Cofely
May 15th 2009

Facilities and energy services provider Cofely (formed from the merger of Cofathec, Elyo SUEZ and Axima – and part of GDF SUEZ Energy Services) has announced its strategy for the future at an event held at the British Library, London.

Cofely's combined expertise encompasses public, commercial, industrial and retail sectors throughout the UK & Europe. Working closely with GDF SUEZ, Cofely has been able to benefit from a number of operational and procurement synergies, which are enabling it to be more competitive within the marketplace and pass on significant savings directly to its customers. These pan-European frameworks are one of the benefits of economies of scale associated with a larger organisation.

"The merger, however, is not all about savings and consolidation," chairman and chief executive officer Peter Talbot observes. “It has been a key platform and opportunity to invest considerable sums in the future direction of the business, namely a Learning and Development Academy and new ISM (Integrated Service Management) solution.

"In creating a new market leader, we have taken great care to plan strategy for the future of the business, investing heavily in our people, systems and processes which will drive cost from our own and ultimately our customers’ businesses and streamline operational delivery; adding value to the work we do.

"An evolution of the legacy companies’ policies has seen a new Centralised UK Learning & Development Academy and network of in-house training centres. One of the noticeable trends in the industry in recent years has been a lack of young people being attracted to the sector. We are happy to say that we have expanded our Apprenticeship scheme across the business – despite the economic downturn.

"In fact, a number of sites, such as the British Library, are part of our scheme of work-based learning from school leaver age to graduates. In addition, one of the key benefits of a large international Group is our ability to exchange ideas and know-how from across the globe to assist in benchmarking and models of best practise," Peter Talbot added.

Energy is a key concern for Cofely's customers in terms of both financial and environmental considerations. "Despite temporary fluctuations in energy prices there is an overall upward trend in costs and smarter companies are taking measures now to mitigate against these rising costs in the future,” Richard Derry, chief operating officer noted. "Historically, energy costs were managed through procurement, taking advantage of the competition in energy markets to secure good deals. Now that energy prices are rising across the board there is an imperative to combine a competitive unit rate with more efficient management of energy to reduce the overall consumption of units," he advised.

"Cofely's philosophy is to manage energy as an integral part of a support contract, rather than a separate 'add on'. For example, when we maintain building services plant we go further than just ensuring the plant continues to function, we ensure that it functions at maximum efficiency," Richard Derry continued.

"In this way we help customers to incorporate sustainability issues into their everyday activities so they can focus on their business while we take care of the energy issues. We also work closely with a number of clients to advise them on the viability of the renewable options available and to help them integrated renewable energy sources with conventional sources to achieve optimum efficiencies.

"Very often, these contracts include management of energy supply, where we work closely with other GDF SUEZ companies to provide secure and competitively priced gas and electricity," he added.

Cofely's energy experience includes:

• Mixed usage energy across many sites in Europe including the UK

• Biomass at Pilgrims Hospital and for Her Majesty’s Prison Service

• O & M of a wind farm in Scotland

• Photovoltaic provision for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)

• Tri-generation CHP at Media City in Manchester, which will feed the new BBC site

• District heating on the Whitehall estate, at Media City and for the Olympic Delivery Authority for the 2012 Olympic Games in Stratford, London