The Inaugural FM Event is Praised by Industry

LONDON, October 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The Facilities Management Industry Converged on London's Olympia for two days of Insightful Industry Updates, Lively Debates and Unrivalled Networking

The annual FM Event closed its doors last week following a successful two days at London's Olympia. Building on the previous achievement of Total Workplace Management, The FM Event this year provided vital industry insight, a host of exhibitors from across the full spectrum of the FM supply chain and first class networking opportunities.

Bringing together Facilities, Estate and Property Managers along with leading suppliers, The FM Event, provided a unique environment to view and interact with the latest products and services from leading companies across the sector.  

Paul Bates, Director at Cleankill who exhibited this year at The FM Event, said: "I was extremely impressed with the number, quality and seniority of many of the FM procurement people that visited the stand."

"This is our second time exhibiting at a UBM event. These events are a great platform to launch our new products. They are perfect for getting the exposure and awareness launches need... Looking forward to following up on all our leads when we get back!" added Claire Wanless from Office Depot.  

A clear highlight for many attending this year was the Networking Hub; the new feature included facilitated networking by the RICS, BIFM, The Carbon Trust, letsrecycle.com and FMA. Six sessions over the two days brought together professionals working within the facilities management industry to discuss and debate topical issues and trends within the sector.

Alex Fleming, Amenities Manager for The Greater London Authority, who attended as a visitor said of the sessions: "The free education programmes for The FM Event were excellent this year, with a good mix of sessions and plenty of opportunity for networking."

The FM Academy, supported by the Facilities Management Journal (FMJ), hosted 12 sessions with speakers and panellists from across the facilities spectrum.  In the role of sponsor the FMJ hosted the 6^th FMJ debate, which focused on how the UK's faltering economy has helped to redefine the role of Facilities Managers in recent years. The debate comprised an expert panel that included Chris Hoar the Chief Executive of FMA, Ismena Clout, Chair at BIFM, Debra Ward the MD for MITIE Client Services, Chris Stoddart, General Manager for Heron Tower at Cushman & Wakefield and Paul Saville-King, Managing Director, Norland Managed Services.

Ismena Clout, Chair at BIFM, said: "I was pleased to have the opportunity to open the first FM Event as BIFM Chairman. These professional industry events are key for us all to attend to network, be educated, hear about new innovations and potentially source new suppliers. Highlights for me included some great educational and networking sessions which took place and also meeting so many BIFM members. There was a real buzz at the event, with it taking place just after the BIFM Awards where such great FM was showcased and celebrated. We now look forward to Facilities Show in May, another key event in the FM calendar which BIFM have long been associated with and supported."

The free-to-attend education sessions formed a major part of The FM Event, bringing together leading professionals from across the sector to discuss the changing position of facilities within the work space.

Fergus Bird, Group Event Manager at UBM Live Group said: "We are really pleased with how the event went this year, we took the feedback we received last year and enhanced our offering. Both The FM Academy and The Networking Hub have stimulated debate and raised important issues for those working within facilities management. The sector continues to go from strength to strength and The FM Event has provided a fantastic platform to showcase the latest products, services and thinking within this dynamic and evolving industry."

The FM Event was co-located with the UK's leading energy management event, Energy Solutions, which this year hosted Lord Sebastian Coe KBE as its keynote speaker and Building Services - The CIBSE Conference and Exhibition.

Additionally, the new Global Security Summit, also co-located with The FM Event offered a full programme on issues affecting the security industry and hosted Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Enterprise, Kit Malthouse and Andrew Amery as keynote speakers.

About UBM Live:

Operating internationally, UBM Live operates a number of market leading exhibitions, awards, websites/online products and publications in twenty different business sectors. Our brands include CPhI, IFSEC, Food Ingredients, Cruise Shipping Miami, Technology for Marketing and Advertising, International Confex, Informex and many more.

With offices in the UK, Netherlands, USA, UAE and Brazil, UBM Live has successfully geo-cloned its leading CPhI, Food Ingredients, TFM&A and IFSEC brands into territories such as China, Japan, Asia, Eastern Europe, South America and Africa. As well as building relationships with our customers, we help wider communities through our corporate responsibility programme.