European Index on comparative office costs

Citation

(1998), "European Index on comparative office costs", Facilities, Vol. 16 No. 5/6. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.1998.06916eab.004

European Index on comparative office costs

European Index on comparative office costs

Keyword Office management

The UK continues to be the most cost - effective business location from which to operate and service commercial property in Europe, according to the latest The European/ Johnson Controls Index of European Office Costs. The Index, which is published every six months, reveals that property operations and office services are at least 16 per cent more economical to run in the UK than in any other major strategic corporate European location (on a like for like basis)(see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Total facilities management costs ­ Quarter 3 1997

How the Index is calculated

The Index is a powerful new business management tool which tracks comparative cost performance for property operations costs and office services costs. It presents clear and concise information on the comparative cost of facilities management services in the UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

The Index is unique in the world and calculates average costs for a typical medium grade office building in each country and compares performance as a deviation from the average base, which is set at zero. The model used is based on a medium sized, air-conditioned building of 15,000 square metres with 750 employees working between 8am and 6pm.

Changes over the last six months

Over the last six months Sweden has seen the largest rise in total office facility costs (property operations and office services costs) so far during 1997, according to the latest The European/Johnson Controls Index of European Office Costs. Spain and the UK have also seen an increase in total facility costs (see Figure 2).

During this six-month period (Quarter 1 to Quarter 3 1997) Sweden has seen the cost of providing an office increase by 2.2 per cent according to the Index. This is primarily as a result of increases in labour costs. More expensive cleaning and maintenance costs in Spain have helped to push the overall facility cost up 0.5 per cent. Although office services are being bought more competitively in the UK, higher charges for cleaning and utilities have increased the total facility cost by 0.4 per cent. In Italy, the rising cost of reprographics has been the main reason for the slight increase in facility costs of 0.1 per cent.

Figure 2 Office cost changes January-September 1997

At the heart of The European/Johnson Controls Index of European Office Costs is the International Performance Management (IPM) system. This is a unique data-warehouse which has been developed by Johnson Controls and contains workspace information on more than 30 million square metres of office and industrial facilities around the world. This enables Johnson Controls to measure and compare the quality, service delivery and cost performance of facilities across the globe so that improvements can be identified and efficiencies made.

A full copy of The European/Johnson Controls Index of European Office Costs is available on request. Telephone Mike Conway on +44 (0)1242 577277.