In 2018, Direct Line Group, one of the UK’s largest insurance companies, needed to move its operations to a new building. They also sought a change in facilities management, requiring a truly innovative approach to encourage inspiring and collaborative working.
DLG had recognised that the workplace environment has a material impact on employees and looked at how they could provide a workplace to help improve engagement and productivity.
The idea was simple. To form a unique ‘OneTeam’ strategic approach, which focussed on facilities management collaborative working.
Innovus shaped the employee office experience, managing the soft, customer-facing services, such as Front of House and housekeeping. We worked closely with the rest of the teams to make sure employees’ needs were met – and exceeded.
Our FM hard services partner ensured the entire working environment was operating at its best, while a data led approach improved asset management across the estate.
Together, we were all fully integrated to work cohesively as one robust unit. Roles across the team were designed to ensure they complemented each other, despite being from different companies. We all drew on each company’s key strengths with a joint commitment to create and maintain an inspirational workplace to help employees to work at their absolute best.
The ‘OneTeam’ model is successful as it is built on mutual trust and as a collective, we jointly admit mistakes, weaknesses – and of course, celebrate our strengths and successes.
Within just three weeks, we managed the transition, supporting 11,000 employees. Since then, we have taken on an additional 16 sites within our client’s portfolio, along with 160 additional employees across our FM services. We have also made significant cost savings for DLG, including 30% energy savings.
We now provide facilities management services for a combined office space of 750,00 sq ft – roughly the size of 180 football pitches.
Our collaboration won the Innovation in Supplier Relationships category at the 2019 IWFM Impact Awards, underpinning our commitment to create engaging and inspiring employee experiences, while developing sustainable and mutually beneficial supplier client relationships.
Debbie Penn, Innovus DLG Account Director, says:
“The “One Team” culture is something we truly stand by, and it revolves around everything we do. We are all able to take full accountability and solve any issues as a team, and we collectively share our wins and fails. There isn’t a ‘they’ or ‘them’ as we help each other out and that’s the innovation we provide which allows us to continuously improve.”
Tony Wilkinson, DLG Property Operations and Technical Services, says:
“Innovus has created a joint team approach ensuring DLG receives an engaging and professional approach to collaborative Facilities Management. This has ensured DLG colleagues feel supported and are able to operate in a well-maintained environment.”