In the expanding market of Integrated Facilities Management, Advanced Facilities Management, a part of Bin Butti International Holdings, based in Abu Dhabi since 2008 is ready for the challenges ahead. They have a solid foundation and vision to provide bespoke and tailor-made solutions and services for any client within most sectors or markets. Having grown with a workforce of over 4,500, Advanced Facilities Management has certainly come a long way since their inception.

Facilities Management has moved on since the days of operations and maintenance and cleaning services, clients are outsourcing more and more services to enable them to focus on their core business. Advanced Group is more than capable with these requests, the group consists of the following operating companies: Advanced Facilities Management; Advanced Catering; Advanced Laundry; Advanced Laundry MED; Advanced Employment; Advanced Environmental Services; Advanced Retail; Advanced Events; Advanced Trading; Advanced Industries and Cruise Car Rental and Advanced Travel and Tourism.

Advanced has seen considerable growth in the last few years that included the winning of several notable contracts. The organisation prides itself on delivering tailored services and solutions to many business segments including Military sites, Municipalities, Oil and Gas installations, Power Plants, Corporate and Commercial Clients, Healthcare Institutions, Education sites, Recreation and Hospitality and various regulatory authorities.

Advanced Group CEO, Samih Basaddiq, explains more about the company vision, “When we take on a project, we ensure that we provide clients with tailor-made solutions that suit their requirements and result in successful and long-term partnerships. Looking ahead, we recognize the market conditions are changing with clients placing a greater emphasis on cost reduction yet still receiving the same great service, also with more Facilities Management providers entering the market, both regional and international companies the need to stay ahead of the competitors is a key focus Advanced is poised for these challenging conditions with a business model, which includes flexibility, Integrated Service delivery, tailor-made solutions, and sustainable partnerships.”

Delivering quality services

At Advanced Facilities Management it’s always been about delivering high-quality customer service. Having partnerships in both Government and Commercial sectors, the organization has adapted well to clients’ needs and challenges, Advanced can provide customised solutions for any project. “Our main goal is to gain the trust of the client and the end-user. We ensure that we provide them peace of mind by allowing them to focus on the core business. We would like them to see us as a silent partner while ensuring service excellence and cost optimisation and end-user satisfaction,” says Saleh Al Rajhi, GM Advanced Facilities Management.

Our Employees…Our Greatest Asset!’

FM is a ‘people industry’, and their people play a critical role in maintaining the brand and service quality, Ilyas Kader, HR Manager says that they are very particular in making sure that their employees are happy, treated well and motivated to do their jobs in the best way possible. Hence, they pay great attention to give them the right skills and tools to complete their tasks.

“We place a lot of emphasis on ensuring our staff has the correct work-life balance. We have an Employee Welfare officer that ensures staff issues are dealt with and acted upon quickly and efficiently. As part of our strategy for human capital we recognize the daily impact we have on our colleagues affects their extended family life,” adds Kader.

When it comes to training and development, they ensure each member of staff has a personal development plan and a successive plan to give them growth opportunity as the company expands. As part of the work-life balance, their own staff facilities include a workers city, which accommodates 30,000 people and includes facilities such as leisure, retail, medical, mosque, and education facilities

Huge impact on the environment

One of the major goals of Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 is to develop Abu Dhabi as a corporate socially responsible city. Keeping this vision in mind, Advanced Facilities Management since 2010 has become a member of the United Nations Global Compact Programme - a strategic policy initiative for businesses committed to aligning all of their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles, including human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. The initiative seeks to combine the best properties of the UN, such as moral authority and convening power, with the private sector’s solution-finding strengths, and the expertise and capacities of a range of key stakeholders.

Josefina Payad, CSR Specialist, Advanced Facilities Management, comments, “We are one of 12,000 participants in the global scheme, active across 145 countries – the largest voluntary CSR initiative in the world. Endorsed by chief executives, the Global Compact is a practical framework for the development, implementation, and disclosure of sustainability policies and practices, offering participants a wide spectrum of workstreams, management tools, and resources — all designed to help advance sustainable business models and markets.”

The company is also actively involved in blood donations, beach cleaning drives, and other CSR activities. Even when it comes to their projects, they ensure that they adopt necessary measures to conserve water and energy at the facilities. Advanced has even started initiating applications like grey water treatment systems and water saving installations in their projects in order to help companies conserve energy and water. “A strong sense of ethics runs through our entire business approach. We understand and focus on trading responsibly and we are committed to meet the economic, cultural and environmental expectations of our stakeholders and wider workforce,” adds Payad.

Building Solutions

At Advanced Facilities Management they build tailor-made solutions for clients that recognize the importance of the following – Strategy, Vision, Commercial Excellence and delivering High-Quality services “We don’t rest on just our extensive client portfolio, we are constantly building and looking at new solutions to ensure success, we are always talking to our clients and listening to their needs and requirements. We adapt to the ever-changing environments and market conditions by introducing new technologies, investing in new equipment and developing our people, and constantly reviewing our cost base and supply chain,” says Lee Mort, Director of Business Development, Advanced Facilities Management.

Catering…Excellence is a continuous Journey

Advanced Catering is one of the major operating companies within Advanced Group. Their extensive client portfolio ranges from mega projects with a capacity of feeding over 25,000 people to small private events comprising of 10 people. Advanced Catering services offer full turnkey solutions from menu designs to setup services delivery and event closure ensuring seamless experiences to every client. “We provide completely customised innovative menus and operate an effective and highly advanced stock control system keeping the amount of waste to a minimum. The catering services also include food preparations and cleaning services ensuring that every event is a seamless success,” says Al Rajhi.

Laundry...Reliability you can Trust

Having launched their laundry services in the year 2009, Advanced Laundry has garnered a reputation for pairing finely-honed expertise in providing professional laundry and dry cleaning services with excellent customer service. The in-house facility has the capacity to launder 48 tonnes per day. And the current client portfolio includes the following sectors: hospitality, military, and healthcare to name a few. “We pride ourselves on performing to international standards and employ experienced and knowledgeable staff, who are dedicated to providing a dependable daily service, making us one of the leading laundry companies in Abu Dhabi,” says Elie Nacouzi, General Manager, Advanced Laundry.

Catering to healthcare facilities can be equally challenging as it depends on providing their patients with hygienic, clean linen and their staff with spotless, sanitary uniforms. And at Advanced MED laundry, they are constantly creating ways to maximize the efficiency, minimize the cost and increase the quality and value of their service. The Laundry evaluates each hospital and clinics need to devise a specialized laundry solution that goes beyond merely the washing and pressing of linens to include extensive linen management. Inventories, the processing of daily reports and usage monitoring are just a few of the value-added services that they provide.

Entering a new market

After establishing themselves in UAE, Mongolia and Poland Facilities Management Markets. Advanced have open a national office in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, they are confident of making a strong foundation in the Kingdom, this has been driven by an increasing number of large-scale projects and large clients requesting their services.

Basaddiq, adds, “Entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been a major challenge for all of us. We are all really proud of this move and we are confident that we will provide excellent solutions as we have in other regions as well. Apart from providing soft and hard services, the organisation will also be delivering other services including catering, retail, laundry and environmental services and manpower recruitment and supply. While it is a new market for them, their approach to clients in KSA will be flexible providing tailor-made solutions that will result in successful partnerships. And when it comes to competition in the market, it is ultimately a cost-driven industry, where the price, quality, and management make a strong impression. While the market is growing, what sets us apart is the synergy of in-house services and the strong supply chain that we provide our clients. We are proud that in Advanced we have a clear vision with a well-developed corporate strategy for the next five years. We also plan to expand to other parts of the GCC including Qatar and Oman.”