in place to tackle what was previously seen as varying degrees of severity in punishments for health and safety cases. It is hoped that from February onwards, the guidelines will allow the authorities to hand out appropriate fines, while also clearly defining the categories of severity relating to the crimes being tried.

In doing so, courts will use the premise of culpability and the amount of harm inflicted to place it in the correct category of severity. As well as this, company turnover will be taken into consideration when deciding the level of financial penalty.

The introduction of the guidelines will hopefully prompt firms to check their own measures are up to date and in line with current laws in order to prevent breaches being committed. Or, if they have been committed, give firms a better understanding of how severe a breach has been and what to expect in terms of sentencing. Advice from legal experts is that if concerns are raised by internal or external sources, that these be acted upon immediately and not ignored.

The corporate FM sector will continue to grow over the next few years, according to a new report released this week. AMA Research released ‘Facilities Management Outsourcing –Corporate Sector Report – UK 2015-2019’ which analysed market activity within the corporate sector from 2009 to 2015, including forecasts to 2019.

The overall outlook seems good, despite the industry feeling the effect of slow construction and development during the recession. Today, contracts are increasing, business confidence levels are growing and with a more stable economy underpinning it, the outlook is positive. The report notes a particular spike in interest in outsourcing FM services, a trend which is also showing no signs of slowing down in the current climate.

Commercial offices are the largest users of outsourced facilities services, accounting for half of the total market by value. The second-largest contributor is retail, with entertainment and leisure sectors also contributing significantly. It therefore stands to reason that the development and expansion of these sectors in the wider climate will directly affect the room for growth for the corporate FM sector. Around 75 per cent of services within the corporate market (by value) are now thought to be outsourced in some way, and the commercial office and retail sectors are approaching saturation point.

But it also clear that margins were still under pressure, which reflected consolidation in the market. The number of large FM providers has grown, with these bigger players focused on winning enough business to fill their capacity.

The report also interestingly highlights some areas for concern – saturation in the marketplace means margins are tight and competition in this sector is fierce. The arrival of the living wage coming into effect in 2016 may further add to the pressure on contractors to deliver within tougher parameters. Read the report details in full by clicking here.