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| 6/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | | Integrated Facilities Management (FM) organisation Emrill won the "Innovative Use of IT in FM" at the Facilities Management Middle East Awards for their online customer portal. Phil Blizzard spoke to Ben Churchill, MD, Emrill Services LLC at the launch about the customer experience and what the portal offers. |  | |
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| 6/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | UAE-based Emrill, a leading provider of full range of asset and facilities management services, won top honours at the Facilities Management Middle East Awards held in Dubai recently.
Emrill said the “Innovative Use of IT in FM” award was in recogniotion of its significant contribution to the region’s FM industry through unique initiatives, innovative technologies and computer-aided FM systems to help self-deliver.
The company’s successful participation in the recent FM Expo in Dubai and launch of a unique portal which allows Emrill customers to manage their services, pay bills and access support from anywhere in the world reiterated its leadership position in the country’s highly competitive facilities management and support services sector.
Emrill holds a vast portfolio of corporate, residential, community, retail and hospitality clients including KPMG, Royal Bank of Scotland, Dubai Festival City, Al Bandar, Downtown Dubai and Dubai Silicon Oasis.
Ben Churchill, managing director, Emrill, said: "As leaders in integrated FM, we are delighted to have received this award which recognises our contributions to the UAE’s FM sector."
"Our customers have welcomed our unique technological initiatives and best practices to deliver international standards of service and efficiency, unparalleled customer service and significant cost savings to our clients," Churchill noted.
“The award truly recognises a group of hardworking and dedicated individuals who have managed to achieve impeccable records while reflecting Emrill’s core values of Excellence, Safety and Sustainability,” he added.
The annual awards, organised by ITP’s Construction Week Online, recognise and reward those companies and individuals that have made significant contributions to the development of the region’s industry.
Emrill offers innovative solutions tailored to support master developments, residential communities, leisure, corporate and commercial complexes.-TradeArabia News Service |  | |
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| 6/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Middle East facilities management business Emrill Services has been appointed to one of the tallest residential buildings in the world – the 86-floor Marina Torch, in Dubai.
Select Group, a private real estate company in the United Arab Emirates, made the appointment for the building which opened last month, nearly three years behind its original scheduled opening date.
The Marina Torch, also known as the Dubai Torch, rises 1,132 feet and has 80 of its floors above ground.
Dubai has 60 buildings that stand taller than 656 ft – 200 metres -- which is more than any other city, surpassing Hong Kong and New York City.
Emrill has been operating since 2002 and has more than 4,000 directly employed staff. It specialises in FM for residential developments.
Dubai also has the Burj Khalifa, a mixed-use skyscraper with 900 apartments that was topped out in January 2009 at 2,717 feet, making it the tallest free-standing structure in the world.
The Burj cost $1.5bn to build but rents were acknowledged to have fallen 40 per cent shortly after opening because of the global financial downturn and a major slump in Dubai's property market.
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| 5/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Dubai: There is nothing like the present as far as facilities management (FM) companies are concerned. Across a swathe of developments in Dubai, owner associations are taking control of property upkeep and in the appointment of FM service providers.
Developers who refuse to see this particular writing on their walls are being given short shrift by the owners. To top it all, the transition process is just getting started.
All of which means there are a lot of FM contracts out there for bidding. If a particular FM provider cannot get the contract for one high-rise, there is always the other one next to it and several more in the immediate neighbourhood.
But many of these contracts are being handed out on how low they can go on the service charges. However, the leading FM companies — as defined by those who emphasise quality of service and not compromise on charges — are still in a position to cherry-pick their contracts.
Ben Churchill, managing director of Emrill, gives his views on how the facilities management industry is shaping up. Emrill's shareholders include Carillion Plc, the Al-Futtaim Group and Emaar Properties.
Gulf News: There's still no clarity on where FM rates in Dubai are headed at this stage. While owners associations are expected to pull rates towards the lower side, developer appointed FM companies are pulling in the other. Will there be a meeting point? If so, when?
Ben Churchill: Both owners associations and developers in their appointment of FM companies share the objectives of protecting and growing the value of their assets or the assets attached to their brands. An important part of this is the professional buying of FM services on behalf of the residents which, in our experience, developers have been proactively engaged in over recent years.
As the market is maturing, I see recognition and a shift towards the overall cost of ownership of assets. It is widely recognised that the quality services provided enhance property values and rental yields where we operate.
Do you believe rates will continue to be a decisive factor over the next three to five years?
Beyond just the rates, the decisive factor over three to five years is a combination of the quality of the service, the value-added proposition of the provider and the whole cost of ownership of asset. For example, effectively managing the cost of energy and water consumption for communities and residents does, and increasingly will, have a huge impact on overall costs.
With your shareholders including major developer-landlords, is there a concern that owners associations might park contracts with FM companies that are seen as "independent"?
Emrill operates completely independently of any developer, tendering and winning work in open competition based on the quality of service delivered and the value offered to the asset owners.
Since last October, the market was talking up the possibility of owners associations gaining control and deciding on the contract awards for FM companies. That has not exactly gone according to plan. Do you feel the second-half of the year will be a more realistic target for the transition to take place?
October last year was the beginning of the transition. Emrill has seen active involvement with the elected interim boards of owners associations across our portfolio and a well-managed transition.
I see this continuing progressively over the remainder of the year.
Is it the case that sinking charges are now being mobilised of owners with retrospective effect? Is the collection of sinking charges required from the first year itself or do you think some grace period can be offered?
Sinking charges are outside the scope of an FM company. One of the ways Emrill bring value is the extension of life of assets through regular maintenance.
Yours is a company predominant in Dubai. Are you looking at Abu Dhabi at this stage?
Abu Dhabi is very much part of our portfolio. We currently provide integrated facilities management to Al Bandar, Aldar's prestigious residential development, as well as Manazel Real Estate's Al Reef Villas, for the Al Fahim Group, and a number of other high-profile Abu Dhabi clients.
Do you feel there's a lot of convincing that needs to be done of owners before the whole issue of FM charges settles down?
Owners and owner's associations appreciate the service and value added by a quality FM provider. With associations taking an increasingly active role and having greater visibility of how the charges are allocated, they will increasingly work collaboratively to enhance and manage the overall cost of their assets.
Support for clients
Emrill has introduced an online portal through which clients can manage their service needs, pay bills and access support.
"People expect to be able to control and monitor their business transactions on-line," said Ben Churchill, managing director of Emrill. "We understand some individuals prefer the conventional payment methods over digital ones. "But I can assure them that we are utilising the same highly secure technologies used by online banking systems to ensure our clients' information is safe at all times |  | |
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| 5/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | In line with its commitment to provide a premium customer service experience to its clients, Emrill, the facilities management company in the UAE launched its new Online Customer Portal.
The announcement was made at the second day of FM Expo 2011, Gold sponsored by Emrill and taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 17 to 19th 2011.
Emrill's online Customer Portal extends the company's Helpdesk service by providing a unique online.
application for Emrill customers to manage their services, pay bills and access support anywhere in the world with a click of a button.
Be it individuals in residential communities or corporate clients, customers can now benefit from the numerous services the portal will make available. With this addition, customers can now request services, track the same request by chatting online with the team, get instant updates as soon as they are recorded by the field teams, and maintain a full history of all discussions for future reference.
Beside ordering maintenance services, instant fixes, online quotations in addition to a whole range of other services, Emrill customers can now make online payments using a Visa or MasterCard credit card, or alternatively establish an account and receive a monthly statement of charges for services ordered and delivered.
Commenting on the launch, Ben Churchill, Managing Director Emrill said: "With the increase of digital services, the need for conventional ways of running a business has begun to subside. People expect to be able to control and monitor their business transactions online. We are very proud to be the first to offer facilities services online. Emrill is always developing ways to simplify customer service and provide our clients with the most convenient and time saving solutions"
The new portal enables customers to check the latest information within their organisation or community, all upcoming events, emergency broadcasts, status notifications about the current services schedule and messages from Emrill's helpdesk.
Ben further added: "We understand that some individuals prefer the conventional payment methods over the digital ones. But I can assure them that that we are utilizing the same highly secure technologies used by Online Banking Systems around the world to ensure our clients' information is safe at all times." |  | |
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