{"id":44276,"date":"2026-04-29T13:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/?p=44276"},"modified":"2026-04-29T13:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:12:20","slug":"innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

OCS is one of the oldest facilities management<\/a> businesses in the world. Over more than 125 years, the sector has changed\u00a0almost beyond\u00a0recognition: from hand-swept floors and coal-fired boilers to sensor-enabled buildings, data-led decisions,\u00a0and services designed around the people who use them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What has not changed is where most of the useful ideas come from. Across the decades, innovation in FM has rarely begun in a head office. It has begun with the colleague delivering the service, noticing what is not working, and passing on a better way.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n\n

\n
\n \n \n \n \"Three\n <\/picture>\n\n <\/div>\n
\n \n \n \n \"A\n <\/picture>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n

What has changed is the mechanics of listening. OCS has grown from a single colleague to more than 135,000 across multiple continents, and ideas that once moved freely across a small team now travel across geographies,\u00a0sectors\u00a0and time zones. Giving every colleague a voice has always been part of the OCS culture and its TRUE values<\/a>. The larger and more distributed a business becomes, the more deliberate the channels for that listening\u00a0have to\u00a0be.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Innovation Station, launching this week across the UK and Ireland, is built for that reality. It is an innovation in how OCS listens, making it easier,\u00a0faster\u00a0and more visible to surface the ideas that will shape the next chapter of the service.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n\n

\n

What We Have Delivered<\/h3>\n

The history of FM is one of steady, compounding improvement, with clear examples we can draw on over the past 125 years<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The sector professionalised the basics in the early twentieth century. Mechanised vacuuming, patented in 1901, turned an exhausting manual task into something faster and more hygienic. Standardised approaches to pest control, window cleaning and building maintenance took shape alongside early public health reforms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Post-war, integrated services\u00a0emerged. Cleaning<\/a>, catering<\/a>,\u00a0security<\/a>\u00a0and maintenance, previously managed in isolation, began to be delivered together. Health and safety legislation<\/a> in the 1970s reshaped how colleagues worked.\u00a0From the 1980s onwards,\u00a0computer-aided FM systems\u00a0gave the sector its first operational dashboards.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cleaning outcomes took another step\u00a0forward\u00a0around the turn of the century with the arrival of microfibre technology. Independent studies have shown\u00a0that\u00a0microfibre cloths remove\u00a0around 98 per cent of bacteria from a surface,\u00a0compared with\u00a0roughly 30\u00a0per cent for traditional cotton,\u00a0and\u00a0with significantly lower chemical and water use. It raised the standard of hygiene in hospitals<\/a>,\u00a0airports<\/a>\u00a0and retail<\/a> sites at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2010s\u00a0saw\u00a0a sharper focus on human-centred design across FM. The Sunflower Lanyard Scheme<\/a>, launched at Gatwick Airport<\/a> in 2016\u00a0in\u00a0partnership\u00a0with\u00a0OCS, gave passengers with hidden disabilities a simple, discreet way to signal they may need more time or support. OCS has delivered PRM services<\/a> at Gatwick since 2010, and colleagues\u00a0have been\u00a0trained to recognise the lanyard and respond. The scheme is now used at airports, stations,\u00a0hospitals\u00a0and venues around the world, supported by charity partners including the Alzheimer\u2019s Society<\/a>, the National Autistic Society<\/a> and Action on Hearing Loss<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n\n

\n
\n \n \n \n \"OCS\n <\/picture>\n\n <\/div>\n
\n \n \n \n \"Sunlight\n <\/picture>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n

The pandemic accelerated another wave: touchless technology, antimicrobial surfaces, and a\u00a0broader public understanding of what FM colleagues do to keep buildings safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, artificial intelligence, IoT sensors and autonomous equipment are reshaping how buildings are operated. Predictive maintenance<\/a> is reducing unplanned downtime by around 50 per cent and maintenance costs by around 25 per cent when fully embedded. Autonomous cleaning machines <\/a>work alongside and support colleagues in retail environments, transport hubs<\/a> and logistics sites<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n\n

\n
\n \n \n \n \"A\n <\/picture>\n\n <\/div>\n
\n \n \n \n \"A\n <\/picture>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n

What We Have Learned<\/h3>\n

The pattern over 125 years is consistent. The clearest view comes from the colleague on a ward, on a platform, in a kitchen, on a retail floor, or on an overnight shift. They see the friction. They see the waste. They see the\u00a0small change\u00a0that would save twenty minutes, remove a risk, or make a customer\u2019s day easier.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The role of the business is to hear those ideas, test those\u00a0that will hold, scale those\u00a0that work, and be honest about those\u00a0that will not.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Businesses that listen consistently run more safely,\u00a0operate\u00a0more efficiently,\u00a0retain\u00a0their people longer, and earn the trust of customers who notice the difference. Over time, that difference compounds.\u00a0The\u00a0125-year history\u00a0of OCS rests on that logic.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n\n

\n

What Matters Next<\/h3>\n

Innovation Station is the next chapter in that pattern. It is designed so that a colleague anywhere in the business can share ideas about how OCS\u00a0operates, how colleagues treat each other, how customers are served, and how OCS contributes to the communities it works in. Some will remove friction. Others will shape how the business grows, help attract the next generation of talent, or strengthen the places OCS serves.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mechanics matter. Ideas need somewhere to go, someone\u00a0ready\u00a0to act on them, and a clear answer either way. That is what Innovation Station provides: a single route, a visible process, and a commitment to respond. It sits alongside the customer insight, partner\u00a0innovation\u00a0and technology work already underway, giving colleague insight a visible, structured place in the innovation conversation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The test comes later. In five, ten,\u00a0or\u00a0fifteen years’ time, a colleague should be able to look back with pride, point to an idea that began with them, and see how it has changed an industry. That is the measure that matters. That is how\u00a0our\u00a0colleagues\u00a0make\u00a0people and places the best they can be.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":1000005004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[359,189,54,313],"tags":[190,53],"country":[237,262,405,267],"class_list":["post-44276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-heritage","category-innovation-news-type","category-our-people","category-technology","tag-innovation","tag-our-people","country-ireland","country-northern-ireland","country-scotland","country-uk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInnovation in Facilities Management: It Starts with Colleagues - OCS - UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OCS - UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-29T12:12:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-29T12:12:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"lawrenceriches\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"lawrenceriches\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"lawrenceriches\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1746bdec5f97a30eeecab411cc9b5465\"},\"headline\":\"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-29T12:12:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-29T12:12:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":10,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ucarecdn.com\\\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\\\/\",\"keywords\":[\"Innovation\",\"Our People\"],\"articleSection\":[\"History & Heritage\",\"Innovation\",\"Our People\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Innovation in Facilities Management: It Starts with Colleagues - OCS - UK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ucarecdn.com\\\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\\\/\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-29T12:12:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-29T12:12:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1746bdec5f97a30eeecab411cc9b5465\"},\"description\":\"How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ucarecdn.com\\\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\\\/\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ucarecdn.com\\\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/news\\\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"OCS - UK\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ocs.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1746bdec5f97a30eeecab411cc9b5465\",\"name\":\"lawrenceriches\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Innovation in Facilities Management: It Starts with Colleagues - OCS - UK","description":"How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues","og_description":"How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.","og_url":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/","og_site_name":"OCS - UK","article_published_time":"2026-04-29T12:12:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-29T12:12:20+00:00","author":"lawrenceriches","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"lawrenceriches","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/"},"author":{"name":"lawrenceriches","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1746bdec5f97a30eeecab411cc9b5465"},"headline":"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues","datePublished":"2026-04-29T12:12:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-29T12:12:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/"},"wordCount":10,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ucarecdn.com\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\/","keywords":["Innovation","Our People"],"articleSection":["History & Heritage","Innovation","Our People","Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/","url":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/","name":"Innovation in Facilities Management: It Starts with Colleagues - OCS - UK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ucarecdn.com\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\/","datePublished":"2026-04-29T12:12:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-29T12:12:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1746bdec5f97a30eeecab411cc9b5465"},"description":"How colleague insight, technology and frontline innovation have shaped FM and continue to drive better outcomes across OCS.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ucarecdn.com\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\/","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ucarecdn.com\/bee8b9e1-30ec-4d4f-b25b-e53331227e2b\/"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/news\/innovation-in-facilities-management-colleague-led-innovation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Innovation in Facilities Management: Why It Always Starts with Colleagues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/","name":"OCS - UK","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/1746bdec5f97a30eeecab411cc9b5465","name":"lawrenceriches"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44276"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44330,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44276\/revisions\/44330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44276"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocs.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=44276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}