Filling a Niche Brings Share Listing

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27 February 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970

Much like the facilities management industry in which it serves, niche specialist service provider Premier Technical Services Group PLC (PTSG) has changed dramatically since its inception.

Set up in 2007, PTSG identified the need to supply first tier contractors, including the likes of Mitie, with specialist services and highly-skilled personnel to carry out works on its behalf.

Since then, it has grown year-on-year culminating in the business floating on the London Stock Exchange in February 2015.

The company raised £8m on the opening day of trading and has some extremely ambitious plans for the future.

Group CEO Paul Teasdale said: “Since PTSG was established, we have grown year-on-year and we chose to go through the IPO process with a view to accelerating that growth.

“Despite our success to date, we are acutely aware of the need continually to reinvest in the business to promote future growth, something which we are confident the IPO can help us to achieve.”

Customer service has remained PTSG’s priority since its foundation which has led to a contract renewal rate circa 85 per cent across the business.

Brought on by the increased recognition of the FM industry in both the public and private sectors, PTSG’s rapid development has seen its staff levels swell to more than 220.

Recognised as an authority across all of its sectors – access and safety, electrical services, high level cleaning and specialist M&E, PTSG delivers works for a diverse range of clients, including the likes of the Ministry of Defence, Britvic Soft Drinks, Rolls Royce and Arsenal Football Club.

In recent years, official recognition of the industry and its importance to organisations in both the public and private sectors has come in the form of EN 15221, the European standard for facilities management signed off in 2006, and 81.10, the Standard Industrial Classification code adopted in 2008 that captures at least a part of FM.

In addition, government now takes the industry seriously enough to seek information and input from the various groups and bodies from time to time and to include it as an area for focus in its own accommodation management strategies and plans.

To ensure benefits are captured from this increased recognition, PTSG has itself taken steps to reinforce its values.

The introduction of an initiative aimed at instilling the company’s core value of providing the best possible customer service in all of PTSG’s employees is a perfect example of this.

MOUSE (Memorable, Outstanding, Unique, Service, Experience) carries messages in PTSG People, the company’s quarterly internal newsletter, regarding best practice and developments within the group that could improve customer service.

MOUSE is the backbone of the company and has become a corporate mascot for all its internal and external communications, for which customer service is the top priority.

Every employee is asked to reflect on what they deliver using the MOUSE initiative. Since its introduction, MOUSE has helped to highlight areas within the group where delivery and customer service could be improved.

Teasdale  said: “As in most industries, technology has become a critical part of facilities management operations. We moved with, if not ahead of, the times.

“In 2014, having taken on a team of technical developers, we are creating industry leading tracking and feedback software that has significantly improved efficiency and the customer service already offered.

“Later that year, we also introduced a training and development programme and co-creation and open innovation platform. We also plan to open an innovation and training centre of excellence. PTSG’s aim is to be the best – anticipating customer demand and being one step ahead of the game. Facilities management is central to some of the key business and social concerns of the era, including CSR, energy, the environment and sustainability."

While facilities managers, designers and a whole host of product suppliers have been developing a seemingly endless range of solutions, producing a remarkable evolution over the last decade, which has seen even some of the most conservative organisations abandoning their long-held commitment to private offices and fixed desks, PTSG was ensuring it was geared up to coping with the ever increasing demand.

Recession brought a new urgency to this as property became a board-level topic of interest – in terms of both the costs and the constraints it represents at a time when flexibility was a priority. More change, and more creativity, was required as organisations continued to evolve faster than their property portfolios – and the wider property market – can respond.

PTSG’s broad range of services across its four divisions became a unique selling point, allowing customers to employ one business to deliver all of their requirements.

This expansion was bolstered thanks to the heavily acquisitive nature of the business. PTSG always has three to four, self-funded, acquisitions underway at any time. This has allowed it to rapidly expand into complementary markets and broaden its geographic reach.

Teasdale said: “Markets right across the industry are highly competitive, and the premium is on a demonstrable track record, responsiveness and flexibility.

“Cost effectiveness puts an even greater premium on flexibility, responsiveness and creativity at both buyers and suppliers, and we need to work closely together if our various business objectives are to be fully identified, understood and met.”

PTSG has ensured it has put plans in place to address issues of cost effectiveness, responsiveness etc., putting it at the forefront of a very competitive industry.

Its approach to operating within such a demanding industry has not only put it at the forefront of facilities management today but it has ensured, as the industry continues to evolve, it will evolve with it.

Picture: PTSG's Paul Teasdale.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 27 February 2015

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