The NEC Group has selected the FM firm OCS to deliver major facilities management services across its venues. The contract from July 1 includes security and event stewarding, traffic and car park management, portering, cleaning, waste management and helpdesk services.
The Birmingham-based NEC Group operates four venues. The National Exhibition Centre, which is the location for the annual IFSEC and Facilities Show; and the LG Arena, a music and entertainment venue, occupy a 610 acre site near Solihull. The International Convention Centre and the National Indoor Arena are in central Birmingham. Around 670 staff working for the incumbent service provider and the NEC Group transfer to OCS. That transfer has been subject to a consultation process. The casual workforce have also been given the opportunity to register their interest in continuing casual work with OCS.
The NEC Group services were first outsourced more than 10 years ago. The organisation announced in November 2010 that the soft services contracts would be up for renewal in July 2012.
John Hornby, COO of the NEC Group, said: “This major new soft services contract will greatly assist the NEC Group in retaining its position as a leading venue management company in what is a highly competitive market, both in the UK and internationally. OCS operates globally and understands the services and the people at every level of our industry. The bid process has demonstrated that OCS can deliver an innovative and efficient approach to the delivery of soft services across the NEC Group and we look forward to our alliance with them.”
Martin Gammon, managing director for OCS Group UK Ltd, added: “This contract award demonstrates our capability as a service provider to major exhibition, conferencing, leisure and sporting venues. As well as delivering our services to meet the aspirations of the NEC Group, we will be implementing over 130 innovations during the life of the contract. This includes a dedicated OCS Academy that will attract, recruit, train and retain over 2,000 OCS employees. Another key initiative is our unique proposal to deliver zero waste-to-landfill from day one.”
