by Brianna Crandall — March 31, 2014—International total facilities management service provider Outsourced Client Solutions (OCS) recently announced it has invested in international FM consultancy Agents4RM with the aim of establishing a global professional services business for the facilities management and built environment sector. This step will also further enhance Agents4RM International’s own focus on international work in the past few years.
The business, which will continue to be led by Agents4RM’s Managing Director Lionel Prodgers, will provide a broad range of professional services aimed at the emerging markets in the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia in addition to mature FM markets such as the U.K., Europe and the Americas. Key target sectors for the venture include commercial and residential, shopping centers, healthcare and education. The partners aim to create a full range of professional services and promulgate best practice, responsible management and cutting-edge systems and processes.
The investment will enable Agents4RM to take its consultancy proposition to OCS customers around the world, in addition to attracting new business directly. The OCS investment will also provide the award-winning organization Agents4RM with the means to acquire high-quality consultancy businesses in different geographies to bring together the expected resources required, some of which are already in the pipeline.
“OCS has worked with Agents4RM for several years but this investment signals a more formal partnership approach whereby Agents4RM will deliver consultancy advice for OCS customers across the globe,” added Chris Cracknell, CEO, OCS Group. “By investing in an already well-respected enterprise, a platform for future expansion through organic growth and relevant acquisitions will be created.”
The expanded business will have three key consulting strands: professional consultancy, training and information management. The professional consultancy offering, which includes acquisition and joint venture advice, project management, asset management and strategic facilities management, will complement OCS’s current service provider offering. The international training arm will be e-learning based and will focus on delivering much-needed training to the emerging markets. Meanwhile a new information management bureau service is aimed at any organization needing support in managing its information assets. The bureau service is already in a pilot phase in the commercial and healthcare sectors, with the aim of it becoming a comprehensive solution for the market.
Agents4RM is an international consultancy specializing in property and facilities management. Agents4RM’s approach considers the whole lifecycle and cost-in-use of assets, the interaction of resources, and the application of knowledge to optimize business support services. Services include: strategic consulting to optimize the performance of facilities, management processes and systems; life cycle management; resource management; asset management; procurement; contractor management; change management; performance improvement and sustainable practice.
OCS Group is an international total facilities management (TFM) provider employing more than 85,000 people in 40 countries worldwide. The company offers more than 70 individual services from catering, cleaning, horticulture and waste management to security, maintenance and hygiene, which can be delivered individually or as part of a fully integrated FM solution. OCS manages and delivers services to organizations across the public and private sector. A fifth-generation family-owned business with the maxim “Here Today, Here Tomorrow,” OCS believes in delivering FM solutions that are sustainable in financial, human, community and environmental terms.
