Amid the current financial turmoil, the FM Sector the FM & Property Event held at the Celtic Manor Resort, South Wales, proved that there are still opportunities to be benefit from when you commit a little time to explaining the challenges that you face and exploring your options with an industry experts such as space-pod.
The 5 star venue is soon to host the 2010 Ryder Cup and has recently been voted as the number one conference hotel in the UK. The purpose of the event was to initiate and develop business relationships between senior FM practitioners from the most influential organisations, with top product and service suppliers, in a stimulating environment to discuss key industry issues and mutually beneficial solutions with a special focus on saving money.
Director of Global Business Events Lee Williams welcomed all the attending Facilities Managers and Supplier representatives and explained the event programme along with the necessary health and safety briefing. Lee urged participants to remain optimistic despite the current economic conditions. He quoted the former US president during the 1930s recession Calvin Coolidge,"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race".
The combined annual total spend of the 65 delegates who attended exceeded £2 billion and post event feedback proved that the event was a great success with 90% of the attendees saying that they found the event ‘Excellent’ and that they would consider attending again.
The excellent keynote speech by Professor of Forecasting at De Montford University James Woudhuysen was very well received. Woudhuysen explained how the current economic times give FM’s the opportunity to shine, explaining that “cutting costs and taking short-term measures have proved the main responses to the downturn. FM’s should however go beyond survival and partnership, toward helping the firm increase revenues engage in innovation and leadership”.
Space-pod MD, Kevin Parker added “This has been a good event for us. We have met professionals from a wide sector of industries, all of whom are facing head-on the challenges that space-pod was established to help solve. It is pleasing, not only to hear again so many times in 2-days that what space-pod does is extremely beneficial to facilities professionals, but also that they all understood how our approach is fundamentally different to that of our competitors and that it becomes even more invaluable in the current economic climate”.
If you would like to explore similar challenges with one of the space-pod team in a free, no-commitment meeting contact space-pod today>
