FOCUS INTERVIEW
the leadership, learning and support provided
by the school is clearly and consistently
credited with having a significant positive
influence on the sector.
A recent topic on the school’s agenda was
how FM providers are addressing the issue of
single-use plastics. With customers already
asking about this, EMCOR UK decided to invest
in a training module to tackle the issue. This
culminated in the launch of a free e-learning
module focused on sustainable use and the
management of plastics in businesses across
the UK. It is open to individuals and corporates
via the Supply Chain Sustainability School
website and covers the whole spectrum of
plastic use in a typical business – what its
properties are and the most common wastages.
According to Chanter, launching this free
service into the sector is “the right thing to
do”. “We’ve all had negative reactions to some
of the mis-selling in this industry and outside
it, and alongside this, the social agenda has
become more important. You might need to
generate profit for shareholders, but you should
do so in balance. This is why a number of the
programmes we’re involved in are geared
towards moving forward on the societal and
business platform.
“I also think there is a real business benefit,
and it fits with our collaboration values, which
is of a consistent, open, transparent message
of being a responsible business that is keen to
do the right thing, but also be e icient and add
value to your organisation.”
DIGITAL FUTURE
The impact of technology on FM services is
something which preoccupies the sector,
and has resulted in a spike in mergers and
acquisitions (M&A) activity over the past few
years. According to business advisors BDO
36 AUGUST 2019
there is a race among FM operators to equip
themselves with the technology required to
remain competitive, which will continue to
spur M&A activity.
EMCOR UK, according to Chanter, is doing
things di erently by utilising most of its
technological development in-house. “As
long as an IoT sensor is accurate it will
take measurements, but we’re much more
interested in getting the insights that it
brings. What is the data science we can
bring to this? You need to do that in the
context of what is the organisation actually
trying to achieve?
“For instance, you can have an asset which
is creating well-ventilated o ices, and the
sensors you attach and the data it produces
will be di erent from the insights you’d
need for a data centre. Creating a sensor
and throwing it in is one thing, but the real
advantage is in choosing the right sensors
to examine the critical business process that
can give you that information. We share all
of our data with clients via an open portal
that they can access from anywhere. In
essence, this provides a tra ic light system to
say that one is working well, one may need
maintenance, and so on.”
Chanter was coy when asked if the rumour
mill was correct and the firm is actively
exploring the concept of introducing an
Uber-style model to its delivery services. “It
would be a company like us which would
look at something like that,” he concedes.
He is proud that the firm has its own inhouse
tech people to explore these kinds
of innovations, arguing that by utilising the
“DNA of electrical and engineering expertise”
within the company, it has all of the in-house
data science it needs.
This means that for the future, a spate
of M&A activity to keep up with the FM
digital drive is not on the table. “It’s a
positive spiral if you continue to invest and
a negative spiral if you try and outsource
bits of your expertise,” he asserts. “We’ve
been so successful in organic growth I’m not
convinced that acquiring is important, unless
for a very niche competency.
“And I don’t see us buying another FM
operator, as it may contaminate the brand.
Being big isn’t as important as being best,
so we’ll continue to concentrate on organic
growth. Our pipeline is looking extremely
strong, and although with growth there
may be some challenges, we are continuing
our investment in people. That is critical,
alongside continuing to drive up investment
in IT and digital tech.”