Together better

INNOVATION & ESG

The integration with FES has enhanced OCS’ technical capabilities, and the deployment of new AI solutions, particularly in areas such as predictive maintenance, energy optimisation, and decarbonisation, have already been well received by customers.

Dickson is also pleased to report that the customer response has been very positive, with OCS winning new clients off the back of its increased capability. Clients are also sharing their appreciation for the constant communication from OCS, as many have experienced instances where these kinds of integrations happen, and they’re left in the dark.

“Customers recognise that there is a good fit between the two businesses, and know that we’re not coming along to rip up the business and strip it apart, or anything like that. We’ve brought this business to invest in it and grow it, and that kind of mindset has given confidence to our customers.”

The merger has also opened opportunities in other sectors. Along with its strong track record in hard FM and energy management, the FES portfolio extends to managing data centres. While OCS has a lot of data centre experience outside the UK, in India, for example, combining this background with FES’ existing expertise is helping the company make inroads into the expanding European data centre industry. FES also came with a base in the pharmaceutical sector, where OCS has not previously focused on much in the UK.

Adds Dickson: “When it comes to expanding the customer base, it’s also around cross selling. Now that we’ve got that deeper expertise within hard services, it gives us a lot more confidence to cross sell hard services into our existing soft services customer base, whereas previously there may have been certain parts of the country, or certain sectors, where we didn’t feel that we had that capacity.

“Now we’ve more than doubled the size of a hard services business, we’re seeing a lot more opportunities. For instance, in the retail sector, we already had a large presence in offering soft services, and we’re now seeing a lot of them are interested in talking to us about hard services.”

ESG STRATEGY

OCS has also succeeded in tying the rebrand in with its group-wide refreshed ESG strategy. This was the culmination of OCS’ global ‘resilience week’, an annual campaign which took place in the first week of June, focusing on the group’s behaviours, tools, and values.

The event, explains Dickson, “was a refresher on all the things people should be doing and thinking about every day, ranging from cyber security to the environment and carbon reduction.

“Off the back of that resilience week, we got quite a few suggestions internally that we felt were really good ideas to build into our overall ESG strategy. We then agreed to refresh this strategy off the back of the feedback from that resilience week, but also off the back of the FES integration. FES had their own ESG strategy, so the idea was to take the best of both.”

A key focus of this strategy is around training and awareness of ethical governance among colleagues, including the rollout of a revised code of conduct covering anti-bribery and being ethical as a business. This includes better awareness of modern-day slavery, responsible procurement, and cyber and data safety awareness.

Training and development of the expanded team is also crucial. Dickson explains: “On the first day we acquired FES, I held a town hall meeting and said to them ‘the main thing that will happen is this business will grow significantly, and that growth provides opportunities for any individual who wants to progress in their career’.”

OCS is investing heavily in the apprenticeship pipeline, with plans to significantly grow the number of apprentices not only among young people straight from education, but also existing colleagues.

Says Dickson: “It’s important to remember that anyone can do an apprenticeship at any age, and we believe in supporting existing colleagues, putting them through apprenticeship programmes and upskilling them. This is because we’re very focused on promotion from within.

“Some of my proudest moments I’ve reflected on over my time within this industry is seeing someone come in who, after going through an apprenticeship and training, sees their career develop. This also really helps with retention, as showing those career paths are available lets people see how their career can really develop within OCS, which results in higher retention rates and helps drive our culture. The fact is, your best people are those that are already in the business.”

CONCLUSION

While M&A has been the focus for OCS in recent times, for the foreseeable future, organic growth is a priority. Dickson teases the announcement of two or more large contracts that will be made during the second half of this year. He also reveals that the company is in the process of finalising a new energy strategy to be rolled out during the latter part of this year and into 2026. There are also plans to refresh the approach to social value off the back of the integration, by taking learnings from both companies, along with “fantastic new social value initiatives that we’re planning at the moment to launch in the second half of the year”.

He concludes: “While we may look at some more acquisitions in the future, for the moment it’s about maximising the benefits that FES brings us – going out and winning new customers off the back of it, and demonstrating to the industry that we are really good at hard services. Whether that’s existing customers or new customers, it’s really pushing that organic growth, which is the focus for the second half of the year.”