The interview
Tynewater Primary School > So, he says, he has learnt the secret of being invisible. preoccupation for building owners. Skanska recently
in Midlothian, Scotland, one
“If you walk into one of the buildings we manage you won an award for recovering plastic from clinical waste
of Skanska’s projects
won’t see Skanska logos all over the place – just one and transforming it into site hoardings – 96 per cent
small, discreet office. That is because the building is of all clinical waste is plastic and the vast majority ends
not ours, it belongs to the user – in many cases that is up in landfill.
the local community – and our job is to keep it working. Myles, who is serving his second term as chairman
If they hardly notice we are there, we are doing a good of the Heating and Ventilation Contractors’ Association
job.” (HVCA) Scotland, started out as an apprentice
Myles is convinced that as the new-build market technician at the Scottish Gas Board in 1969 before
shrinks, the pressure is on for owners to “sweat their moving to the domestic gas and electrical heating
assets” and squeeze the maximum from the existing installer Alexander Dunn in Glasgow.
stock. This will encourage firms to adopt a model that “In the Fifties, they had this amazing system that
places greater emphasis on the long-term operation used a double-skin chimney to heat the whole house
of buildings. To be successful, companies will have via the warm air generated by the coal fire. Vents in the
to develop improved facilities management expertise outer skin allowed the heat to spread to upper floors. It
– to the benefit of building owners/operators and the was fairly effective and innovative for its time, but you
environment. don’t see much of that kind of thing these days!”
“Facilities services are no longer seen as a bolt-on to He then became a civil engineering draughtsman
M&E [mechanical and electrical services] – it is a totally when work became scarce in the mid-70s, before
different business and a radically different culture,” moving to Duncan Johnston, a well-known local heating
Myles says. “The priorities are totally different, too. We and plumbing company. Duncan Johnston was heavily
Everything is
don’t necessarily want the cheapest suppliers, but we involved in the emerging new towns of the day such
do want the quickest and most reliable.” as Cumbernauld and Livingston, where hundreds of
moving so fast.
Having a long-term commitment to a facility nearly identical homes had to be fitted with largely
In September, also means you have the opportunity to influence identical gas-fired heating systems.
the economy in
its sustainability – another increasingly onerous
Rising from the ashes
Scotland was
Great business if you can find it, but the company still
still bouncing –
SKANSKA went to the wall, despite having £4m worth of business
now it is flat
As a multi-national and multi-disciplinary on its books. “It was cash flow that killed it and, the
construction giant, Skanska is able to monitor the ultimate humiliation, our headquarters building in
– Eddie Myles
changes from within and without. Its restructuring Strathaven became a potato warehouse. At least a new
in 2008 was designed to reflect the shifting market, company rose from the ashes and is still trading in
with an increased focus on providing facilities Scotland.”
support for building clients. He sees similar warning signs today, but says the
Although it is still best known as a main general financial situation is even more volatile.
contractor leading large construction projects, “Everything is moving so fast. As recently as September,
Skanska has over £1.5 billion worth of FM contracts the economy in Scotland was still bouncing – now it has
across the UK including schools, several hospitals gone completely flat.
and Ministry of Defence premises. “Much of the problem is down to lack of confidence
Around 25 per cent of Skanska’s total facilities caused by the banks refusing to lend money, and it will
work in Scotland comes from within the group be the SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] that
where the construction arm built the projects. The suffer most.”
rest was won on the open market. However, he insists the situation is not all doom and
gloom. “All is not lost. There is still a market out there,” >
24 CIBSE Journal April 2009 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEapr09 pp22-24,26 interview_myles.indd 24 2/4/09 14:58:19
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