Resource is a support services company
Shopping centre service charges under pressure
Published: 27 August, 2009
Shopping centre service charges are under pressure as never before. In the UK the major landlords have agreed a plan of action that will save retailers as much as 20 per cent on their service charge bills. And in the Republic, retailers are demanding across-the-board rent reductions, so service charges are sure to be on the agenda as well.
What is good news for retailers is not good news for the mass of suppliers to the shopping centre industry. Cleaners, security companies, car park operators, maintenance contractors, marketing consultancies and a host of others all play a role in the efficient and effective running of a shopping centre, but suddenly they are finding that their roles are being questioned and their contracts retendered.
In order to remain competitive, providers are forced to reduce their labour costs by lowering the hourly wages of their ‘front line’ staff, often resulting in a deterioration in the services provided to retailers and in the shopping experience delivered to the consumer.
However Gordon Carson, business development director at Belfast-based Resource, feels that this reduction in quality of service is avoidable and his company is positioning itself to take advantage of the downturn.
Carson says that by bundling security, cleaning and maintenance and outsourcing to a single provider, which employs a single multi-skilled workforce, mall owners can achieve significant cost-savings and retain a high quality of service for their customers. Other benefits include a consistency of approach across support services and a single point of contact for the mall management team.
And this approach has allowed Resource to grow fast in a number of sectors. It now employs 15,000 people across the UK and the Republic and its client base includes 20 major shopping centres including the Oracle in Reading, West Quay in Southampton and Victoria Square in Belfast. “Our model’s designed to meet the needs of the mall owners, the retailers and the shoppers,” says Carson, “and their interests aren’t always the same.”
Carson believes an integrated service provider can deliver cost savings of 15 to 20 per cent over an in-house operation. But some of the more enlightened mall owners are also looking to differentiate themselves with a better customer service offer. Here Carson believes there are real benefits in having a single supplier, where everyone on the mall has a role in customer service.
“We started to see this trend well before the recession,” he says. “The benefits are not just financial: if you use a number of different companies they all have a different ethos and different management systems. But by going to one team they integrate better with the management of the centres.
“Just look at the attitude of the security staff,” he asks. “Do they have their arms crossed saying ‘thou shall not pass?’ We dedicate a lot of our in-house training around the softer skills like dealing with lost children and conflict management.”
But shouldn’t centre managers be nervous about handing over so much control? Not in Carson’s experience. “Our services are designed to free up managers’ time, so they can spend time with the retailers and the shoppers. It allows them to concentrate on marketing, getting the shoppers in and getting the units let,” he says.
