Bellrock is a specialist risk focused workplace and property management services business that provides technology-enabled workplace solutions to customers with complex estate needs. It offers its customers a wide range of delivery models including Total Facilities Management (TFM), Bundled Services, Managing Agent, Consultancy, and Strategic Service Integrator (SSI), with the latter aligning to the Crown Commercial Service’s Estate Management Services (EMS) framework – Integrated Workplace Management. The Integrator model isn’t new to the public sector but it’s probably the least known and used, even though it can offer customers the most flexibility, control, and transparency when compared to other delivery models. Bellrock won its first public sector Integrator contract with the London Fire Brigade in 2020. They sit alongside Legal & General Investment Management, Costa, and Wagamama, who have been experiencing the benefits for several years.
Why use a framework?
For buyers, frameworks provide access to pre-qualified suppliers who have already demonstrated capacity, capability, expertise, and value for money, making the procurement process easier and quicker. Typically, the time-consuming element of procuring services (especially estates management), is the development of the specification, cost model and contract, all of which are provided by the framework. This allows time for the buyer to tailor their specific requirements within the standard documentation.
For suppliers, frameworks are an important vehicle to access public sector contracts. So far this year, Bellrock has won 50% of their contracts via a framework. Contracts issued via a framework can often be viewed more favourably when determining which to bid on, not just because the win rate is higher, but the cost to bid is reduced due to the standardisation of contracts, specifications, and cost model.
Within frameworks, social value, sustainability and carbon reduction are a key focus, with social value now forming up to 20% of overall quality score, focusing a bidder’s attention to its importance in public sector contracts.
How does a framework help the public sector manage the challenges facing estates management?
The estate is an intrinsic part of any organisation and will form part of the strategic plan enabling an organisation to be the best they can. Organisations with large and disparate estates acknowledge there are several challenges facing them as they return to work following the global pandemic, coupled with increasing pressure to consider sustainability, carbon reduction and social value when making procurement decisions.
How we use buildings has changed; employees are demanding more flexibility and employers are open to considering the benefits of a more flexible approach for all parties. However, this has a knock-on effect to the type, location, purpose, and quantities of buildings to meet future needs of an organisation. As a result, buildings are being re-purposed to meet requirements. At the centre of these decisions is data. Without it, informed decisions can’t be made about the estate – i.e. building condition and backlog maintenance, cost to maintain and repair, energy usage, and capacity, all provide valuable data on building performance to help make disposal, invest, or run to fail decisions.
How does an Integrated Workplace Management solution help the public sector manage their estate?
These data points need to be collated within an integrated CAFM system and at the customers disposal. Often this information is sitting with the facilities management providers. However, within an Integrated Workplace Management solution, the customer is in control of the data, with the integrator partner providing the intelligence as it sits between the user and the facilities management partners, managing the systems and process to ensure performance and service delivery.
How do Bellrock deliver Integrated Workplace Management solutions?
At the core of Bellrock’s integrator model there are four key elements:
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System:
Our propriety and integrated technology platform Concerto supports operational and strategic workplace management, configured to customer requirements. Provided are the required IT systems, application hosting, implementation, training, support, and security for the management of the services.
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Help desk:
24/7 helpdesk facility, providing a single point of contact for service users in relation to all workplace, property and facilities management related service requests
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Performance management, analysis, and reporting:
Expertise to provide comprehensive and flexible reporting solution to cover the functional, operational, and strategic aspects
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Innovation, technology, and data:
Integration of BMS, advanced automation, IoT, data warehouse
Bellrock is a named supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s Estate Management Services (EMS) framework offering the public sector a new delivery model under Lot 7 – Integrated Workplace Management, in addition to the CCS Facilities Management Framework RM3830.
As featured on www.governmentbusiness.co.uk
