Hi,
We’re taking a bit of a break from the normal format this week, for two reasons. Firstly, because we have an announcement to make that may just pique your interest. Secondly because I wanted to highlight a couple of the responses we had to the poll on last week’s e-mail.
The announcement!
We’ve been working on a brand new product, something which we believe is going to change the face of Facilities Management training. It’s called XenZone, and it’s an online library of training specifically created for Facilities Managers.
If you’ve ever come across Skillshare or LinkedIn learning, then you know the kind of thing we’re talking about, but unlike either of these platforms, everything on XenZone has been created with the Facilities Manager in mind.
It’s the only subscription based training platform in the world aimed specifically at Facilities Managers, and we’re offering you the chance to become one of our founding members.
XenZone will launch officially on the 18th September, but we’re offering you a 25% discount and a 100% money-back guarantee if you take out an annual subscription before the launch date. You’ll also have the chance to help us shape the way the system develops and suggest courses and topics that you’d like to see.
You can find out more and/or get your discounted membership by clicking the big red button below.
Thoughts on last week’s e-mail
Last week, we considered PFI, explained what it was, why it was abandoned and posed the question – should it be brought back?
This week, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with you from some of the responses we received to the poll we included on last week’s e-mail. Huge thanks to everyone who responded. I’ve picked a couple of comments to share.
First up, from Gary Lindley:
“Having worked on previous PFI projects as client, with strong management, and a dose of reality from all parties, they do work. One option would be to adjust the funding model where the client, finance institution and the contractor each have an even share of the cost. This would then spread the benefit and risk.”
And secondly from Chris Wilkes:
“Currently working in the Public sector, and Access to Capex is difficult, protracted, and a pull on resources that could be focused on more value added jobs.”
Both Gary and Chris have experience working in the public sector, and Gary has specific experience of working on PFI projects (it wasn’t clear whether Chris has worked on PFI specifically). It’s clear from both of their comments that they believe that the concept of PFI is a good one. At a time when investing in capital projects is difficult for the public sector, PFI presents a real opportunity to develop sorely needed infrastructure without having to find the funds up-front.
Chris makes an interesting further point that both the money and the resources required simply to secure funding could be better used elsewhere. Whilst Gary points out the necessary requirements for a PFI to work – strong management and a ‘dose of reality from all parties’.
I agree that tweaks to the funding model to more evenly spread the benefit and risks would be a good starting point, although I believe that there’s more to it than this – well written specifications and complete transparency between client and contractor are essential. Of course, the same could be said about any large-scale FM contract, but the sheer size of PFI, coupled with the fact that we’re dealing with significant amounts of taxpayer money and essential public services make it especially important with PFI projects.
Overall, responses to the survey were overwhelmingly in favour of reinstating PFI as a means to invest in public infrastructure. We’re keeping the poll open for now and we’d be fascinated to get more opinions. I’d be especially keen to hear from anyone who disagrees with the premise. What do you think the downsides would be?
If you’d like to venture your opinion, you can fill in the survey here. It only take about one minute, and you can remain anonymous if you’d prefer – just leave the name fields blank.
That’s all for now. Have a great week!
Chris and the Xenon Team
P.S. If you havenât already studied or started studying for an IWFM qualification, which will cover topics like this in depth and fully assess your understanding, you may want to have a look at our guide to the IWFM Qualifications which will give you a full breakdown of how they work and whatâs involved in the different levels. You can download it here.
P.P.S. If youâre already considering taking a qualification but donât know which level to go for, a good starting point is our One-Minute-Leveller tool, which will ask you a few questions and give you a recommendation based on the result. You can access it here.