The PFI sector provides unique opportunities for SPVs, local authorities, FM service providers and other key stakeholder companies to give young people longstanding careers. It is crucial for PFI to become an attractive sector to the next generation of professionals in order to build an expert workforce that will handle many transition periods and handovers in the coming decades, and help innovate the next phase of PPPs in the UK.
Navigating PFI Handback: Key Strategies for Successful Contract Completion
The shape of contractual relationships in PFI are changing as many contracts enter the advised 7-year handback window and new teams come in to manage the handback, and personnel are reassigned to meet demand. As the industry completes more handbacks, the aim is to create a central space for data sharing that will provide solutions and best practice models, as well as best practice recommendations for contract completion.
PFI is a people orientated business. PFI experts have entered the sector from a range of industries, knowing that these would be long-term, stable positions which would allow them to work with thousands of different people from different backgrounds, both professionally and personally. As ex-Director at Apleona, Brian Jenkinson notes, “a huge amount of the role in PFI is people oriented. It’s massively about relationships. It’s an utterly different world to be managing something where you’re locked together for 25 or 30 years.”
Skills shortages in facilities management are still causing headaches for hiring managers who continue to have some long term vacancies on the books. This has led to hiring managers considering different approaches to filling roles; including drilling down on which skills are absolutely essential, looking at candidates from other parts of FM or alternate sectors, offering significant training and development packages, and evaluate candidates based their soft skills where appropriate.
The UK recruitment market continues to be very competitive, and to ensure access to the best candidates, employers are having to make themselves more attractive from the beginning. Rising costs and competition for talent mean retention is especially valuable to companies. The recruitment process is becoming more of an experience for candidates and people are critically assessing companies’ hiring processes and evaluating employers based on their "performance". Potential hires are looking to see whether a company aligns with their values and shows that it cares about its employees.
We work closely with media partners to create and promote comment on FM and recruitment, and the people that influence the sectors. Here is some of the coverage we had in 2023.
In 2022, the UK Government released new guidance on effectively handling PFI (Private Finance Initiatives) contract expiry. The document is intended to provide practical steps to public sector bodies to support the transition of assets. PFI contracts “deliver a wide range of vital public services and with many of these due to expire within the next 10 years, the government is committed to supporting a successful end of contract process” through the release of the new guidance, says Matthew Vickerstaff, Director of Finance at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).
