GOING DIGITAL
Christian Berenger, Managing Director of Ezitracker Remote Workforce Management Technology, looks at how SME cleaning service providers can drive the sector forward through streamlining.
A recent review of the available accounts for 22 facilities management firms with operations in the UK revealed that the average (EBITDA) margins have remained stagnant at around 7% during the last three years. In comparison, revenues grew at an average of 14% from last year.
The forecast came shortly before the collapse of the support services giant Carillion. Since the collapse, the government has announced that it is to launch a £12bn tender for cleaning and maintenance services at schools, hospitals and in other public buildings. The move is part of the government's aim to give a third of public sector work to SMEs by 2020. SMEs within the FM sector will hugely benefit from using remote workforce management software when it comes to tendering to win more of these public sector contracts.
The digital work world that we live in has meant that the facilities management and cleaning environment has become highly competitive. With decreasing margins, service providers have had to adapt their proposition to deliver enhanced efficiencies as clients seek suppliers that offer better value for money, digital innovations and accurate management information and analytics.
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In addition, the facilities management sector is, by its nature, extremely fragmented due to the variety of services offered such as security, building and grounds maintenance, and cleaning. We are seeing a high number of recent SME entrants, particularly focused on cleaning, which has created even further pricing pressure.
Delivering a site-based facilities contract is costly and managing hundreds of remote workers on multiple sites can be a huge challenge. Mobile workforce management technology has been largely embraced by the UK FM sector as an essential aspect of business processes. Administration tasks such as payroll, budgeting, staff scheduling and analytics are all made less cumbersome by understanding where staff are, and for how long they are there. Inevitable client questions about the timing of their cleanings can be easily answered as clients benefit from real time analytics, which provide vital contract compliance verification.
Progression in technology is driving innovation, facilitating a shift for cleaning contractors. The prevalence of new, cloud-based technologies such as workforce management software has made it significantly easier for FM service
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