Member Article

20th FM Summit launched at Stormont

The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) and their growing Northern Ireland branch officially launched its annual FM Summit which is due to take place on Friday 25 November 2016 at Croke Park, Dublin. Now in its 20th year, hundreds of facilities management professionals from Northern Ireland are set to attend the event to discuss current opportunities and challenges facing the FM industry.

At a lunch sponsored by H&J Martin Asset Management Services and Eurest, delegates gathered at Parliament Buildings, Stormont to celebrate the Summit’s return and announcement of this year’s theme ‘Workplace partnerships – Rethinking FM’. The BIFM Ireland FM Summit attracts FM professionals from Northern Ireland to discuss the summit’s core theme through innovative talks delivered by specialist speakers, exhibitions demonstrating the latest cutting-edge FM services and excellent networking opportunities for all levels of FM professionals.

Facilities Management (FM) in Ireland has come a long way since the 1990s and today’s innovative FM is mixing with architects, construction project managers and building services engineers using three-dimensional building information modelling (BIM) to build better business and operations across the island of Ireland. Today senior facilities managers rank among the most valuable assets to a professional organisation and can be responsible for hundreds of millions of pounds worth of corporate and public estate, both in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and globally.

Wilton Farrelly, Chair of BIFM Ireland’s Northern Branch said: “The FM Summit has been instrumental in spearheading the thriving facilities management industry in Northern Ireland. With Brexit’s implications still unclear, this event provides an excellent opportunity for FMs to assemble together and discuss the potential problems that may arise, and collaborate to identify the latent opportunities following these political decisions. It is highly likely that businesses will look to the facilities management function to stabilize operations. Information and idea exchange opportunities available at the FM Summit will strengthen FM professionals’ ability to respond to changing dynamics in the wider environment.”

Chief sponsors of the summit Aramark and OCS are both back on board for the successive event with a commitment to providing the same level of excellence standards typical of BIFM Ireland Region.

Derry Robertson, General Manager from event sponsor Aramark said: “Organisations are increasingly realising the impact that effective facilities management by organisations such as Aramark can have on achieving business objectives. It is essential that industry professionals are well equipped to consult on and implement recompensing strategies. The summit’s offering of high-caliber speakers will certainly attract not only facilities managers but will also be applicable to all businesses who wish to better their performance in the long-term.”

Aine Mulcahy, Managing Director, OCS Group Ireland said: “OCS believe in the importance of the summit for helping facilities managers build vital networks and for igniting collaborative projects – outcomes which are a core focus for this year’s workplace partnerships theme. We’re proud to have also supported the summit’s official Northern Ireland launch event which invited FMs to Stormont’s Parliament Buildings to celebrate the industry’s accomplishments and prepare their upcoming projects for success.”

Compered by Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, the summit has become one of the highlights in the calendars of facilities managers operating throughout Ireland as they assemble to celebrate their profession’s progression across a range of business sectors.

The 2016 summit will encourage individuals and companies to rethink the parameters of facilities management and learn new tips and techniques to advance the value of FM for core business operations by generating beneficial bottom-line outputs such as increased productivity, lower costs, and enhanced efficiency. These matters will be addressed by the summit’s line-up of practiced speakers which includes; former Dublin Football Manager and current Country Director at Veolia FM Pat Gilroy, Nasreen Begum from LinkedIn, and Paul Carty from Guinness Storehouse, to name but a few.

For further information or booking visit www.bifm.org.uk/Ireland-summit.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jessica Fok .