The Facilities Event Live: PFM Awards - are you a potential award winner?

According to Flower, "the crux of the awards are the judges and the rigorous selection process," and the reason why the awards are known for having such a high level of integrity. 

Once the finalists are selected from the entries, the judges travel up and down the country visiting each finalist in order to give every one a fair chance. The reports are then discussed amongst the other judges and the winners selected.

The judges Mayur Patel, Jelf region manager at MMC Group Real Estate; Satvir Bungar MBE - managing director at M&A Advisory, head of facilities sector BDO; and Joanna Lloyd-Davies from JLD Consultants and founding partner, the Stoddart Review, began by explaining why they are a judge on the PFM Awards.

Satvir Bungar explained: "For me, FM is all about collaborative partnerships and the PFM Awards have been promoting partnership for the last 25 years across all their categories. So from a practicing advisor in the industry, it's a great opportunity for me to actually see a real submission live in action, to get to meet the individuals that drive the whole contract performance and really assess where the true benefits are and to see innovation in action."

Satvir Bungar, Mayur Patel and Joanna Lloyd-Davies also agreed that it's a great opportunity to celebrate FM's unsung heroes, and to learn from others and try to replicate some of that experience with their client base.

The judges then explained what they believe the value of these awards are to the industry. Bungar said that the awards highlight how the industry can tap into innovation and also access talent. One example he gave was previous winner TCFM who brought almost one thousand disabled people into their business by partnering with the organisation Remploy.

Mayur Patel said that the awards help to "raise the profile of FM in general". 

"So many things are being done by some organisations that need to be talked about because there's a lot of learning that can be done between organisations and best practice that can be shared - the awards bring this out." He cited apprenticeship schemes as one example of the successful partnerships that are being developed within organisations.

"Mediocrity just won't do," explained Joanna Lloyd-Davies. "We get the opportunity to see the cream of the crop rising. Actually some people say they don't want to enter the awards because other people will copy them but isn't emulation the greatest form of flattery? So we must encourage this. It raises the profile of your business, it raises the profile of your people and more importantly, how you deliver your services uniquely." 

Bungar concluded by explaining what he is looking for when visiting the finalists. "Personally I am looking to speak to those contract managers and key individuals on both sides of the partnership because sometimes when submitting an entry it's very difficult to get into the real nuts and bolts of the submission and it's the individuals we find that are making that real difference."

Mayur Patel added: "Every time I go to a presentation - there's three shortlisted for each category - the main thing is they're all winners. If they don't win it doesn't mean they're doing something bad they're doing some great stuff. What we're doing is identifying the one that stands out. 

"You're doing a great job just to be shortlisted - it's something everyone can be proud of and gives everyone a new lease of life to carry on doing some great work."

Joanna Lloyd-Davies concluded by saying that "the whole process of entering the awards reignites the passion for the industry, inspires your team, puts them together, helps them to gel. I want to see more of that". 

She also added that winners get highlighted across the industry - and it could possibly help your share price! 

"With what's going on in the industry at the moment we need these good stories."

More free educational seminars will be taking place at The Facilities Event on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th April. 

To find out more please visit: https://www.facilitiesevents.com/fm-seminars