Jones Lang LaSalle
availability of cash for new build has caused many property owners to look again at existing properties to see if they can be used more economically and more efficiently. It is within this changing world that property management companies with a global perspective can often transfer expertise across boundaries to assist property owners and their tenants to operate more efficiently. One such company is Jones Lang
T
LaSalle. The roots of the company can be traced back to 1783 but it was in 1999 that the present organisation was created through the largest international real estate industry merger to date, when Jones Lang Wootton & Sons and LaSalle Partners joined forces to form Jones Lang LaSalle. The resulting company was - and still is - the leading global commercial real estate services and investment management firm with more than 30,000 people employed in 750 locations in 60 countries to serve the local, regional and global real estate needs of those clients. In 2006, Jones Lang LaSalle was named for the first of three consecutive years in Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 Best Big Companies, the only real estate services firm to attain that honour. Rodney Pitt spoke to three London- based directors – Tim Tourville, Managing Director, Integrated Facilities Management, EMEA Corporate Solutions, Justin Plumpton, Director, Corporate Property and Bill Monk, Head of Corporate Solutions – about the Company’s role in today’s property markets.
PM-Select: Mr Tourville, can you tell me something about your role and your background?
Tim Tourville: As managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Integrated Facilities Management business in EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa), I am accountable for the management and development of a business of currently 590 professionals, across 239,785,520ft2
in 54 countries and
354 sites. Before joining Jones Lang LaSalle, I spent 14 years with Motorola, most recently as the operational director of Real Estate, Development & Facility Management (REDFM), primarily for the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. I was charged with creating, defining and implementing long-term global real estate strategies and financial guidelines. I was also the leader for providing strategic direction and innovative
he recent changes in the world’s financial situation have impacted across many sectors of daily life and, in this respect, property management has been no different. The changes in the
management of the REDFM including the development of staff and processes. During my time there, I managed a portfolio of over 5.1 million ft2
of
owned/leased properties at 135 locations in 46 countries within EMEA and Southwest Asia with an operational budget of US$190 million. I believe that this experience has made me ideally suited to my present role where I am seeking to develop our role across this region.
PM-Select: What does this mean on a day-to-day basis?
Tim Tourville: My main function is the development of hard and soft services for our portfolio management. The main issues for our clients are cost, the efficient management, consulting and delivery of services across the whole portfolio but by far their biggest concern is cost.
Justin Plumpton: My main function is in the UK corporate property world where we work with corporate clients on their obligations – what property do they have, what is in the portfolio, what are their obligations, what do we have to do, what do any sub-tenants have to do, what do the occupiers have to do? We work to find the most efficient ways of doing things and look to se if we can do it in a more simple way and for less cost. Again, cost is the key factor. We are finding that large volume occupiers are seeking to outsource some or all of their responsibilities and it is increasingly our role to ensure that everything still remains joined up – property management, facilities management, etc – and things do not get doubled up or overlooked.
PM-Select: Are there any major changes taking place in the way clients are thinking about their portfolios?
Tim Tourville: We are finding that there is a growing demand for certainty of contract. By this I mean that the client’s expectation is based upon base levels that we have set and they then expect these to attain over the life of the contract. What they also require is a means to ratchet down costs as necessary, based upon the economic situation appertaining at that time. They need to know if we can take money out of the operation and if we can provide ways for them to achieve savings if required.
Bill Monk: A lot of occupier clients are now merging and even those who are not are looking at ways to consolidate
Justin Plumpton, director corporate property.
face to face
space. They want to know how they can make better use of existing space levels, can they reduce the amount of space by techniques such as hot desking. Through the application of the expertise that we have gained, not just in the UK, but from our worldwide experiences, we can make sure that the portfolio fits with their strategy.
Tim Tourville, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Integrated Facilities Management business in EMEA.
Justin Plumpton: The constantly reshaping labour model means that it is essential to be able to maintain the efficiency of the client’s operation across a site or across their whole portfolio so that they can be managed against KPIs One of the key facets of this is the need to be able to communicate key information in the slickest possible way. One of our clients regularly produced 60 management reports detailing facilities management, property management, and transaction management. Some of these reports were weekly, some were monthly with the result that there was a disparate collection of reports going to a disparate collection of managers. We have turned this round into a single monthly report of four pages with just the necessary highlights. This told the global head of real estate the complete position.
Bill Monk, head of corporate solutions.
Bill Monk: There have been a number of changes. On the technology side, we need to be able to collate information, interpret it and advise the client on a wide variety of information. We have invested both time and money into this area and we believe that our system is now the best in the field. Another key change is in the way that companies are now looking at property management. Those who were previously looking at part of the UK are now looking across the whole country; those who looked at the UK are now looking at Europe and many who were previously looking at Europe are now looking at much wider fields. It is all down to cost savings through the integration of different services. In the past, outsourcing options lay in property management, facilities management, transaction management, and even service supply management. We are now looking at integrating two or more of these to make it more efficient.
Tim Tourville: Another factor is how you can leverage services for different clients. In food catering, for example, when working with multiple clients, can you move to a platform where you have consistent delivery across a number of clients? In this way, maybe economies of scale of purchasing can reduce costs while increasing the efficiency of service. Because of the strong pressures for cost
www.pm-select.co.uk l september 2010 l Property Management Select l 9
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