News

London region update

13-07-10 10:18 BIFM

The London region has had a very busy first half of 2010 and seen an increase in the number of organised events and a marked increase in attendance.  The hot topic for events in 2010 remains sustainability but the focus has moved to energy and energy efficiency with the CRC being the driver of this focus.

The first event of the year was held at the Royal Courts of Justice and was a joint event with the proposed Historic Buildings SIG.  It was a great event and a lot was learnt about the challenges EC Harris face maintaining and updating such an active and historic building.  Fifty attendees got to enjoy a tour of the building followed by some networking. 

The first BIFM induction style event followed this, going on to be run successfully around the country.  This event was held at the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) with the support of ISS.  There was standing room only to hear from the speakers which included Ian Fielder, Iain Murray, Lee Catania and David Millar.

Four events on energy and energy conservation have been run – the topics covered were CRC in February, the 10:10 campaign in March, energy in May and energy management in June.  All these events have had between 180 and 190 attendees showing just how high on the FM’s agenda this topic remains.  The companies speaking and sponsoring these events include Arup, Allen & Overy, London First, Emcor, powerPerfector, Eurest and TEM.  The focus for the rest of the year will remain with efficiency as the economic climate comes back into focus.

The London Region also ran the first of what will become a regular feature on the calendar, the FM Surgery.  Attendees discussed issues and concerns based around the five main streams of facilities services – Cleaning, Catering, M&E, Security and Front of House.  The event supported by ISS was very well received and there are plans already to run it again in 2011.

There are some great events coming up in the rest of the year and the highlights will be the annual Riverboat cruise which took place on 8 July, the FM Conference which will take place on the 30 September and the Burns Night Supper, which is coming back for 2011.

Finally there are a number of new faces and changes on the committee.  In the last six months we have had Bryan McLaggan, Alan Cork, Emma Robinson, Jo Pigram and Erik Williams join the committee.  This is the end of Ismena Clout’s (pictured) tenure as Chair as she steps down at the group’s AGM on the 8 July.  The London Region is pleased to announce that Bernard Crouch will be taking the reigns again as Chair and he will be supported by Erik Williams as Deputy Chair. 

Ismena would like to thank everyone who has attended, sponsored and spoken at an event in the last two years for their support and wishes Bernard and Erik every success.