When and Where to Outsource FM

01 April 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

Following major investment in modern headquarters and a comprehensive review of its facilities across eight sites, Henkel had the choice of to keep its FM in-house or outsource.

Henkel manufactures well known brands such as Sellotape, Loctite and Schwarzkopf and decided it had to take the strategic decision to outsource its FM for the UK and Ireland to Grosvenor Services.

This was the first time Henkel has outsourced its FM services and the decision was based on a number of factors including financial and management time savings.

Following a competitive tender involving 10 contractors, Henkel appointed Grosvenor Services as its single provider for integrated FM services in August 2014. The company was chosen based on cost, expertise and its ability to ‘self-deliver’ most of the required services but above all, for what Grosvenor saw as its ‘personal approach’. Requirements included building services, office and industrial cleaning, catering and concierge, security and switchboard services.

Diverse range of sites

Henkel is a multinational company with operations across the UK and Ireland ranging from manufacturing plants and R&D centres, to offices and warehouses and even a training facility for its beauty products.

This diverse range of sites needed a FM services partner with expertise in multiple sectors and an understanding of the critical nature of the services to the business.

Effectively managing services

On commencing the contract, Grosvenor Services instituted a number of changes. To efficiently manage service level agreements, it tailored its CAFM system specifically to Henkel requirements, providing a self-service portal. This allows the latter to track planned maintenance, response times and results in real time. Key results to date include annual savings across all services and high monthly audit scores.

Health and safety are critical in high risk manufacturing environments where chemicals are used in the production process. Recognising that its security officers would act as the vital gatekeeper for people entering these sites, Grosvenor Services has put a heavy focus on additional training for its security team.

On the building and plant maintenance side, Grosvenor Services understands the importance of keeping Henkel equipment, e.g. steam boilers, compressed air systems and life safety systems well maintained so that manufacturing processes run smoothly and there is no unnecessary downtime. Planned preventative maintenance as well as reactive maintenance, are undertaken at the manufacturing sites on a regular basis.

The new headquarters is a purpose designed multi-million pound, three-floor, 36,000sqft building in Hemel Hempstead that includes a restaurant and a variety of client showrooms, conference area and formal and informal meeting areas.

The Grosvenor Services team now manage the running of the entire building, from the restaurant to technical and cleaning services and from front desk concierge to management of the switchboard with the security person often being the first point of contact between Henkel and its visitors. It continues to add value by working with Henkel to better understand its needs and delivering on those and is now working on sustainable options for reducing energy consumption.

“As this is the first time we have outsourced our FM services, we have particularly welcomed the fact that the Grosvenor Services management team has been involved every step of the way from the tender process to the delivery,” explained Victoria Hampstead, Facilities & Procurement Manager, Henkel. “The outsourcing of these services enables Henkel to focus on our core business activities, while we have also benefited logistically from having one supplier and once invoice. Grosvenor Services has added value by helping Henkel to identify ways to further reduce costs in our day to day operations.”

The outsourcing of FM services in the UK and Ireland appears to have been so successful that Henkel is now using this as a benchmark for procurement of similar services across Europe.

Picture: A bold first step to outsource its FM services appears to have paid off for Henkel after it chose Grosvenor Services

Article written by TWinFM Reporter | Published 01 April 2016