FM firms 'could top the PFI pile'

by Paul Donovan



Facilities managers could leverage their way to the top of the Private Finance Initiative pile by buying and consolidating PFI companies, claimed quantity surveyor EC Harris.

Ed Baldwin, a senior consultant with the firm which is becoming more active in facilities management, said that if FM companies capitalise more strategically on their skills as an operator their status could rise as they cash-in on the PFI market.

He claimed that an FM-led approach could lead to more PFI schemes by arranging deals faster and cheaper.

Mark Johnson of solicitor SJ Berwin said that facilities managers could make headway in the PFI market if they can obtain the requisite funding. "The contractor's role on these projects only runs for the first couple of years while the operational phase lasts 23 years so that is when value can be obtained from the contracts.

"The question for FM companies is whether they have sufficiently strong balance sheets to invest in the business," said Johnson.

Baldwin argues that FM companies could buy a number of special purpose vehicle companies for PFI schemes and group them to maximise their impact on the market. But he recognised that FM firms have to breakthrough into strategic roles before any PFI dreams come true.

He said: "Facilities management tends to be associated with maintenance, cleaning contracts, photocopiers and carparks. In reality, it is a tool well suited to the more complex world of PFI."

Baldwin believed that the PFI market has not been tapped effectively. He said service providers are far better placed to take on the 25-year-long contracts than building contractors.

He claimed that if the FM product is demystified and lawyers are taken out of the picture, then FM companies would be more likely get involved in PFI. There needs to be education amongst FM companies on the potential opportunities in PFI, said Baldwin.