Recent reports from agencies reveal that the office segment in realty business is consistently a preferred investment asset class. Office parks across seven cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata grew 21 per cent during H1 2019 to 21.8 million sq ft. The office space immersion is predicted to grow by nearly 42 million sq ft by the end of 2019.

Today, office infrastructure has a major role in alluring employees and customers into investing time and money into organisations. To ensure consistent maintenance and also visual appeal, corporate are today seeking help from Integrated Facility Management (IFM) companies.

Corporate have an array of equipment that requires an essential overhaul and ends up costing the customer a huge sum of money. IFM provides formal service to such companies in effective handling of such equipment. Large office spaces require special cleaning methods and equipment. They need to create a great ambiance for their employees. IFM companies are a strong support system for large office infrastructure as they provide services that are not only the best in quality, good environment generating but also cost-effective. Office parks and the facility management sector are co-dependent businesses that support each other’s growth by attracting more investors and customers.

Ensuring quality
An IFM company, Embassy Services (ESPL) was founded in 1993. Embassy Group set up their own property management arm and the commercial office business took off for them. They needed to ensure the quality maintenance of their properties and comfort for their clients. The company is a specialised service provider that extends service in all aspects of property management including service deliveries like M&E, housekeeping, security and safety, transport, pest control, landscape and horticulture, events, business support, and cafeteria and food court management and waste management. They also supervise administration, training, operational management, integration, innovation and provide strategic support to the customers in the offices.

Customising services
Embassy Services directly handles the client so that they can customise services to meet client expectations. Streamlining efficient work and task management, the company provides a quicker response to any requests coming from the client. They keep a keen eye to detail and proactive approach towards the different aspects of managing the properties and the office requirement so that clients can focus on their actual business. The trained professional energy managers conduct audits of the different aspects of property maintenance and offer low-cost improvement to clients for their businesses. In their commitment to providing the best services the company clarify their performance goals with the clients and use technology to the best of their advantage.

Unique initiatives
Various initiatives activated by the company for their corporate clients have had a positive response in employee engagement and creating healthy work environments. Activities like Urban Green enable park users to grow their own vegetables as a nutritious alternative as well as a recreation. Through the Energize programme, they organise cultural, sports, lifestyle and corporate social responsibility events, which drives a sense of community among tenants. Use of bicycles for park users to commute within the park encourage employee health and well-being.

A sustainable approach
Embassy Services also applies a sustainable approach to run the properties and manage building and office parks across the country. The company encourages paperless working, hold environmental awareness programmes and promotion of green products. They successfully run India’s largest award winning business park – Manyata – spread across 110 acre and top performing IT/ITES SEZs among many other properties currently operational in 12 states across the country. The company’s key clients include Embassy Group, IBM, Flipkart, Blackstone, WeWork and HCL, among others.

Key achievements
ESPL is set apart from competitors due to their affordable pricing and their prestigious international and domestic awards in safety and health culture. All parks are 5-star certified by British Council and CII. All buildings are certified LEED Platinum by IGBC. The company has been accredited with certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and from British Safety Council and Indian Green Building Council, which leads to a consistently high level of quality, environmental management and occupational safety.

The IFM business is in a dramatic upward trend with its increasing demand in new real estate sectors like co-working, data centres, educational institutions and healthcare, and even logistics and industrial parks. Having a first mover advantage and being the largest developer-owned facility management company in the country is giving ESPL the required edge to enjoy its beneficial returns.