How Well Is Your Commercial Building Being Looked After?
The commercial sector in Scotland is thriving and is full of enterprising and innovative businesses, whether they are small or large, start-ups or well-established multi-site limited companies. But most of these businesses will have one thing in common; they have commercial premises that they need to manage. Commercial buildings can differ greatly, they could be a retail outlet, an office, a hospitality business or a light industrial business such as a warehouse or an MOT garage. These are all commercial buildings and they are all a key asset to the business, whether they are owned or leased. And hence a key function for the business is looking after them.
When considering the maintenance of your commercial buildings in Scotland, this can be split into two main areas; facilities management and security. Each of these umbrella areas have a variety of functions under them which all require specialist knowledge and skills, and which all have an influence on the overall functioning of the business, and hence, in their own way they are critical and have to be maintained and managed properly.
Facilities management of a commercial building
The main duties of a facilities manager of a commercial building will include:
- Cleaning – regular, deep clean, windows, specialist cleaning
- Grounds maintenance – car parks, roof/gutters and gardens
- Front of house services – reception, access control, health & safety policies
- Health & safety controls – fire alarms, legionella control, PAT testing and heating
All these areas combine to affect the smooth operation of the business and can have an influence over compliance, public relations and customer perception, and so it is critical that you have controls in place to manage these areas and to identify where controls are insufficient. Any lapses in these areas can begin to affect the physical infrastructure of the building over time, in addition to displaying poor standards to both customers and to internal employees.
Security management in commercial premises
Security is one of the biggest factors in enabling a business to grow and prosper. Depending on your location in Scotland, there could be various threats to the business in terms of theft, nuisance, vandalism and unauthorised encampment. So you need to safeguard your people, buildings and assets in order to enable the business to function properly and to grow. Typical security controls include:
- Manned security patrols
- CCTV systems
- Alarm systems
- Waking watch (additional patrols where specific fire risks exist)
- Access control and key-holding systems
Having robust and effective security systems in place will give you peace of mind and also add to the professionalism of the business, but fundamentally, protecting your people and business from threats and unauthorised access is key to your duty as a business owner and employer.
Let Apardion look after your commercial building
Facilities management and security are too often underestimated in terms of being a core function, but they do require specialist attention and are critical to how your business operates. Looking after your commercial buildings in Scotland means maintaining and improving them so that the business thrives, and the flipside is that not looking after them can lead to costs, compliance issues, accidents, absenteeism, loss of business and loss of productivity. Apardion are specialists in security and facilities management, and we can carry out a comprehensive risk assessment of your business to establish how your infrastructure needs maintaining and managing in terms of facilities and security. We have available resources who can be reactive and adaptable to your needs and can address the key areas where controls can be improved, and always working in tandem with your ongoing operations with the explicit objective of not compromising how your business functions.
If you contact Apardion today we can work with you to ensure your commercial building is being looked after, leaving you to concentrate on your key skills and the day-to-day management of your business.
