2016. And this activity has not been confined to acquiring M&E and HVAC expertise. Livingstone’s research suggests that both established and growing brands are electing to move into technology and tech-enabled areas such as CAFM and energy management to help to them remain competitive. The strong standing that some property companies have established in FM services, and how they’ve gone about it, is reflected in the fact that in the top ten large brands category real estate services group CBRE has moved into third place from sixth with a 10.7% share of the respondent vote compared to 4.6% last year. Mitie’s challenges over the past year are vividly reflected in its fall to second place in the top ten large companies table, from a tie with ISS last year at 31.8% to 17.7% this year. ISS, which has the highest rating in the 2017 chart, has seen its share fall to 26.4%. The Copenhagen-based facilities services group has had a mixed year, with revenue up but profits down in what is of course a highly competitive marketplace. Brexit hasn’t so far had much of an impact on M&A activity, with the most recent report from analysts Grant Thornton revealing that many service providers are adopting a business-as-usual approach and maintaining their growth agendas. However, the full impact of the vote to leave the EU could still have implications for the sector, not least finding, attracting and retaining staff, particularly in the low paid soft services areas. There is also one notable change to the top ten list this year with the disappearance of Compass, which has so far failed to make brand inroads with its integrated facilities management business 14forty. Servest takes its place, at number eight on the list with a score of 5.3%. The responses to the question of who are the top medium and small service providers was illuminating. Some of the respondents were clearly unsure what constitutes ‘small’ (though the question did include turnover bands), with entries in this category including many of the larger players such as Churchill, City, Incentive and even ISS. However, the most often cited appropriate names under ‘small’ included Anabas, Bellrock and Cloudfm.
Download PDF file