Visit to Royal Air Force, Yorkshire

6^th August 2014

It was strange when the time was seven and a half o’clock in the morning but the sunshine was so bright. Mr. Naz and Mr. Mike had already been waiting for us to gather at the entrance gate of Liberty Atlantic Point. The bus picked us up at seven and a half o’clock right on time and we were heading to the Royal Air Force in Yorkshire straight away.

                In the bus, Mr. Naz and Mr. Mike were having an interactive chat with us and Mr. Mike treated us some drinks such as Diet Coke and Sprite. He was so generous and easy-going that he really impressed us. When we arrived at the Royal Air Force, there was a white man that was wearing a military uniform and a blond white woman already waiting for us at the entrance gate. Then, Mr. Naz walked down the bus and had a quick chat with the woman. Soon, the man took his hat off and introduced himself to us and gave us a very quick brief about what we are going to do and what not to do while we are inside the building. We were not allowed to bring our bags into the building.

                We were greeted by a cup of tea and some cookies before getting into the auditorium where Angela and Mark were going to give us a lecture about how the facilities management works in Royal Air Force. Angela is handling the soft FM while Mark is handling the hard FM. Soft FM has to deal more with business while hard FM has to deal more with maintenance. Both of them highlighted the key factor in the facilities management which is relationship. Facilities manager has to possess networking skills to negotiate with clients like building occupants and contractors. It is undeniable that collaborative partnerships between facilities manager and contractor to create a good working environment contributed in promoting the core business of Royal Air Force, which is to train experienced pilot.

                Later on, Angela and Mark took us around the Royal Air Force and shared their experience on how they proposed a good catering service and a community center where everyone can enter. Most importantly it breaks the hierarchy system and allows every people from low rank to high rank to have a rest in the community center. The community center consists of food junction, bar and children playground. All the services including catering, cleaning, maintenance and etc. are outsourced. Airplane maintenance works are outsourced to a huge company named Babcock. We were very lucky to be invited to have a lunch with the contractors. The contractor was very generous to explain his collaborative partnership with the facilities manager. Sometimes both sides have to come to an agreement on an emergency case like catering service to be operated in the midnight where there is a night training program.

Written by : Chu Kok Wei