The Future of FM: Next Generation Facilities Management by OCS (NextGen FM®)

Facilities Evolution for 125 Years

With 125 years of experience behind us, OCS has grown from a pioneering British family business into a global facilities management provider. While technology, scale and complexity have evolved, one thing has remained constant: our belief in the power of people.

NextGen FM® is how we continue that legacy, underpinning how we support our colleagues, deliver for our customers, and contribute to the development of our industry. Built on the foundations of what has always mattered to us, it is shaped by four core pillars: People, Technology, ESG, and Industry Custodianship.

These are the foundational blocks of a service approach designed to meet today’s facilities expectations while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.

People: Supporting Colleagues to Succeed

People remain at the heart of our operation. In our position, we have a responsibility to open up meaningful employment and long-term opportunities. Through apprenticeships, accessible learning platforms, mentoring, and wellbeing support, we aim to create the right conditions for colleagues to grow, develop their skills, and shape their futures.

Our TRUE values — Trust, Respect, Unity, and Empowerment — shape how we treat one another and how we work. These principles are embedded in our culture and reflected in everyday actions, from the way managers engage with their teams to how we recognise individuals through TRUE Stars, just one of the ways our colleagues are recognised.

Facilities management is a place where everyone can find their role and make a difference. We take care to build inclusive teams because we know our strength comes from the different experiences and perspectives our people bring. Whoever you are, whatever your background, there’s space to grow and be part of something meaningful.

Whether it’s developing new skills, moving forward in your career, or just getting the support you need to do your best work, we proactively engage to help wherever possible. That’s what people-first means in practice.

Technology: Evolving with Purpose

Our relationship with technology spans generations. For 125 years, we’ve adapted to meet the needs of our customers and communities — from early mechanical systems to today’s intelligent buildings.

We continue to invest in the development of our central management platform. This single interface consolidates operational data to track performance, schedule tasks, audit compliance, plan maintenance, and safeguard spaces. The platform supports teams and customers with improved visibility, better coordination and more informed decision-making.

Hard Services are a key part of this approach. Our in-house teams deliver essential mechanical, electrical and HVAC services across a wide range of environments. Our technology supports these services by equipping engineers with access to job schedules, asset histories and system performance data — helping to streamline both planned and reactive works.

We are moving beyond reactive and scheduled maintenance to insight-led asset care. Our technology supports this by combining data from building systems, sensors and connected infrastructure to identify risk patterns, monitor asset behaviour and act early to prevent failure. This helps extend asset life, reduce energy consumption and ensure technical resilience. It reflects the future of FM — one where operational continuity and building intelligence go hand in hand.

OCS technology remains human-led. Every system, platform and innovation is developed to support our colleagues in their roles, help our customers make better-informed decisions, and deliver the best outcomes for the communities we work in and the environment we all share.

Custodianship: Using Experience to Guide Progress

As one of the world’s longest-serving facilities management providers, we use our experience to raise standards and support the development of the profession. We contribute to policy, encourage best practices, and help ensure that facilities management plays a recognised role in delivering safe, sustainable, and effective workplaces.

We have introduced initiatives that have had a lasting impact. In 2016, we partnered with Gatwick Airport to launch the Sunflower Lanyard Scheme, providing a discreet and straightforward way for people with non-visible disabilities to indicate that they may need additional support. The scheme has since been adopted throughout transport hubs worldwide, improving accessibility for millions of passengers.

In 2025, we launched Resilience Week, a dedicated week focused on business continuity and safeguarding. It will be held in the first week of June every year and will bring attention to the most important topics affecting organisational resilience and operational security.

We know that progress comes from working together. Everything we achieve – whether through service innovation, inclusive practices or resilience planning – is made possible through strong partnerships with our customers, suppliers and peers. By sharing ideas and learning from each other, we are helping to build a stronger, more capable industry for the future.