AEJ have secured another contract cleaning win, this time on the south coast of England at a 165,000 square feet retail park with capacity for over 500 vehicles to park. AEJ, who specialise in soft service facilities management into the retail, shopping centre, office and business park space will provide on site cleaning to ensure the retail park is in a good, clean condition at all times for shoppers visiting the site. This is important to not only attract new customers to a site but also ensure repeat visits from those that use the retail park on a regular basis.
This contract award increases AEJ’s portfolio in the South East of England along with continuing to establish the business as once of the leading names in the contract cleaning marketplace across the UK.
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AEJ Management are celebrating another new site win, this time down on the south coast of England at a 160,000 square feet retail park. Soft service facilities management retail specialist AEJ have been appointed to undertake the landscaping and general grounds maintenance on the site and are to begin work immediately.
Iain Warburton, Business Development Manager at AEJ remarked, ‘This is another really good win for the business, coming hot on the heel of winning the soft services management contract at a North London retail park only the other week. We seem to be picking up some nice new business wins at the moment and long may that continue’.
Along with a landscaping service, AEJ provide security as an SIA registered provider of guards and CCTV and also cleaning services across a range of retail, shopping and business park locations. The company, operating from their Chelmsford HQ, has an in-house property maintenance team able to service all maintenance and periodic works on client sites.
For further information on the services that AEJ offer, visit the website at http://aejmanagement.com or contact on 01245 396873.
Comments Off on Has The FM Sector Now Become A ‘Race To The Bottom’?
Across UK, industry as a whole over the last 12- 18 months has seen seismic developments which did not seem possible prior to the outbreak of Covid-19. Businesses have had to adapt to the constant changing landscape they operate in with most employers taking advantage of furlough, or the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, in an attempt to prevent redundancies and keep staff on the payroll whilst hoping to get through the turbulence as unscathed as possible. Microsoft Teams and Zoom have become the new medium for holding both internal company and client meetings and perhaps opened executive eyes in how communications can still remain open and effective between staff and clients alike, whilst travel has been restricted. Industry however has suffered that there can be no doubt, with the hospitality sector still largely dormant and one of the last to pick up the pieces from the devastation of Lockdown.
The Facilities Management sector has also experienced changes that were not forecast with remote staff management becoming a necessity along with the challenges imposed logistically to ensure site staff are fully compliant from a PPE perspective. There have, of course, been some winners and losers in this sector yet the retail sector has perhaps been the biggest loser with numbers only recently returning to parks and shopping centres of which were experienced pre-lockdown. Managing agents have had to work tirelessly with both landlords and tenants alike in an attempt to understand both occupier requirements and occupancy costs. The role of ‘middle man’ has had to be played, at times, with diplomatic aplomb so as to extend support to occupiers in outlining the financial support available through CBILS and other government backed schemes along with lobbying Business Improvement Districts (BIDS). Rent concessions, service-charge mitigation and payment plans have had to be skilfully negotiated to satisfy the need of both landlord and occupier.
Despite all this and the heroic efforts by some managing agents to keep centres from looking like ghost towns and the fact that we now appear, at least, to be coming out of the woods with the clearing in sight, has there been a shift in procurement strategy in relation to contractor services with cost being the main driver over quality of service delivery? Cost will and has always been a significant driver in the procurement process for any organisation, but given the challenges experienced over the last 18 months, is this now the significant factor when it comes to procuring management services?
Iain Warburton, Business Development Manager at AEJ Management who have for a number of years specialised in providing soft service facilities management into the retail and shopping centre space, makes some interesting observations. ‘The last 12 months in particular have been quite fascinating for this sector. We have noticed clients putting greater emphasis on cost cutting measures whilst still expecting, to a large degree, the same level of quality of service delivery and reporting. A number of regional facilities managers that I have spoken to across the country over the last 12 months have all sited cost cutting requirements in their site procurement needs yet have remarked, also, that AEJ have consistently delivered on their service delivery and reporting promise to ensure quality of operational delivery, despite the constant challenges the sector has had to overcome’.
It does beg the question, has Covid been a ‘bad news Friday’ moment for the FM sector with procurement teams using this as a reason to look solely at the bottom line at the expense of quality, innovation and effective operational reporting? Iain continues, ‘We’ve certainly seen instances of clients suggesting an emphasis on quality, added value and innovation requirements at the bid stage, yet at the contract award stage seemingly motivated by the bottom line only, sometimes, at the expense of outstanding site service delivery’.
It’ll be interesting to note, post July 19th, whether there are to be further significant changes that impact on this sector but one thing is for sure, companies are going to have to be on the balls of their feet when making decisions in compiling their costings during the bid stage in an even more, ever changing marketplace than usual whilst perhaps having to second guess the client’s train of thought, when looking to win contracts.
Comments Off on AEJ Win New Grounds Maintenance Contract
AEJ are pleased to have been awarded a new grounds maintenance contract for a leading adult education college in the Midlands. The college, which offers over 150 short residential courses aimed at helping adults improve their skills, confidence and ability to work towards their own personal or professional goals, is set in 6 acres of grounds and woodland.
Iain Warburton, Business Development Manager at AEJ Management remarked, ‘This is a great win for AEJ as we continue to offer an industry leading horticultural service to our clients. Whilst traditionally strong within the retail and shopping centre space, this expands AEJ’s service remit into the education and charitable sectors which demonstrates the team’s ability to perform across multiple sectors. We’re looking forward to working with the client on a number of on site sustainability and biodiversity projects along with providing a service into a site with centuries of history’.
Should you have a landscaping requirement or indeed a soft services facilities management need then contact us 01245 396873 or email us at helpdesk@aejmanagement.com
This week, on Wednesday May 12th, saw the world of FM unite for World FM Day. This year’s World FM Day theme was announced as ‘Celebrating FM: Standing Tall Beyond The Pandemic’ and exists to acknowledge the contribution made by facilities and workplace management.
Cleaning and hygiene across the built environment have been under scrutiny like never before since the outbreak of the pandemic. Here at AEJ Management, we have been no different with the need to provide Covid secure workspace along with mitigating the risk of key workers unable to work from home, as a critical requirement for our staff both office and site based. Issues such as these have resulted in critical conversations from FM leaders of business and industry over the last 12 months across the country. Along with developing Covid secure environments, the supply of PPE particularly to remote workers, has been another logistical challenge that has had to be overcome.
Learning about new technologies that are available along with implementing cost effective solutions across industry sectors has ensured the facilities manager’s job role has never been so reactive before with even more plates to have to spin than usual. Flexibility is another key requirement that a provider has had to demonstrate to a client given the nature of the service demands. Resilience has become a by product of the need to change and adapt.
Throughout the last 12 months, the facilities management sector has never played a more important role in ensuring infrastructure and services continue at the rate to be expected.
IWFM’s CEO Linda Hausmanis, CEO of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management remarked, ‘The past year has seen our profession thrust into the spotlight like never before. From enabling the mass transition to homeworking to ensuring healthcare professionals can work in clean, safe environments, maintaining and securing buildings though empty of people, and more, workplace and facilities practitioners worldwide have played a key role in the response to this global crisis.’
We’d like to thank all our maintenance and site-based operatives for their efforts and salute all those involved in the industry for their efforts across a 12 month period like no other. All working in this sector should be proud of our efforts and achievements and we at AEJ Management are no different in sharing and acknowledging those sentiments.
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