The Facilities Event announces first speakers

Organiser Western Business Exhibitions has announced that a line-up of leading international specialists will demonstrate how the profession can boost the bottom line as a strong strategic partner to UK Plc. 

With a mission to challenge, change and collaborate, experts from Dell Technologies, Land Securities, Workplace Fabric and Birmingham School of Engineering and the Built Environment,will tackle the macro issues affecting the sector through keynote sessions and interactive panel debates. The entire programme will explore how FM can help to solve the UK’s 'productivity puzzle’ through increased employee engagement, health and wellness.

One Team approach

In the FM Matters theatre, renowned industry expert Bruce Barclay, senior facilities manager at Dell, will lead on the One Team approach to FM service delivery and how it can boost productivity for both service providers and in client organisations. As a global leader in information technology-as-a-service and a leading light in European partnership, the organisation’s award-winning program has seen a group of competitive, disparate service providers across Europe brought together with internal stakeholders to create a One Team Real Estate and Facilities business family working together in EMEA.

FM & HR

A topic sure to generate lively debate is the future of workplace optimisation: HR & FM joining together to create a new role, which will be led by Raj Krishnamurthy, CEO and founder of Workplace Fabric. He will cover the popular, yet widely criticised activity based-working approach and present his case for a new role, somewhere between FM and HR to oversee its implementation.

Industry success stories

Supporting the event’s objective to deliver more practical training, visitors will learn from a series of industry success stories across the three days. A project team from Land Securities will share how the organisation has created a collaboration environment suitable for global business. The team will discuss the creation of collaboration suites and a digital platform for its new London HQ building. They will also explain the challenges they overcame when choosing equipment and the innovation solutions implemented in the building to make it an exemplar in collaborative environments.

Panel discussion

Over in the Facilities Dialogue theatre, Ghasson Shabha, senior lecturer at Birmingham School of Engineering and the Built Environment, will join a panel to discuss “What is productivity in terms of the workplace, and how do we measure it? Significantly, the panel will also ask the big question: “Are we measuring the wrong thing in terms of workplace effectiveness?”

Coordinating the programme, former FM World editor, now MD of Magenta Associates, Cathy Hayward said: “Numerous research shows that the workplace plays a key role in improving employee engagement and productivity, thereby boosting the bottom line. We want The Facilities Event to play a pivotal role in injecting newfound optimism into FM professionals striving to improve productivity and wellbeing within their organisations.”

Tim Else, event director, said: “We are proud to house the industry's most respected voices at The Facilities Event to share fresh perspectives and educational content across two free to attend theatres. We look forward to updating our visitor and exhibitor audience with many more exciting developments over the coming months.”

Attracting over 5,000 visitors and 200 exhibiting companies, The Facilities Event aims to deliver a powerful combination of senior decision makers and purchase influencers from across the UK's industrial, commercial and public sectors. With a compelling range of unique educational content available to the visitor and a wide and varied exhibitor offering, this is described as the "must attend" event for all facilities professionals. For further information, please visit www.facilitiesevents.com. You can also follow on Twitter (@FacilitiesEvent)