Analysis of a Contract Specific Organisation

Action MS using the Court Service Submission.

1. Resource Solution

1.1 General

The resource solution we advocate for this commission is a matrix solution based where there are

* Management Line Resources – management heads who will ultimately own the output, provide the people management function and have the Client relationship

* Service Line Managers – functional heads or experts from within the DJ matrix who will define the ‘what’ and ‘how’ aspect, providing the service delivery staff with direction, professional discipline knowledge and technical training

As all the Greater London Magistrates Court Authority Circuit portfolio is within Greater London, we propose supporting this commission with Service Managers and non site based professional resources from our London (West End) office.

The dedicated management team will naturally be based at your Managing Agent offices within the Thomas More Building.

The executive management team headed by Mike Young, who will have ultimate responsibility for the services provided

The Dedicated Management Team will own the solution and manage the client relationship and customer interface. They will draw on our matrix support of Service Managers and resources for specific tasks whilst retaining overall control and administration. The Service Managers will work for the Dedicated Management Team headed by our Account Manager and Operations Manager

The structure diagram included in this method statement (Page No. 15), and the Task Matrix Schedule in 2.2 identifies the key personnel and their area of responsibility – the Dedicated Management Team (Management Line) and the Service Managers responsible for the functional support via the matrix ( Functional Service Line).

For each principal service area, the managers will draw on personnel from the matrix who are most appropriately experienced and located. Therefore, a rent review on any of the buildings would be supervised by Malcolm Hull as “Service Manager” but be executed by a number of office based younger professionals. Malcolm will take full responsibility for the quality of their output, but will report into the DJ Account Manager (in the Management Line), who will own the overall solution

Similarly building projects will be carried out via the Service Managers (Peter Little & Peter Bickerstaff ) reporting through the DJ Account Manager, but might be best carried out by either engineer or surveyor with precise knowledge and experience.

1.2 Greater London Magistrates Court Authority Circuit – Allocation of Task Matrix

The suggested task allocation ( fixed fee and ad valorem )would be as follows

Task

Person / Position Responsible

Executive Ownership Management Line Owner

Service Manager, Guidance & Definition

Execution

General Management

Mike Young

Yusuf Pandor

Peter Rumbelow

Maintenance Management – site inspections

Peter Rumbelow

Peter Little

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Statutory Inspections

Peter Rumbelow

Peter Little

M&E Engineer

Programming

Yusuf Pandor

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Asst. M&E Engineer / Asst. B&CE Surveyor

Appraisals

Peter Rumbelow

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Asst. M&E Engineer / Asst. B&CE Surveyor

Small Works (< 5K)

Peter Rumbelow

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Asst. M&E Engineer / Asst. B&CE Surveyor

Projects ( > 5K)

Yusuf Pandor

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Asst. M&E Engineer / Asst. B&CE Surveyor

Listed Buildings Projects ( > 5K)

Peter Bickerstaff

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Asst. M&E Engineer / Asst. B&CE Surveyor

CDM

Peter Bickerstaff

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Asst. M&E Engineer / Asst. B&CE Surveyor

Client Meetings

Client

Yusuf Pandor / Mike Young

Peter Rumbelow

Help Desk

Peter Rumbelow

Peter Rumbelow

Help Desk Operatives

Measurements / Statistics

Yusuf Pandor

Peter Rumbelow

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Procurement of Term Contractors

Yusuf Pandor

Peter Rumbelow

M&E Engineer / B&CE Surveyor

Health & Safety

Mike Young

Yusuf Pandor

Peter Rumbelow

1.2 Greater London Magistrates Court Authority Circuit – Allocation of Task Matrix (Continued)

Task

Person / Position Responsible

Executive Ownership Management Line Owner

Service Manager, Guidance & Definition

Execution

Energy Management

Peter Rumbelow

Peter Little

M&E Engineer

Property Management General & Service Charges

Neil Upward

Sarah Bean

Alison Mc.Daid

Lettings & Licences

Nigel Grice

Matthew Elliott

Ben Coles

Acquisitions

Nigel Grice

Paul Glinsman

Steven Peers

MOTO’s

Neil Upward

Sarah Bean

Alison Mc.Daid

Rent Reviews

Malcolm Hull

Matthew Hobbs

Louise Atkins

Dilapidations

Peter Bickerstaff

Andy Mace

Scott Barlow

Disposals

Nigel Grice

Paul Glinsman

Steven Peers

Check organogram fits T.A.M. above + that scope is covered.

B Curriculum vitae of site specific staff (generic are acceptable) including age, qualifications, company status, period of service, relevant experience, and current duties.

Action A J

Find the Cv of Steve Woolley, Peter little etc etc.

Mike Young, Mike Shone etc.

C Programme sequence and preparation for introduction of staff into the Building and Contract with interim Services during Enabling Period.

Action MS to update the MS Project Chart

METHOD P.3

2. Commencement / Start Up / Implementation

We note that the commission award date is 15th September 2001 and that the Initial Period commences on 1st November 2001

A full communication / quality plan will be produced as soon as possible after award and prior to the initial period and at least 4 weeks before the start date at site, when Drivers Jonas assume full responsibility. The communication plan will be produced from the initial review and discussion. It will define roles and responsibilities, reporting lines, meeting frequencies and formats, escalation procedures, operation processes , who systems are used and what is expected of each person within the team

We will, within 4 weeks of the start of the Initial Period and following our appointment:

* Review the existing PPM contracts including associated Asset Registers

* Review the existing PPM programmes, and Works status against those programmes

* Hold an introductory meeting with each Term Contractor

* Identify any issues concerning the contracts and bring them to the attention of the Authority

METHOD P.22

3. Recruitment, Training & TUPE

All our HR processes covering recruitment, appraisal, remuneration and training are covered by our IiP accreditation. So you can rest assured that we will apply resources of the right calibre, experience, motivation and inclination. Our processes do not permit us to place resources without constant ongoing and adequate support and review of their performance. GOOD

3.1 TUPE

We are aware that there may be a number of staff affected by this tendering exercise who currently work with one of the three existing Managing Agents covering the portfolio. Under TUPE these individuals have rights which need to protected. Consultation is the key element in the process. This will enlighten current MA staff on the benefits of working with DJ, the opportunities they will have and assuage any fears they have about the unknown. Regular and open professional consultation will minimise the effects of any loss of motivation and reduce the loss of experience, which is vital if service continuity is to be maintained. We will take every opportunity to demonstrate that we value them and reassure them they have a great future with us. Without our people we could not be successful, so we would want to ensure they remain highly motivated and committed to DJ so that we can get the best out of them. We will make sure they are adequately inducted and trained in our unique systems, and their careers and performance are reviewed annually as part of our appraisal process. This appraisal process will identify current and future training needs, together with future career opportunities within the partnership.

Within our tender we have highlighted the number of positions and seniority of staff we intend to deploy on this commission . Some of these staff will come from within DJ other ( corporate and executive functions out of necessity ) others will need to be recruited. Under TUPE we are obligated to give the existing staff first option on these vacancies provided they have the skills and experience we require.

We are also aware from various discussions that none of the current staff are ex public sector employees, so relatively the risk to us is small in terms of the contingent terminal redundancy liability. On the basis of what we believe to be the emerging situation we have included within our bid a small �10,000 PC sum to cover TUPE, which we have included within our Interim Fee. However if required this could be amortised over the 3 year term. This fee may be insufficient – which is our risk – but may also be reduced when we understand more about the prevailing situation. Our assumptions are as follows;-

* Limited number of staff likely to be affected by TUPE, who are currently exclusively dedicated to the properties comprising the Greater London Magistrates Court Authority Circuit Estate

* Unlikely that professional staff – surveyors or engineers will be released by their current employers and hence deemed part of any TUPE transfer. Highly likely that their employers will want to keep them

* DJ resources are priced at market rates

* On average none of the current staff will have worked on any of the Greater London Magistrates Court Authoritys Circuit portfolio for more than 5 years

* Staff transferring into DJ can be transferred on to others at the end of the concession

* The consultation process in TUPE can take as long as 3 months

* Only staff will transfer to DJ where there is an exact skill match and the job continues in its current form

* Current providers will be responsible for termination costs where transfers to DJ do not take place and hence their jobs become redundant

* DJ will offer equitable T&C’s to those transferring

ISOP P. 25

i managing staff deployment and / or redeployment;

All our HR processes covering recruitment, appraisal, remuneration and training are covered by our IiP accreditation. So you can rest assured that we will apply resources of the right calibre, experience, motivation and inclination. Our processes do not permit us to place resources without constant ongoing and adequate support and review of their performance.

At the tender stage we will clearly identify the number of positions and seniority of staff we intend to deploy on this commission . Some of these staff will come from within DJ (corporate and executive functions out of necessity) others will need to be recruited.

Under TUPE we are obligated to give the existing staff first option on these vacancies provided they have the skills and experience we require. This said there is always the opportunity of transferring in staff under TUPE and redeploying them on to other accounts.

In recruiting staff for vacancies such as this we will in order of priority:-

* Offer as a first priority the vacancies to current staff with current providers under TUPE

* Secondly, if the TUPE transferees cannot alone satisfy the requirements then we would look to fill vacancies by internally advertising and transferring in staff from within Drivers Jonas, providing them with career development

* Thirdly, advertise and recruit externally

Under all of the above situations we adopt a strict equal opportunities policy where all vacancies are filled on the basis of merit, skills and experience, irrespective of colour , race, sect, religion, disability or sexual orientation.

ii addressing issues such as pensions, trade union membership, conditions of service and any other measures that will affect any employees transferring; and

Drivers Jonas’s HR processes are accredited to I i P (Investors in People). These processes cover Recruitment, Training, Welfare, Staff Appraisal and Career Development. We regard them as our core asset as we are a people business – accordingly we look after our staff. Under TUPE we are naturally required to match Terms and Conditions, including pensions which we are prepared to do. Although pensions are not currently covered by TUPE we believe that an equivalent pension scheme must be provided to ensure employee loyalty, commitment and hence service continuity. We are also prepared to recognise trade union representation in terms of collective negotiation. However the reality is that as Drivers Jonas is a very successful organisation and our incremental pay increases and bonuses are driven by performance and merit, as such they exceed those negotiated in the public sector.

There are normally two methods of dealing with the TUPE issue.

* Single stage bidding process with TUPE information provided up front

* Two stage bidding process, where the first stage assumes TUPE does not apply (green field situation) and then the TUPE information is factored in as part of the negotiations

iii complying with the required consultation process under TUPE for the transfer of staff.

DJ experience of TUPE includes both first and second generation transfers. In the case of first generation transfers this includes (1)transfers from original client to DJ, (2) client to contractor ( where DJ acted as adviser / consultant) and (3) client to contractor ( where DJ acted as independent FM / Managing Agent ). In the second generation category our experience includes (4) current FM to new FM and (5) contractor to contractor ( where DJ acted as adviser / consultant ) and lastly (6)from current Managing Agent to DJ ( where we have secured Managing Agent commissions and picked up staff that transferred into their existing employer under TUPE ).

In all our previous Managing Agent agreements, FM contracts and Consultancy commissions the sensitivity of the TUPE situation has been fully recognised and managed by seconding a trained and experienced HR Manager into our transition team, led by our designated Transition Manager. This individual will be designated by our HR Director Karen Cusdin, who also has extensive TUPE transfer experience.

We are aware that there may be a number of staff affected by this procurement exercise who currently work with the GLMCA or existing FM providers covering the portfolio. Under TUPE these individuals have rights which need to protected. Consultation is the key element in the process. Our process will include extensive consultation with both individuals and unions representing them, to ensure they are kept well informed and to minimise any loss of motivation and morale in what will be a difficult period. This will enlighten current FM staff on the benefits of working with DJ, the opportunities they will have and assuage any fears they have about the unknown. Those individuals that transfer to DJ will find that we are an expanding and progressive practice, with tremendous opportunity for career development and advancement.

Consultation will minimise the effects of any loss of motivation and reduce the loss of experience, which is vital if service continuity is to be maintained. We will take every opportunity to demonstrate that we value them and reassure them they have a great future with us. Without our people we could not be successful, so we would want to ensure they remain highly motivated and committed to DJ so that we can get the best out of them. We will make sure they are adequately inducted and trained in our unique systems, and their careers and performance are reviewed annually as part of our appraisal process. This appraisal process will identify current and future training needs, together with future career opportunities within the partnership.

The TUPE phenomenon has now been with us for over a decade and is now readily understood by the Property & FM industry. Any associated risks have been fully recognised and assessed. Workable plans, and staff friendly approaches developed and proven, which looks after the interests of the individual, whilst mitigating exposure by all the parties involved. Most organisations now view TUPE as a distinct advantage. In DJ for instance the main inhibitor to our growth is not finding and securing the work, but finding quality resources to underpin it. The transfer of resources via TUPE provides resource to deliver that growth, whilst ensuring continuity of service for the client.

Our approach with you will be to work in partnership to develop a joint solution, where individuals transfer to respective new employers as part of the overall service offering. We believe it is important that individuals transfer to an organisation where there is a natural cultural fit and where individuals best long term aspirations can be met. Under all situations as a professional practice we will ensure that all aspects of the TUPE legislation are executed fairly and appropriately. Our implementation process will include the development of a complete TUPE transfer plan. This will include a schedule of key dates / milestones covering initial discussion with yourselves, issue of official notices, consultation with affected staff, techniques and contingency plans for head count reductions, union discussions / briefings, official announcements to staff, arranging transfer solutions to new employers, publicising transfer date and induction training. We will produce a welcome pack for all staff transferring to us.

We are used to both single and two stage TUPE compliant bidding processes, where we have acted as both bidder and consultant. In the case of the former TUPE information is provided with the initial ITT. In the case of the latter, which is our preference, the TUPE information is issued at a later stage after the initial green field bids have been received and the effects of TUPE negotiated directly with the Preferred Supplier.

Based on a our previous experience of TUPE in this instance we cannot believe there will be a large TUPE terminal redundancy liability on the basis of the following;-

* We believe this exercise will only involve a handful of staff who may be ex public sector employees, so relatively the risk to us is small in terms of the contingent terminal redundancy liability.

* Again we assume that unless any of the site(s) close then the terminal liability will transfer to the incoming provider at the end of any commission

* Individuals will transfer to an organisation where there is a natural cultural fit and where individuals best long term aspirations can be met. e.g white collar staff transfer to DJ, blue collar service delivery staff, who currently deliver maintenance, cleaning etc., transferring to our proposed service providers

* Limited number of staff likely to be affected by TUPE, who are currently exclusively dedicated to the properties comprising the GLMCA estate

* Unlikely that professional staff – surveyors or engineers will be released by their current employers and hence deemed part of any TUPE transfer. Highly likely that their employers will want to keep them

* Staff transferring into DJ can be transferred on to others at the end of the concession

* High probability that staff transferring in to DJ can transfer to other accounts if there is an over supply situation

* The consultation process in TUPE can take as long as 3 months

* DJ will ensure that all individuals are transferred on compatible terms and conditions, in terms of rates of pay, holidays, continuation of pensionable service, other benefits, union recognition etc.

Our Management Team has transitioned many commissions (Employment Services, British Film Institute, Metropolitan Police, Sussex Police, Home Office, PACE etc.). Our Transition Manager Marcus Hill, has successfully implemented many contracts including WPP, BP Uxbridge, Virgin Mobile, Nortel, Shell International, Churchill Insurance, WorldCom, Hornagold and Hills, the British Council, Motability Finance Limited and MWB., which included TUPE and Change Management. Paul Alexander, who runs our Managing Agent Finance Group, was previously heavily involved when the former PSA was privatised to form Buildings, Property & FM and Unicorn. Our Business Development Director, Mike Shone recently played a pivotal transitional role in the outsourcing / TUPE of Burmah Castrol’s FM, BP Grangemouth’s FM and Department of Health Regional Offices to Johnson Controls. All this experience will be available during the transition and ongoing operational phase.

DEFRA QUESTIONS SN.A

SECTION A: ANTECEDENT DUTIES

1. Please provide a detailed implementation programme for carrying out the complete transfer of services during the Antecedent Period.

We have enclosed a copy of our outline DJ Implementation Plan, which has been prepared using Microsoft Project in conjunction with PME our preferred maintenance supplier partner and the Implementation Process of Design Clean our preferred Cleaning supplier.

Upon award of this commission these stages will be discussed in more detail with yourselves…we will produce our detailed Implementation Plan which will detail every action and facet associated with the Implementation Process.

We believe that all our required activities in our programmes including the duties identified in the Specification can be fully executed within the Antecedent Period identified of 13 weeks ( ie. 2nd January 20001 to 31st March 2001 ).

Furthermore if necessary this programme could be compressed if required on the basis of the prior knowledge we have of the properties as a result of having both PME and JMP in our team. These plans are enclosed as an appendix.

All of the DJ team are aware that a successful mobilisation is dependent on clear lines of communication with client’s representative. This will be achieved by clear allocation of responsibilities set against time parameters. The mobilisation team take into account individuals’ concerns during a period of change, ensure service levels are not detrimentally affected and key milestones are met.

2. Please describe your role during the Antecedent Period and the expected level of assistance required from DEFRA in order to complete the Antecedent Period in full and prior to the planned “Commencement of Full Operations”.

Our role during the antecedent period would be fully in accordance with the requirements of the bid document. The expected level of assistance required from DEFRA purely referring to the setting up of the contract for the facilities management would in our opinion be minimal. The team we have created will be fully self sufficient and proactive, and will work without supervision. However we will require security passes and site based accommodation at Reading for 4 individuals at any one time, together with free access to current FM, Maintenance and Property information. Equally we shall need clearance to visit all sites including the MA sites so that we may undertake the front end condition survey work and verify the maintained asset inventory

Precise co-ordination and good communication of pre contract activities will result in all activities being executed by the commencement date. TUPE will be the single most important factor determining the overall time scales as this involves the need of considerable consultation, possible direct recruitment of staff and associated personnel issues, purchasing, training requirements and client liaison. The DJ Implementation Manager has total responsibility leading the Mobilisation Team. DEFRA can assist with the process by providing access to buildings and facilitating the TUPE process with existing contractor within 48 hrs of the award

3. Please provide comprehensive details of the Mobilisation team, which you propose to carry out Antecedent Duties. Please include details of each individual’s experience and the relevance of this to this project.

Comprehensive details of the mobilisation teams are included in the Drivers Jonas, Planned Maintenance, Design Clean and JMP method statements. The latter documents are enclosed as Appendices.

Names and roles are as follows:-

Mike Young Drivers Jonas Overall Management of Implementation

Peter Little Drivers Jonas Management of Technical Services

Marcus Hill Drivers Implementation Manager

Steve Woolley Drivers Jonas Proposed Account Manager

John Church John Melville Partnership Implementation Consultant M&E

David Parkinson Planned Maintenance Limited Implementation Director

Tony Cooper – Project Manager 11 yrs experience in cleaning industry at Regional Operational level, including 5 yrs as Project Manager with major FM provider with responsibility for cleaning element of bids, mobilisation and external audits.

Peter Hallows – MD Design Clean established company in 1976 founder member of BICS London Association

Mary Shramm – Head of Dept. Merton College responsible for identifying training needs & programmes (BICS/NVQ’s)

Supported by Operational Management Team Design Clean

4. Please explain how you intend to set-up the help desk, providing information on the setting up of equipment (computer hardware and software), setting up asset registers and maintenance manuals and also how you will deal with all the existing information held on DEFRA’s current systems. Clearly identify any key deliverables that DEFRA is required to supply.

Drivers Jonas will Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) This system will comprise the Concept 500 SQL suite of software packages and 3 work station / PC’s. Drivers Jonas and its supply partners will fully load / populate the concept database with asset, planned tasking and occupier information. The system will be initially free standing but will operate back to back with the DJ Slough based help desk, so that we can always answer calls within an agreed response time at periods of peak call volumes. Greater details are provided within the Drivers Jonas and PME method statements. The system will form the central hub for all communication and will form the basis for the measurement systems we introduce. In the fullness of time we hope that you would wish to install this system on your network, so that DEFRA / RPA staff can have direct electronic access using E Mail etc.

5. Please explain how your organisation will deal with any TUPE staff transfers and, in addition your recruitment procedure for vacant positions identified at the Antecedent stage.

Please refer to the enclosed method statements from Drivers Jonas, PME and Design Clean. All suppliers partners have established processes and protocols for dealing with TUPE.

The DJ team collectively recognise TUPE and accept all current staff have the right of transfer on their existing terms and conditions. We endeavour to meet staff within 48 hrs of contract award to allay any fears and confirm their rights under TUPE. Staff have the opportunity for one to one consultations. A follow up meeting is held approximately ten days later where if required a representative from Penisular to deal with any complex personnel issues .In the event of a requirement to fill vacancies we explore four avenues:

Internal transfer (especially for Supervisors/Managers)

Individual recommendation

Newspaper advertisements /Card display within local community

Job Centres

One benefit of our monthly Supervisors Meeting is the creation of a ‘staff bank’ this assists our recruitment process with staff being able to increase their hours thus creating a portfolio of jobs equating to a full time position.

D The Contractor shall provide details of training, including National recognised courses, to be given to staff employees.

Action AJ find text from the following and tailor to suit the application

GLMCA ISOP questions/ answers. ADD THE BIT MARKED GOOD ABOVE

Supreme Court Circuit (Court Service) ADD IWM TEXT

DEFRA Bid etc.

TRAINING policy from Intranet; IiP;

Text IWM’s point 90

DEFRA QNS. SN 6

SECTION E: PERSONNEL AND TRAINING

1. Please explain how your organisation empowers key FM/MA staff to make decisions and resolve customer complaints on the spot. Please explain what decisions/situations would have to be referred to senior members of your organisation.

2. Please explain your organisations procedures for assessing the performance of permanent and temporary staff, including sub-contractors staff, utilised on this contract.

We have a number of established performance measurement systems, which measures the output of performance of corporate entities. However at the individual are treated personally and our annual appraisal system is used to ensure our own staff and temporary staff are regularly assessed and any skills gaps are identified, then additional training can be provided. Our supplier partners have similar systems. Drivers Jonas’ processes are I i P accredited. Where a deficiency or skill shortage is identified with our supplier partners we will use the usual communication channels / protocols to ensure their management are made aware and assist them to address the deficiency and effect a resolution

3. Please explain what induction and training is provided to transferring individuals by your organisation. Please indicate when and how this will be carried out.

Management (DJ)

Drivers Jonas has I i P accreditation for its HR processes including Recruitment, Induction and Refresher Training, Staff Appraisals and Personal Development Plans. Any skill gaps are not regarded as weaknesses but merely seen as the need of training. Such training and career development mentoring is provided to retain staff and ensure moral is maintained at the highest levels. All training will be carried out on a needs basis – but the formal induction training process is provided for all staff starting the day they join Drivers Jonas this provides for at least one week minimum on DJ systems and processes ( QA, IT, HR and Health & Safety )

Maintenance (PME)

Initial Training will be given to new recruits and TUPE transferees in accordance with PME established processes. This training includes the following elements: –

* Health and Safety Training (General).

* Site Familiarisation.

* Training on specific plant installations and equipment for all PME staff.

* Training on specialised equipment for specialist operatives.

This training will be given by PME staff, manufacturers, and technical training establishments. The exact nature of this training will be established in consultation with the client, when the contract is awarded.

Cleaning ( Design Clean)

As part of the TUPE and mobilisation process an assessment of each member of staff is made. Staff must have covered the BICS 10 Core Cleaning Tasks and Supervisors’ attained BICS Level 1. In conjunction with Merton College a programme will be formulated for transferees covering the Ten Core Tasks and Induction to Design Clean. This will be carried out on site within the first three weeks of the contract. Site-specific skills are also assessed as part of the mobilisation process.

4. Please provide details of the ongoing, on the job training, provided by your organisation to key FM/MA Staff, during the lifetime of this contract.

DJ

Drivers Jonas has I i P accreditation for its HR processes including Recruitment, Induction and Refresher Training, Staff Appraisals and Personal Development Plans. Any skill gaps are not regarded as weaknesses but merely seen as the need of training. Such training and career development mentoring is provided to retain staff and ensure moral is maintained at the highest levels. All ongoing training will be carried out on a needs basis and as requested during the appraisal and staff development interview processes – these include about 100 different courses design to improve technical and organisational skills, confidence, presentation and communication. Professional staff are encouraged to keep abreast of development in their own and related fields, and to follow CPD (Continuous Professional Development) offered by their respective professional bodies

JMP

All key members of John Melville Partnership regularly attend CPD courses and seminars on all aspects of facilities management, engineering services design and all issues regarding health & safety and statutory requirements. Many of the courses attend are under the auspices of OGC.

Maintenance (PME).

It is PME policy to ensure that engineers and other staff undergo continuing programmes of training. This includes updating skills relevant to new equipment and processes, extending the skills of engineers to enable them to become more flexible and multi-skilled and giving them the knowledge and information to meet requirements of legislation, together with ongoing career development training for supervision, junior and senior management..

Cleaning (Design Clean)

In an alliance with Merton College we are able to offer BICS and NVQ Courses to all staff. We aim to qualify all Supervisors to BICS Level 2 and Area Managers to Assessors Level. Staff are encouraged to take specialist courses appropriate to their place of work or if they wish to be considered for one of our Specialist Teams. These are either In House Courses or those provided by suppliers and manufacturers.

5. How does your organisation identify key personnel to communicate the organisations long-term vision and what values does your organisation place on these individuals in its quest for long term success.

Within DJ we rely on electronic communication due to its speed. There are also numerous opportunities to attend partnership meetings and network with other colleagues at routine training functions, regular company functions, workshops and external seminars where corporate vision and issues can be discussed and promoted, concerns raised and debated. We encourage individuals to raise their concerns so that all can be appraised and a solution developed, this encouragement promotes a sense of belonging and wellbeing. In Drivers Jonas we value our staff as they are our best asset. The success of our business is vested entirely in our people.

We empower our staff to act freely and accept responsibility – but at the same time we need our staff to recognise their own limitations and to freely consult others when they are not sure.es on the effects of changing legislation and presents / contributes to many external public seminars and debates. Our staff are very much encouraged to join and be active in their own professional institutions and attend and participate in external seminars. DJ is a meritocracy and our staff are well rewarded for there efforts. To illustrate its commitment to its staff DJ has recently heavily invested in IiP accreditation to ensure we provide the best HR support systems to our staff and their career aspiration are met and as a consequence they remain happy in their work

John Melville Partnership instil in all members of their staff the desire to improve their own personal performance in all fields of engineering services and to ensure that the satisfaction of the customer is their ultimate priority. Regular monthly meetings are held in the office where any problems arising are discussed in detail and resolved.

E Details of off-site personnel who will have direct responsibilities in connection with this Contract, definition of Services, estimated time application, qualifications, experience, company status, etc., office address from which off-site personnel will operate. The contractor is to specifically advise of any resource that is not directly employed by them.

Action AJ.

All staff will be Drivers Jonas full time employed staff either from our matrix, moved in from other accounts or transferred in from current providers. Text available in Court Service and DEFRA tenders

DEFRA SN B

SECTION B: ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITY

1. Please describe what facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials your organisation will provide to support this Contract from Head Office over the life of the contract.

All the organisations forming our DJ’s supplier partners have extensive Head Office Support functions these include Human Resources Welfare and Training, Health & Safety, Quality Assurance, Heads of Discipline, Authorising Engineers, Client Accounts, IT, Clerical and Technical Support.

These functions are explained in more detail in the method statements from Drivers Jonas, PME and Design Clean, the latter two are enclosed as Appendices.

F General method statement including methodology for dealing with out of normal working hours emergencies, including communications.

Action MS to write tender documentation using previous bids

PUT IN THEIR PROPERTIES!!

DEFRA SN D

SECTION D: RISK MANAGEMENT/ HEALTH & SAFETY

1. Please provide a draft Risk Assessment Model specific to this portfolio covering, but not limited to:

i) Plans for dealing with risks and emergencies

During our the start mobilisation phase we will jointly develop an emergency recovery plan with you that review and assesses all perceived risks and mitigates all usual risks associated with transition from one Managing Agent / FM to another. Part of this process will be the development of a Disaster Recovery Plan. This plan will identify a solution / course of action for a variety of emergencies and failure scenarios. These will include in ascending order of importance unlikely events, service failures, equipment failures, failure of utility supplies, security failure, demonstrations, floods, riots, fire and explosions. Against each we will agree with you the most appropriate solution for:-

initial assessment and making safe, escalation to higher management when other experts inputs are required, reporting lines, freedom to act / levels of responsibility, alternative/ standby facilities, setting up a joint investigation team, notification to / contact with emergency services / HSE, short term and permanent resolution, periodic review and ongoing risk assessment to prevent a reoccurrence.

This plan when developed will be regularly and periodically reviewed with you to ensure it continues to remain valid throughout the life of the concession. We are aware of the sensitivity of the work conducted by DEFRA / RPA and the effect that any local geographical or agricultural change, news or event may have.

ii) Permit to work procedures

For every type of work and failure scenario a full risk assessment will be completed and a work permit system introduced to mitigate these risk. We already have well developed work permit processes in place and these will be adjusted to suit the local prevailing conditions

iii) Safety for suppliers and sub-contractors when on DEFRA’s premises.

Every job carried out will be personally supervised by DJ and / john Melville Partnership of Consulting Engineers to ensure compliance with legislation (CDM Regulations), which includes routine and final inspections to verify compliance with the technical specification. Induction training will be provided and work permit systems will be operated. John Melville Partnership will be heavily involved in the process

iv) Procedure for Safety Audits

Notwithstanding the line management responsibility, the Central Management Team employ a team of independent experts whose function is to monitor and audit our people for compliance with our H&S processes. This involves both auditing of our process documentation to verify compliance and also housekeeping walk rounds by our Health and Safety auditors. Any non compliance is dealt with swiftly from the top down. A web based management system is likely to be introduced for close control of site based activities.

v) Reporting lines for dealing with emergencies

To execute the Health & Safety Policy we have a well-developed and fully operational system comprising many processes. These are networked to all our offices and sites, always available to our staff and ensures that any process followed and documentation used is always current and relevant. The system complies with current HSE legislation (HASAWA, RIDDOR, Factory Acts, Pressure Systems, Electrical Regulations, Asbestos, COSHH, Water Hygiene, PAT, CDM Regs, etc.etc.) These processes cover training, legislative compliance, operational best practice, accident and near miss reporting, escalation, management roles and responsibilities, safe systems of work, records retention, information management and ongoing reviews.

We have corporate memberships and affiliations to many related bodies and institutions. We also retain a number of external advisers who are responsible for assimilating and disseminating changes to Safety Legislation and developing our processes to suit. These advisers attend external Health & Safety discussions, seminars and conferences. (Nebosh, Iosh etc.) and recommend changes to our processes accordingly.

RISK MANAGEMENT – PUT IN SOME PME RA STUFF

METHOD P 6

4. Specific Functions – Methodology and Resources

4.1 Identification of Works Requirements

Sources of information

We envisage that there will be numerous sources of information on the condition of the buildings:

* Condition Surveys

* Quadrennial Inspections

* Interim Inspections

* Specialist Inspections

* DJFM routine inspections

* DJFM visits on other business

* Term Contractors as a result of Helpdesk calls

* Term Contractors as a result of PPM visits

Efficient and effective means are necessary to process the information in order that it may aid decision making. We understand that MANIFEST is compatible with MS Access. In our experience suitable MS Access applications may be developed which will considerably aid the various processes associated with the management of this information, eg:

* Data capture

* Inputting

* Categorising

* Sorting

* Storing

* Filtering / identifying / querying

* Updating

* Retrieval

* Reporting

Subject to detailed discussion and agreement with the Authority, we would seek to use MS Access to devise suitable standard tables, forms and reports to assist in managing and maximising the use and accessibility of the information gathered.

METHOD SN 11

5. Meetings – Suggested Agenda and Frequencies

We concur from our experience that routine meetings are scheduled monthly with the Authority’s representatives. The monthly / quarterly data feeding into the 6 monthly and annual performance reports, which again is reviewed with the Authority’s team on an annual basis. We aim to work as part of and as an extension of your client team.

We note the suggested agenda for the monthly meeting between the Circuit Accommodation Manager (CAM) is defined in the tender specification in 4.4 Programming and Budgetary Control. Initially we see these initial meetings being attended by our Executive Management Team comprising Mike Young, Yusuf Pandor and Peter Rumbelow. After the first 3 months Mike Young will attend by exception and Yusuf Pandor will continue to support Peter Rumbelow during the first 12 months by attending these meetings. After the first 12 months when the communication systems and processes are well defined, bedded in and running effectively Yusuf will attend only at the quarterly meetings. Both Mike Young and Yusuf Pandor will continue to receive copies of all meetings throughout the term of the commission to ensure that actions have been executed correctly. They will attend specific meetings if requested to do so, but not as a matter of course.

All three members of the DJ executive team will attend the twice yearly review, when the contents of our 6 monthly summary progress reports and Building Review will be discussed, reviewed jointly and actions apportioned on an ongoing basis.

We agree that the twice yearly local liaison meetings (maximum to be agreed) should be held at different locations as this gives the local building occupiers a forum to voice their views, whilst allowing us to update them on forthcoming activities. These meetings will be attended by our Account Manager Peter Rumbelow, with a technical representatives of his site team. Minutes will be taken and ongoing actions apportioned

ISOP P 23+4

3.5 Please provide a brief description of your understanding of the risks involved in this project and how you would allocate and manage those risks. As a minimum you should comment on Services, Resources and Commercial risks.

Instructions: Attach this sheet to the front of a maximum of 2 clearly cross referenced A4 sheets of text.

We will openly work with you at the professional level to generate a performance or output regime and build up a workable solution with you. In discussing and negotiating a solution both parties will be aware of the risks being transferred and will appraise them, evaluate the implications, likely scenarios and actions necessary to mitigate them, to ensure there is continued added value and the solution remains affordable. In analysing the risks the size of any contingency elements can also be evaluated from a position of knowledge and strength. Dividing these risks into the categories you have outlined we see the main issues as:-

Services Risks

* Service Continuity

* Keeping the buildings open for business

* Health & Safety – compliance with Legislation

* Good / sound/ proven business processes

* Working around occupied buildings – health & safety

* Budgetary constraints – pressures

* Poor communication – conflicting priorities

* Lack of management control

* Less haste equals more progress

Resources Risks

Output quality is direct result of resources (people & money) and processes

* Quality of resources, training, motivation, career development

* Innovation / investment in processes, IT / New technology

* Health & Safety

* Financial capability / financial standing

* Loss of service continuity due to employee churn

* Technical capability, available matrix / infrastructure

* Supply Chain Capability

Commercial Risks

* Ageing Buildings – escalating costs

* Maintenance Backlog / Dilapidation

* Health & Safety

* Size of Company / Suppliers – Horses for Courses

* Let the experts decide / Know your own limitations

* Methods of engagement of contractors / model forms of contracts

* Commercial procedures / thresholds of financial approval

We would mitigate any or all of the above exposures by ensuring that we only let work to bonafide companies with the appropriate PI cover. Also we would again mitigate any risk by ensuring works are adequately specified and clearly understood by the works contractors, with a written confirmation of this. Where ever possible we would let works on a lump sum basis to minimise the possibility of claims for additional cost.

Wherever possible we prefer the use of fixed price, incentivised contracts for fixed defined work loads. This can applied to both our own role providing MA / FM services, as well as works contractors and suppliers / consultants where we can fully specify the works and seek competitive tenders. For certain types of work within that lump sum we would include the provision of a retention fee, which we would use as a last resort to fund any omissions / errors made by the works contractor.

For urgent or unplanned work wherever possible we would set up call of arrangements with a number of local contractors based on a deliverable output (measured term MTC) using Spon’s or PSA schedule of rates. Where urgent or unplanned work involves a degree of fault diagnosis, then we would engage contractors as a last resort on day work rates for the ‘call out, diagnosis and making safe element only’. Where the remedial work is extensive and required immediately we would then revert to the MTC schedule. If the remedial work is above 5,000 and capable of being planned then we would opt wherever possible for the specify and competitive tender.

Every job carried out will be personally supervised by DJ to ensure compliance with legislation (CDM Regulations), which includes routine and final inspections to verify compliance with the technical specification. Any adjustments to specification, changes, deletions and /or additions will be negotiated with the relevant contractor using one of the professional QS’s assigned to the concession in accordance with the recognised best commercial building practice. These individuals will be supported by the building cost consultancy side of the DJ practice based in London.

At the lower blue collar level, individual service line providers, often do not have the same level of intelligence / knowledge base and hence are unable to evaluate and price risk accurately. Often these contractors are incapable of defining work and simply can only do what they are told in a fully prescribed specification and react accordingly. – although the larger ones who invest heavily in developing their product range and service offering, can see the merits in evaluation of risk and being proactive in their approach. Many maintenance contractors as a result of the PFI experience are now able to accurately price risk, adequately specify effective routine maintenance tasking and predict life cycle costs.

For any long contract to be viable there has to be a win win scenario. Contractors need to make their return or the contract will not be given the level of importance it deserves. Management time and involvement within an organisation has a bearing on the success of the contract. DJ has the advantage that we understand the detail we will ensure that contracts are not underbid – that they remain viable in the longer term.

G Methodology for Customer Care and handling of complaints.

MS to write using the text from the GLMCA ISOP answers to questions

CUSTOMER CARE

Start by defining the Customer

defining the support that the Customer needs to achieve Authorities goals

setting out clear Customer Care targets and embodying them in SLA’s – UPDATE / flexibility

Monitoring performance – see section K + PM text

Customer satisfaction surveys can be generated from the helpdesk… (examples included?)

DJ’s history of Alignment / partnering –

Benchmarking

Joint Review Forums

Continuous Improvement

GAINSHARE

CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

“A complaint is an opportunity for enhanced customer care…”

The Escalation procedure includes: the Helpdesk, the Surveyor, the Account Manager and the Managing Director.

We would propose the introduction of performance measurement whereby point are deducted for XX escalations reaching the Account Manager in any YY period.

Internal audits are carried out at xxx intervals…

Customer complaints are taken seriously and DJ has procedures in place for the management and effective resolution of complaints. We do not consider a complaint closed until our customer is satisfied.

ISOP P 22

Drivers Jonas currently operates under a partnering agreement with Employment Services, which has been very successful to date. A copy of our joint partnering charter was enclosed with our original OJEC pre-qualification submission. A further copy of this is enclosed electronically.

ADD P CHARTER

METHOD P 27

6. Partnering Arrangements

Under partnering arrangements all parties use their skills and experience to develop solutions in partnership to mutual benefit. This ensures there is a meeting of minds, that contractors and suppliers can use their experience, so that specifications reflect what the market place can deliver, provide the optimum of information and do not over specify or complicate matters. Partnering is the basis from which incentivised contracts can be let.

6.1 Key principles include:

mutual reward / gain share

trust and respect

playing on each parties strengths, resources and experience to reduce cost

all parties add value and not cost

freedom to act / empowerment – no duplicated management

non adversarial

ownership of problems, joint problem solving

working together as a single team with common goals.

We currently operate under a partnering agreement with Employment Services, a copy of our jointly signed Partnering Charter is also enclosed as part of Appendix G.

We see a partnership arrangement working thus:

We see this commission as much more than a mechanistic delivery of MA / Estate Services, Maintenance and Capital works. To achieve full success we, if appointed as Managing Agent, Property Management & Estate Management Consultant for the service provision contracts, we would expect to work closely with the yourselves, other consultants and all stakeholder interests in addressing the above issues.

A key part of the structure is likely to be a central help desk and works ordering system, designed to ensure that all works – reactive, planned, capital – are orchestrated in a planned and co-ordinated way, with accurate budgeting and forecasting.

With our experience of public projects we believe that we can offer you the blend of conceptual, technical, financial and facilitating skills that will be needed in addition to traditional service delivery management skills.

Our account manager will be a key figure in ensuring that;

* all works are realistic, viable and will fully satisfy funding criteria;

* select and appoint team members with the appropriate blend of skills and experience, which will meet your objectives;

* recommend solutions which will:

* properly deliver and enhance the County’s functions and image;

* provide for future flexibility;

* provide effective environmental conditions but cost-effectively;

* achieve a satisfying experience for end-users of all types including people with disabilities.

* ensure users, other stakeholders and opinion-formers are involved in and committed to the solutions;

* organise adequate resources are available to support and deliver the commission, whether part of the fixed fee or call off / ad valorem; and

* establish appropriate progress and reporting procedures.

We envisage providing wide-ranging and strategic advice as an experienced client advisor who can not only look ahead to the challenges of maintenance and construction, but also assist in analysis of options, business issues and structuring of the wider initiatives which will be needed to support project delivery (such as satisfying any funding conditions and public accountability ).

Our objectives will be to:

* share your “corporate” vision and objectives;

* who is experienced in dealing with a range of properties and projects;

* can establish and maintain effective working practices;

* manage contractors to delivery the right quality on programme and budget;

* report and communicate convincingly; and

* give confidence to users and stakeholders.

We would suggest that continuous improvement is driven by adopting the principles of partnering also i.e. identifying mutual objectives, discussing problem resolution and then identifying improvements. Underpinning this framework would be;

* feedback from end users

* feedback from contractors

* feedback from senior management

* agreeing a performance measurement plan for DJ

* agreeing key performance indicators with contractors

* regular contract review meetings up and down the supply chain.

We trust that we have interpreted your requirements correctly and that this method statement demonstrates our experience and capability.

METHOD SN 8

7. Relationships

7.1 Relationsips with the Greater London Magistrates Court Authority Circuit Authority

The Client / Authority relationship will be managed by our Account manager Peter Rumbelow on a day to day basis, with help and support from our Operations Manager Yusuf Pandor on a weekly / monthly basis. We would expect for instance Yusuf Pandor will attend all the pre commission meetings and routine review meeting in the first 12 months of the commission. Beyond that his attendance will be by exception. Yusuf will also provide the first level of escalation in the event that an issue cannot be resolved at the Account Manager level.

Relationship with the Greater London Magistrates Court Authority Circuit Customers

We define the customers as the occupants of the building and hence the receivers of the service or the users of the accommodation. The customer relationship or interface and the contractor interface will be managed using our established help desk, which will provide the focal point for all communication with customers and contractors. It will be the shop window for all the services we provide. The help desk will record the time of the call made and the actual response and resolution times by the various parties. This will then be compared to the agreed responses times, for the type of fault, asset criticality and importance. The help desk will also be supported by the contract dedicated team.

There always needs to be meeting of minds is where customers expectations are not in keeping with available funds / resources. The role of the Managing Agent we see will be to represent the Client’s service strategy to the customers, to be an extension of the Authority’s team. We will ensure customers understand that they receive the service that the Authority can afford. With service levels adequately and appropriately specified to suit the Authority’s available funds and well publicising these to customers either as SLA’s or customer service charters, will ensure these are well understood by the customers and minimise any misunderstandings. We will work closely with your ALO’s and AM’s to promote the services on offer to your customers representing the best interests of all concerned.

All DJ staff and supporting contractors will receive specialised customer care training, at their point of induction and on a regular ongoing basis.

Although our situation will be managed through the ALO / AM’s, we imagine you will want individual accommodation officers to be able to raise queries and liaise on performance reviews as appropriate. Certainly, from our point of view, feedback on contractor performance from the “customer” on site is useful. As part of our measurement process we will solicit that feedback by routinely issuing random customer satisfaction surveys. The information received will be very useful in establishing a continuous improvement programme, both in terms of our own performance and those of the contractors we manage.

We will foster good relationships by ensuring that the annual interim inspections include time for consultation with local staff and that at the outset they are fully briefed on our role and introduced to key staff. We will also provide a series of regular meetings and briefing during our programme of routine inspections. We propose issuing a periodic “newsletter” summarising any changes in our respective staff and that of contractors and to include other matters – e.g. energy consumption

feedback – to be agreed with the ALO/ AM.

In this way we would hope to make the service more personal and user-friendly to all involved, and go beyond the contracted liaison meetings. Working in partnership with you and looking after your best interests at all times we hope to develop a high level of mutual trust with your ALO / AM’s whereby we can remove the burden of their day to day activity, proactively assist them in delivering the required output to their customers and thus allowing them to concentrate on the strategic issues, making their roles more satisfying and rewarding.

ISOP P 17 / 19

Relationships with the Supreme Court Circuit Authority

The Client / Authority relationship will be managed by our Account manager on a day to day basis, with help and support from our Operations Manager on a weekly / monthly basis. We would expect for instance our Operations Manager would attend all the pre commission meetings and routine review meeting in the first 12 months of the commission. Beyond that his attendance will be by exception. Yusuf will also provide the first level of escalation in the event that an issue cannot be resolved at the Account Manager level.

Relationship with the Magistrates Court Customers

We define the customers as the occupants of the building and hence the receivers of the service or the users of the accommodation. The customer relationship or interface and the contractor interface will be managed using our established help desk, which will provide the focal point for all communication with customers and contractors. It will be the shop window for all the services we provide. The help desk will record the time of the call made and the actual response and resolution times by the various parties. This will then be compared to the agreed responses times, for the type of fault, asset criticality and importance. The help desk will also be supported by the contract dedicated team.

There always needs to be meeting of minds is where customers expectations are not in keeping with available funds / resources. We see the role of the Managing Agent / FM to represent the Client’s service strategy to the customers, to be an extension of the Authority’s team. We will ensure customers understand that they receive the service that the Authority can afford. With service levels adequately and appropriately specified to suit the Authority’s available funds and well publicising these to customers either as SLA’s or customer service charters, will ensure these are well understood by the customers and minimise any misunderstandings. We will work closely with your ALO’s and AM’s to promote the services on offer to your customers representing the best interests of all concerned.

All DJ staff and supporting contractors will receive specialised customer care training, at their point of induction and on a regular ongoing basis.

Although our situation will be managed through the ALO / AM’s, we imagine you will want individual accommodation officers to be able to raise queries and liaise on performance reviews as appropriate. Certainly, from our point of view, feedback on contractor performance from the “customer” on site is useful. As part of our measurement process we will solicit that feedback by routinely issuing random customer satisfaction surveys. The information received will be very useful in establishing a continuous improvement programme, both in terms of our own performance and those of the contractors we manage.

We will foster good relationships by ensuring that the annual interim inspections include time for consultation with local staff and that at the outset they are fully briefed on our role and introduced to key staff. We will also provide a series of regular meetings and briefing during our programme of routine inspections. We propose issuing a periodic “newsletter” summarising any changes in our respective staff and that of contractors and to include other matters – e.g. energy consumption

feedback – to be agreed with the ALO/ AM.

In this way we would hope to make the service more personal and user-friendly to all involved, and go beyond the contracted liaison meetings. Working in partnership with you and looking after your best interests at all times we hope to develop a high level of mutual trust with your ALO / AM’s whereby we can remove the burden of their day to day activity, proactively assist them in delivering the required output to their customers and thus allowing them to concentrate on the strategic issues, making their roles more satisfying and rewarding.

H The Contractor shall provide details of all furniture and equipment including computer hardware and software they propose to install on-site.

Action AJ to prepare using the text from previous bids

METHOD SN 9

8. Communication

We regard this as an essential tool in our business. All of our staff are equipped with the following:

Desktop networked PC

E-mail address, eg [email protected]

Incoming faxes routed direct to each PC, and PC-generated outgoing faxes

A direct telephone line.

Voice-mail – all staff are required to change the message daily so as to advise when calls can be returned. If individuals are out of the office a range of divert options are advised (mobile phones, other desks -offices, home).

Most of our professional staff have a dedicated mobile phone.

Remote working is supported by laptop PCs and portable modems.

All staff have open access to each other’s diaries (Outlook Calendar schedule).

8.1 Other IT and Systems

IT and telecommunications strategy, budgeting and management is under the control of the Director of Information Systems and involves a team of professional IT staff providing support, training, etc. IT strategy is kept under constant review

Hardware maintenance is outsourced as are parts of network and software support. Contracts are managed by the Director of IS.

Predominantly we use package software but do develop databases and web sites in house where appropriate.

Package software includes Microsoft Office, Sun Accounts & SharpOwl for financials, APB for Property Accounting, General PC/laptop operation – Microsoft products

Word processing – our standard system is “Word”, supported by Excel and Quattro-pro applications. But we do also have other software packages such as Ami Pro and Adobe allowing us to open and work on most documents not based on Word.

Estate management – TRAMPS supplied by Trace computer.

Plan Lookout TM – an online system allowing us to receive and filter the latest statutory changes, case studies, planning applications and developments. This is a very powerful search software system

Our remote Help Desk is based on Qfm

Time management – Sharp Owl

We also operate many data bases based on Microsoft Access

A full list can be provided at the negotiation stage

Additionally DJ has developed its Groundbreaker.Net, Website which provides affordable online professional property advice to subscribers of the system, via our extranet. DJ has won several NACORE awards for this leading edge / market leading development. If awarded this commission it would be our privilege to provide Kent CC with several complementary licences to this information portal, in order for you to benefit from the best practice and current topics discussed

We envisage easily transferring information to you by disk or electronically via the internet, which is our preferred method of approach.

We have established interlinks with a number of clients. These include telephone connections enabling our staff to access client systems and clients to access our systems and using secure systems across the Internet.

Where systems are accessed over direct links we use PCs that are separate from the office network. Where systems have been accessed across the Internet these have relied on SSL (Secure Socket Layer).

DEFRA E6

6. What is your company’s view of knowledge management and how does your organisation transfer knowledge through all parts of the company.

We regard knowledge management as an essential prerequisite in our business and the tools and processes that we use to manage it are mainly IT based. Summarising these as follows:

All of our staff are equipped with Desktop networked PC or Lap Top and are contactable / networked using the company Intranet and / or the external web / internet. We naturally all have E-mail address, eg [email protected]. Incoming faxes routed direct to each PC, and PC-generated outgoing faxes

All staff have direct telephone line with voice-mail – all staff are required to change the message daily so as to advise when calls can be returned. If individuals are out of the office a range of divert options are advised (mobile phones, other desks -offices, home). Most of our professional staff have a dedicated mobile phone.

Remote working is supported by laptop PCs and portable modems. All staff have open access to each other’s diaries (Outlook Calendar schedule). THINK H HERE

IT and telecommunications strategy, budgeting and management is under the control of the Director of Information Systems and involves a team of professional IT staff providing support, training, etc. IT strategy is kept under constant review. Hardware maintenance is outsourced as are parts of network and software support. Contracts are managed by the Director of IS. Predominantly we use package software but do develop databases and web sites in house where appropriate. Package software includes Microsoft Office, Sun Accounts & SharpOwl for financials, APB for Property Accounting, General PC/laptop operation – Microsoft products. Word processing – our standard system is “Word”, supported by Excel and Quattro-pro applications. But we do also have other software packages such as Ami Pro and Adobe allowing us to open and work on most documents not based on Word.

On the Estate management side we use TRAMPS supplied by Trace computer.

Plan Lookout TM – an online system allowing us to receive and filter the latest statutory changes, case studies, planning applications and developments. This is a very powerful search software system

Our remote Help Desk is based on Qfm. Our time management – Sharp Owl. We also operate many data bases based on Microsoft Access

Additionally DJ has developed its Groundbreaker.Net, information portal and also an extranet based document management system called Property Workspace via our extranet, which ensures all documentation associated with our client sites and contracts are managed properly and always kept up to date.

We envisage easily transferring information to you by disk or electronically via the internet, which is our preferred method of approach. On some client accounts we have established interlinks with a number of clients. These include telephone connections enabling our staff to access client systems and clients to access our systems and using secure systems across the Internet.

Where systems are accessed over direct links we use PCs that are separate from the office network. Where systems have been accessed across the Internet these have relied on SSL (Secure Socket Layer).

I: The Bidder is invited to make constructive proposals that would add value to the Service

Action MS to describe Re – engineering of the supply chain

DEFRA SN B#6

2. Please explain how your organisation manages and improves its operational processes in order to generate increasing value, year on year, to its customers, without reducing the level of service agreed.

Drivers Jonas and its supplier partners operate a continuous improvement process as defined within our method statement. In collaboration with our service supplier partners this will result in service level improvements over time or cost savings or expansion of our role / scope at no additional cost where efficiencies are identified. We believe our team should be incentivised to deliver improvement and so elsewhere in our submission we have proposed a shared savings arrangement.. John Melville Partnership acting as DJ technical advisers will effectively manage PME in the delivery of maintenance and will improve their operational processes by continually monitoring all costs and subject quotations to regular audit procedures and sustaining the level of supervision throughout the commission period.

To facilitate the process an improvement plan will be produced containing the target objectives and reviewed periodically. Data measurements will then be used to gauge our performance in meeting those objectives and form the basis for informed decision making. Our improvement targets will based on the following four elements of a contract, which become milestones for the contract duration.

Cost savings

Revised procedures

Introduction of new technology

Service synergies and multiskilling

Broadening scope

Quality service level improvements

Development of best practice

An important aspect of this process is the assessment the contribution of each staff member. A combination of the following contribute to an overall assessment of managers’ contract management performance:

Meeting budgets, Meeting deadlines, Putting the Clients first / Customer focus, Customer surveys

Formal quality audits / inspections, External audits, Productivity / efficiency benchmarking to other organisations

DEFRA SN E#6???? CHECK THIS

APJ – (think continuous improvement, Plan-Do-Check-Act reviews, kaizan)

Text below has some good bits but may be too woolly

Because the key to success in today’s business environment is to focus on your core competencies, Drivers Jonas is committed to the idea of outsourcing. When our customers outsource we take on the responsibility for a number of supporting services of their organisation.

The Drivers Jonas offering takes two forms: the Managing Agent and Prime Contractor models. Our operating model is built around incentivisation agreements that encourage innovation and quantifiable outputs. The three slides overleaf illustrate these pictorially.

Drivers Jonas and Drivers Jonas Facility Management formulate solutions together, and in providing the resource solution to this commission we would rely on the following:

* Management Line Resources – management heads who will ultimately own the output, provide the people management function and have the Client relationship.

* Service Line Experts – functional heads or experts from within the DJ matrix who will define the ‘what’ and ‘how’ aspect, providing the service delivery staff with direction, professional discipline knowledge and technical training.

Within the DJ organisation is the expertise required to achieve your strategic objectives. To illustrate the resources that we would bring to bear on this commission, we have included overleaf a provisional allocation of task matrix which outlines the key personnel that we propose to use.

SERVICE DELIVERY

In order to provide a complete service, DJ believes that we must understand and meet the strategic, physical and service support requirements of the user. We see our job as not only supporting the GLMCA, but also acting as part of the GLMCA team and working ‘for the GLMCA’. Our objective is to provide the GLMCA and its Customers with a first class Property and Facilities Management Service.

Our approach can be summarised as:

* Understand the needs of the GLMCA and its Customers

* Maximise the value that the business gets from its support services

* Understand the characteristics of the tasks

* Agree procedures and keep these under review

* Effective commission planning and implementation

* Appropriate systems for bespoke solutions

* Effective use of ICT

* The use of multi-skilled technical staff to enhance teamwork

Our methodology

* Identify all requirements

* Agree procedures in detail

* Modify IT systems to suit

* Keep systems under constant review

* Retain the flexibility to modify procedures and systems, to meet evolving requirements

* Follow through to completion

APJ Text – The process of generating a relevant PMS

I: What is the organisation’s strategy and therefore what should it be measuring?

Stages that DJ undertakes in producing Performance Measurement Systems

* clarifying objectives

* communicating them to people

* influencing behaviour to be consistent with them

* checking whether or not objectives are being delivered

* challenging theories about how the business works

II: Drivers Jonas believes the main challenges in design and implementation of performance measurement systems are:

1. measurement system design

2. implementation

3. managing through measurement

4. ‘refreshing’ the measurement system

They all pose different challenges.

Design – choosing the right measures. The current challenge is not necessarily identifying what you could measure, it is identifying what you need to measure so as to concentrate on what is absolutely vital.

Implementation contains two challenges:

1. The need to get access to the right data, and use the right metrics

2. Communication to overcome people’s fear of measurement and consequent manipulation of target-setting to ensure targets are achievable and no blame can be attributed. To combat this people inside organisations need to be educated to understand the purpose and use of the measurement system.

Managing through measures requires the focus to be firmly on targets. Raw performance data is not enough to draw conclusions from. The focus should be on the current situation, what can be learned from it and, more importantly, how targets can be achieved. Education is required in how to present data to encourage such discussion.

Refreshing the measurement system – To ensure that as the organisation changes the measurement system keeps pace, targets must be updated. These will then reflect the problems that have been solved, and those that are relevant to the latest challenges facing the organisation. It may be necessary to introduce a named performance manager whose role it is to manage the measurement system.

III: The impact of performance measurement systems

There are a number of things that are valuable about performance measurement:

Clarity of direction. The act of deciding what to measure forces people to clarify what is important in their organisations. If a key goal is happy customers, the management team will need to determine what it means by happy customers and how to measure whether or not customers are happy. This forces the management team to be more articulate about their goals, and define also who the customers are. Measurement encourages senior management teams to be clear about real objectives, to air differing opinions, and to use precise language to define how they want to assess performance towards these goals.

Understandable routes to success. When appropriate measures are in place the organisation will have an invaluable means of communicating to their people a clear framework for working towards the organisation’s targets. This provides a means of influencing behaviour, ensuring the right things are being done.

Clear success criteria. When the appropriate measures are in place and the management team has established the right targets, it can check whether or not objectives are being achieved. The organisation knows where it wants to go and has the data to tell it whether it is moving in the right direction.

Strategic Choice. A measurement system is more than individual measures – the links between these measures allow the value-add to be quantified through each stage of the process. If a goal is to increase efficacy, the components of this improvement are efficiency and effectiveness gains. To achieve this, a series of smaller steps need to be taken which can all be quality controlled and measured. Performance data identifies where problems lie and allows action to be taken that enhances the overall strategic direction.

START UP AND IMPLEMENTATION

We note that there will be a mobilisation period following contract award, from 1 April to 30 June 2002. Our approach during this period will include the implementation of a full communication and quality plan before the start date, when Drivers Jonas assumes full responsibility. The communication plan is produced from the initial review and discussion. It defines roles and responsibilities, reporting lines, meeting frequencies and formats, escalation procedures, operation processes, which systems are to be used and what is expected of each person within the team.

It is our intention following meetings with yourselves to identify the factors pertinent to this development, in order to formulate a proprietary solution.

PROPERTY STRATEGY

At Drivers Jonas we believe that the property life cycle has to support the business mission strategy, unlike the core business activity, which has to be dynamic and proactive to change, irrespective of the shape, make up and flexibility of the estate. The property cycle normally represents a “lock in” for the business of duration far in excess of the business plan. It can be difficult and laborious to assemble, tying up valuable capital, and potentially even more difficult to divest. The strategic thinking has to be right in terms of location, need, quality and of course cost.

Drivers Jonas advises property and landowners on the formulation of strategies for their estates. These can cover both short-term issues and the evaluation of long-term plans to meet the client’s requirements for their holdings. Our advice tends to be at the “macro” or strategic level, but to provide such advice one needs to understand both: the client’s investment strategy and its implications on their investment/property requirements; and the details of the client’s property holdings.

DJ Facility Management and the wider support of the parent company is not a standard service package; it is a tailor-made approach to service management based on a close development process with our customers.

This process is extremely important. Through an analysis of the organisation and the existing service set-up, we first find the most cost-effective alternative to the services provided. Then we find the synergies in the service delivery system and optimise the execution of the tasks identified.

Taking over the responsibilities for your facilities and people logistics requires close co-operation between you as the customer and DJ. Together we set targets for both customer and employee satisfaction regarding the services that we provide.

At Drivers Jonas we have the people, the processes and the systems to take responsibility for servicing your facilities. We will always do this in the most cost-effective way with focus on continuos and transparent quality improvements.

Our aspiration is to allow you to become better at what you do and let us care about providing Integrated Service Solutions for your facilities, your customers and your employees.

DEFRA SN F

SECTION F: INNOVATION

1. It is DEFRA’s intention to reduce as much administrative cost as possible. Our intention is to migrate to utilising e-business techniques in all communication with our suppliers where this is possible. For the services required for this contract the organisation should indicate where it envisages electronic ordering and communication techniques could be used to reduce administration costs (for both parties) and to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

Drivers Jonas is constantly challenged to deliver innovation within the commercial property management sector, and we have an enviable reputation in delivering these in an ever more competitive industry, where client’s have ever increasing expectation. DJ is at the forefront of IT development and usage in Property and FM.

The latest in a long list of such innovations being the development of the Groundbreaker.net website. This information portal provides immediate affordable access to current and topical information on all commercial property issues. DJ has won several NACORE awards for this leading edge / market leading development. If awarded this commission it would be our privilege to provide MAFF with several complementary licences to this information portal, in order for you to benefit from the best practice and current topics discussed.

DJ has also been nominated for a number of prestigious awards for innovation.

A further value add is the ongoing development of our Web Enabled On Line Help Desk which will shortly be commissioned, allowing immediate access to our help desk via the DJ Website. Other planned developments for our website will be a facility allowing instant on line Benchmarking, FM advice and Procurement. and hyper links to our Knowledge Document Management System DJ Property Workspace TM. , on the DJ intranet, where all pertinent documentation such as Health & Safety process, work permits, Asbestos register, wiring diagrams and drawings etc., are all issued in a controlled way, regularly reviewed and hence only authorised and current information is released.

Design Clean are also at the leading edge in terms of the application of IT and high technology to improve efficiency and reduce management and administration. They intend on this particular commission to use some of the latest high tech monitoring systems including their Maximiser where information is captured via a Psion and downloaded to a PC and also they will provide their StaffCheckTM system which monitors site attendance of their operatives using their thumb prints.

We provide a one stop shop to our clients allowing them to choose from a range of Property & FM services including;

Formulation of Accommodation Strategy – assessment of needs as opposed to wants and development of short, medium and long term strategies and options including : Acquisition and disposal of properties

Project Management of major refurbishments, fit outs and new build construction projects to OGC (formerly PACE / Property Holdings),Building Condition Surveys, (M&E and Fabric), FM Strategy Formulation, , Cost Modelling / Benchmarking of FM Service Provision, Assessment of Options, Business Continuity Planning, Formulation of Disaster Recovery Plans, Development of objective service level measurement systems, Acquisition Surveys, Asset Management, Dilapidations, Disabled Access, Estate Strategy, Agency Services, Occupation Strategies, Valuation & Appraisal, Planning, Lease Renewal, Rating, Expert Witness, PFI Planning & Due Diligence, Development Land Sales & Purchases, Landlord & Tenant. Please refer to the enclosed sales literature.

2. DEFRA expects its strategic suppliers to reduce the cost of the services provided over the life of the contract, without reducing the level of service provided, through continuous improvement and increasing knowledge of the services. Please identify new initiatives, which will reduce the cost of the service and provide a target percentage reduction for each year of the contract.

On Drivers Jonas Employment Services contract we have operated a Continuous Improvement Programme, which has seen a number of improvements introduced which have had a directly impact on the quality of the service delivered. These include:-

* Improvements in productivity, resulting in reductions in head count and lower cost

* Streamlining management processes by increase use of IT and the improved communication it provides

* Broadening the DJ service offering at no extra cost

* Encouraging multi-skilling in the works delivery contracts

* Re-bundling the way the subcontracted services are procured

* Introduction of our bespoke measurement systems to drive out inefficiency and maximise productivity by ensuring that each element in the service delivery chain adds value and not just cost.

We have also re- engineered FM service provision at Imperial War Museum, Home Office, PACE to reduce cost, add value, streamline administration, clarify roles, protection of intellectual property, remove bureaucracy and duplicated management – adding unnecessary cost.

OFEC P. 25

8.2 Continuous Improvement

On our Employment Services contract we have operated a Continuous Improvement Programme, which has seen a number of improvement introduced which have a directly impact on the quality of the service delivered. These include:-

* Improvements in productivity, resulting in reductions in head count and lower cost

* Broadening the DJ service offering at no extra cost

* Encouraging multi-skilling in the works delivery contracts

* Re-bundling the way the subcontracted services are procured

* Driving out inefficiency and maximising productivity by ensuring that each element in the service delivery chain adds value and not just cost

ISOP P 20

Please provide details on how you will ensure that value for money is provided in this contract, including ongoing improvement and efficiency of services over the term of the contract, including the relationship with the Authority’s obligations under the Best Value legislation.

Instructions: Attach this sheet to the front of a maximum of 2 clearly cross referenced A4 sheets of text.

Under partnering arrangements all parties use their skills and experience to develop solutions in partnership to mutual benefit. This ensures there is a meeting of minds, that contractors and suppliers can use their experience, so that specifications reflect what the market place can deliver, provide the optimum of information and do not over specify or complicate matters. Partnering is the basis from which incentivised contracts can be let.

Key principles include:

* mutual reward / gain share

* trust and respect

* playing on each parties strengths, resources and experience to reduce cost

* all parties add value and not cost

* freedom to act / empowerment – no duplicated management

* non adversarial

* ownership of problems, joint problem solving

* working together as a single team with common goals.

We see this commission as much more than a mechanistic delivery of MA / FM Services, Maintenance and Capital works. To achieve full success we, if appointed as Managing Agent or Facilities Manager for the management only or integrated delivery of service provision contracts, we would expect to work closely with the yourselves, other consultants and all stakeholder interests in addressing the above issues.

A key part of the structure is likely to be a central help desk and works ordering system, designed to ensure that all works – reactive, planned, capital – are orchestrated in a planned and co-ordinated way, with accurate budgeting and forecasting.

With our experience of public projects we believe that we can offer you the blend of conceptual, technical, financial and facilitation skills that will be needed in addition to traditional service delivery management skills.

Our account manager will be a key figure in ensuring that;

* all works are realistic, viable and will fully satisfy funding criteria;

* select and appoint team members with the appropriate blend of skills and experience, which will meet your objectives;

* recommend solutions which will:

* properly deliver and enhance the County’s functions and image;

* provide for future flexibility;

* provide effective environmental conditions but cost-effectively;

* achieve a satisfying experience for end-users of all types including people with disabilities.

* ensure users, other stakeholders and opinion-formers are involved in and committed to the solutions;

* organise adequate resources are available to support and deliver the commission, whether part of the fixed fee or call off / ad valorem; and

* establish appropriate progress and reporting procedures.

We envisage providing wide-ranging and strategic advice as an experienced client advisor who can not only look ahead to the challenges of maintenance and construction, but also assist in analysis of options, business issues and structuring of the wider initiatives which will be needed to support project delivery (such as satisfying any funding conditions and public accountability ).

Our objectives will be to:

* share your “corporate” vision and objectives;

* who is experienced in dealing with a range of properties and projects;

* can establish and maintain effective working practices;

* manage contractors to delivery the right quality on programme and budget;

* report and communicate convincingly; and

* give confidence to users and stakeholders.

We would suggest that continuous improvement is driven by adopting the principles of partnering also i.e. identifying mutual objectives, discussing problem resolution and then identifying improvements. Underpinning this framework would be;

* feedback from end users

* feedback from contractors

* feedback from senior management

* agreeing a performance measurement plan for DJ

* agreeing key performance indicators with contractors

* regular contract review meetings up and down the supply chain.

Drivers Jonas currently operates under a partnering agreement with Employment Services, which has been very successful to date. A copy of our joint partnering charter was enclosed with our original OJEC pre-qualification submission. A further copy of this is enclosed electronically.

ISOP P 30

We cannot understand why you would wish to continue with two different FM delivery mechanisms for the Inner London & Outer London estates, to the point where you have duplicated service functions (eg. Help desk) and also wish to continue with segregation of Hard and Soft Services. We can understand how and why these have evolved as they were throw backs to the estates being separate – however now is a perfect opportunity to deliver real change and realise considerable economies of scale.

It is not clear from your process charts as to how cleaning and security will be co-odinated, particularly as there is no suggestion of the ongoing use of the LA help desks.

Drivers Jonas has considerable experience of managing both hard, soft services, and corporate support services required in buildings, using its established help desk to co-ordinate and track the progress of a multiplicity of suppliers.

It is evident from our experience that many events or activities involve many different service disciplines. For instance a large maintenance activity (works) may require inputs from both Security and Cleaning, and yet these appear to be managed through separate chains of command.

There has obviously been a history of issues as to why you would want to adopt the approach you have decided to take with regard to Soft Service / Hard Service segregation. Be they:-

Past poor performance of the FM or soft service providers

Limited historical value add of FM’s managing soft services

Need for closer control by the GLMCA

Cost reduction

Need to fully deploy GLMCA staff

The model you appear to be suggesting is the Independent Managing Agent role, where contracts are managed by the FM, but these contracts are placed and paid for directly by the Authority (GLMCA), with the FM providing support consultancy and procurement as necessary. This our preferred method of engagement, where we act independently of the supply chain. However under such arrangements we still provide a co-ordinated Help Desk function for both Hard & Soft services. In many cases the addition of Soft services to the Help Desk function does not add cost – but adds considerable value by ensuring the same consistent management approach to both Hard & Soft services. It also enables joint use of staff, realisation of economies of scale and the issue of full FM (joint hard and soft ) customer satisfaction surveys, hence providing a consistent uniform approach.

METHOD SN 5.12 +

8.3 (NO!!! SN 5.12)Term Contract Procurement and Renewals

Our objectives in the procurement of Term Contracts will be to:

* Meet the requirements of the Authority

* Obtain competitive tenders on a common basis

* Obtain the appropriate balance between quality and price (VFM)

Our methodology to meet these objectives will be to:

* At the outset to set a procurement programme to meet the Authority’s requirements and EU/GATT Directives

* Hold discussions with the Authority to agree requirements

* Incorporate our extensive experience in the procurement and operation of Term Contracts

* Review and incorporate experiences gained from the operation of the existing Contracts

* Ensure appropriate Asset Registers are up to date

* Identify, quantify or eliminate any areas of risk such that the contractors do not price excessive elements of such risk into their tenders

* Prepare Draft Tender Documents for discussion and agreement with the Authority

8.3.1 M&E Term Maintenance Contract:

We envisage that the essential features of the contracts will include the provision of:

* A proactive approach to maintenance, fault identification and resolution

* PPM to HVCA or equivalent standards and specific items identified in the tender document

* Absorption of repair costs under �500 per job

* Helpdesk call-outs and Reactive Maintenance to specified Priorities and Response Times

* For all Reactive Repairs over 2000 Works Cost proposed to be sub-contracted, provide three competitive quotations.

* A 24-hours answering and Call response service

* Contractor to provide a PPM programme meeting the Authority requirements

* Contractor to:

* Verify Asset Register

* Undertake Dilapidation Survey

* Contractor to take a pro-active approach to:

* Energy Management

* Health and Safety Site-Specific Risk Assessments

* Attendance on Specialist and Statutory Inspections

Other contracts will follow a similar theme

8.3.2

Manhour Allocation

Please refer to our Resource Man hours estimation chart. Based on the information provided we have assumed that there will be

2 x M&E tender over the next 3 years ( DJ man hour allocation = 180 hours p.a

1 x Buildings and Civils tender of the 3 years = 36 hours p.a

1 x Scaffolding tender over the next 3 years = 36 hours p.a

1 x grounds maintenance contract tender over the 3 years = 36 hours p.a.

Procurement will be undertaken by our account manager and his /her site team and with the support of the M&E manager, Fabric Expert and Listed Buildings Expert.

8.4 Energy Management and Utility Monitoring

The procedure and requirements in the context of this contract are set out in the specification. The collation and interpretation of information is a joint exercise between the Authority, the Local Accommodation Manager and the MA, but also, we suggest the M&E Maintenance Contractor.

We envisage that the weekly and monthly and six monthly M&T will be recorded through a spreadsheet with consequential interpretation and benchmarking via linked graphs and pie-charts. In this way previous months consumption can be compared for both the building and the mean average for the whole estate/level, eg all level/buildings can be compared with each other in an easily understood format.

If possible, we will compare trends and consumption with other properties we manage and industry established “norms”.

These functions will be the responsibility of the Operations Manager.

8.5 Information Database / File.

At the outset of this commission, we will prepare a file on each building to include all details relating to both Maintenance Services, Operational Management, and Estate Surveying, together with Health & Safety.

We will collate the following details in a single place

8.5.1 Maintenance

Asset Schedules, Forward Maintenance Plans, Current Contracts, Work Order Lists, Service Levels, Labour Rates, Condition Surveys, Previous Interim Inspection Reports, Annual Review Reports, Floor plans and drawings. Asbestos Registers, Health & Safety Reviews, Risk Assessments, COSHH Inventories, VDE assesments

A copy of Drivers Jonas Partnering Charter with Employment Services

ISOP P 30

We cannot understand why you would wish to continue with two different FM delivery mechanisms for the Inner London & Outer London estates, to the point where you have duplicated service functions (eg. Help desk) and also wish to continue with segregation of Hard and Soft Services. We can understand how and why these have evolved as they were throw backs to the estates being separate – however now is a perfect opportunity to deliver real change and realise considerable economies of scale.

It is not clear from your process charts as to how cleaning and security will be co-odinated, particularly as there is no suggestion of the ongoing use of the LA help desks.

Drivers Jonas has considerable experience of managing both hard, soft services, and corporate support services required in buildings, using its established help desk to co-ordinate and track the progress of a multiplicity of suppliers.

It is evident from our experience that many events or activities involve many different service disciplines. For instance a large maintenance activity (works) may require inputs from both Security and Cleaning, and yet these appear to be managed through separate chains of command.

There has obviously been a history of issues as to why you would want to adopt the approach you have decided to take with regard to Soft Service / Hard Service segregation. Be they:-

Past poor performance of the FM or soft service providers

Limited historical value add of FM’s managing soft services

Need for closer control by the GLMCA

Cost reduction

Need to fully deploy GLMCA staff

The model you appear to be suggesting is the Independent Managing Agent role, where contracts are managed by the FM, but these contracts are placed and paid for directly by the Authority (GLMCA), with the FM providing support consultancy and procurement as necessary. This our preferred method of engagement, where we act independently of the supply chain. However under such arrangements we still provide a co-ordinated Help Desk function for both Hard & Soft services. In many cases the addition of Soft services to the Help Desk function does not add cost – but adds considerable value by ensuring the same consistent management approach to both Hard & Soft services. It also enables joint use of staff, realisation of economies of scale and the issue of full FM (joint hard and soft ) customer satisfaction surveys, hence providing a consistent uniform approach.