Sharpening their skills

Now that large companies of all kinds have begun to restructure their often very lucrative real estate portfolios, the golden age has begun for Facility Management (FM) firms. Institutional investment banks who lack experience in property management, have been turning eagerly to specialist firms, the number of whom has been increasing steadily

Facility Management is a relatively new concept which sprang up in Poland around 1997, along with modern office buildings and retail centres. Its relative novelty in Poland is reflected in its rather ambiguous definition and the lack of a concrete translation into the Polish language.
"Facility Management is one of the constituents of Property Management," says Grzegorz Pytkowski, President of GP Bis. "The term embraces all types of property services which ensure the efficient functioning of buildings."
Bogdan Zasada, Head of the FM Division for EC Harris, advocates a wider definition of the term, as is accepted by the IFMA (the International Facility Management Association). Thus defined, Facility Management encompasses the management of non-productive infrastructure, including buildings, outside a given company's core business. The widely understood FM involves, first and foremost, maintenance costs' analysis and, on the basis of the latter, consultancy during future operations.

Competitors grow fast
A real estate magazine in Poland has published a ranking of Property and Facility Managers, based on the size of the managed office buildings. The list consists of 25 firms, among them companies known mainly for development (eg AIG/Lincoln Polska, Platan Park and GE Capital Golub), consultancy firms (eg Knight Frank Nieruchomosci) and specialist firms such as LGM Polska and GP Bis. If "Lokale Immobilia" decide to repeat their ranking next year the odds are that the list will be much longer. Why?
"Everyone is looking for a niche and a relatively stable income," says Bogdan Zasada. "Even companies which are completely unprepared, try to get contracts because they see it as good business."
As always, however, competition equals customer benefits. GP Bis who have signed a letter of intent with an American investor, Innova Capital, as to their acquisition of a portion of shares in the Polish company, is one such example. Grzegorz Pytkowski tells us that the contract will enable his company to work on a larger number of projects and engage more specialists. "We have also conducted negotiations with EC Harris and created a strategic alliance, so now we can enter tenders offering complex client services. We are already working with Saski Point, Saski Crescent, Shell and Hines."

Still virgin soil
While some FM firms offer complex services, including cost management, others specialize in specific services, and according to Grzegorz Latala, an Apsys Director, the latter is considerably more widespread. "The level of services in Poland is still low but it is improving year by year, because in the current economic situation, people are beginning to put more care into their work."
"Property owners are also beginning to appreciate the professionalism of FM companies. Until 2000 it was difficult to explain to them the necessity of methodical cost reduction. Now things have changed. More and more often we deal with institutions which are conscious of the need for a professional approach to the property they own, from the point of view of lowering costs during a given budget year," says Bogdan Zasada of EC Harris.