6 October 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal

The facilities manager of the future “is no longer a skilled tradesperson”, according to a report published by the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association. 

Instead, an FM will have to manage multiple complex systems generating big data that must be analysed, sorted and interpreted to ensure the maximum return on investment on every facilities investment. 

The annual review of the state of retail facilities management and key trends affecting the nation’s leading retailers and suppliers, also stated that training and recruiting future FMs is “critical to the industry”. 

Other trends in the FM industry that would change how an FM would do their job include decisions being increasingly driven by technology because of the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the evolution of the retail landscape from indoor shopping malls into “highly specialised, rending stores, pop-ups, outlet centres and high-end malls”. 

The PRSM 2017 Trends Report can be found here.