Chesterton Workplace Management in talks to do French deal
Chesterton Workplace Management (CWM) has said that it plans to have operations up and running in France by the end of the third quarter of 2001, TheFB can reveal.

The company is in talks with a number of firms with a view to creating a joint venture concern, said CWM managing director, David Walker, but he declined to name the groups involved.

Establishing a foothold in France is part of plan to increase the company's presence throughout north-west Europe, where it already has a formal joint venture in place with Dutch consulting specialist Desenco.

Desenco's role advising clients on outsourcing, has lead it towards taking on the management, but in the absence of an experienced partner, it did not have the bulk or scale to provide such services.

Through the joint venture, CWM plans to target big, fast-moving corporates that have property assets in both the Netherlands and the UK, including companies such as investment banks, ING and ABN Amro, energy giant Shell and telecommunication specialist Cable & Wireless (C&W), said Walker.

CWM has already secured a contract with C&W in the UK. Under the terms of the five-year outsourcing deal, CWM will provide all the facilities management services for the 200,000 sq m portfolio. The contract is worth £18m per annum.

Five key objectives have been identified by CWM. These are to lower property costs at C&W, optimise property usage through flexibility, support the corporate image, develop a career path for facilities management staff at C&W and measure the performance of the contract.

CWM beat eight other bidders to win the contract, which contains rigorous conditions including high performance standards and substantial cost savings.

Walker also plans to move into Germany, the biggest European market, but in terms of facilities management one of the most difficult because the heavy emphasis on regionalisation. 'They think of M&E, they don't look at the wider principle of facilities management,' said Walker.

Despite a profits warning last month from its parent Chesterton, which Walker stressed did not mean that the company was under pressure, the facilities management arm is doing very well.

'We have had a much stronger pipeline [of deals] than we have had before in corporate sector bidding and we expect more of the same next year,' said Walker.

  • Chesterton has launched a guide to telecoms for the property industry. Breaking the Code: Telecoms & Property is a glossary of more than 120 terms frequently used in the telecoms and IT sectors.

    The glossary also contains a corresponding section for the IT professional of the most commonly used property terms. For a copy contact Tony Fisher on 020 7499 0404 or email: anthony.fisher@chesterton.co.uk