A world of excitement every day (hktdc.com)


	Keith Futcher, CEO of ISS Facility Services Ltd, believes his life was enriched by moving to Hong Kong

Englishman Keith Futcher and his wife Sheila packed their bags and left England in 1981 after deciding that "their world needed to be a much bigger place than a town in Yorkshire". His first port of call was Hong Kong – chosen as a safe haven to start a 10- year journey through Asia with wife and baby daughter. Twenty seven years later, he is now the CEO of ISS Facility Services Ltd, one of the largest providers of fully integrated property and facility services in Hong Kong with more than 12,000 personnel. Along the way, Dr Futcher, a chartered engineer who holds a PhD in management, has worked in both the city's public and private sectors in all aspects of infrastructure and urban environment.

"I worked as an engineer in the Hong Kong Government when I first arrived. The 80s and 90s were wonderful years for an engineer in Hong Kong. The government and business community were investing in all sorts of infrastructural projects, new townships, roads and bridges. You were respected as an engineer and we had great relationships with contractors and others in the construction sector. I recall that an 80s survey put engineering as one of the top five professions in Hong Kong: I'm not sure it is regarded as such today.

Around the time of the 1997 Handover, there was a process of localisation in the government. It was time to move on. In 1999, I joined Colliers Jardine Ltd to manage the property and facility department. I made the career change into real estate services at a time when the property market was in recession. That didn't affect my line of work as bust or boom, we were in the managing services business and the outsourcing of property services was doing very well.

Lifestyle management

Two years later, the JV partners decided to part ways and we formed EastPoint Group Ltd out of the core property management business in Hong Kong. We saw ourselves in a new light and different to our competitors. We concluded that the true nature of our business was lifestyle management; it is the people in the buildings and estates that we cared about. We set out from that point to reach out, using new technologies, to these communities and individuals, to provide services that enhanced their lifestyles: from promoting harmony and security, to protecting their building assets and environment.

EastPoint was later acquired by ISS A/S Ltd, a Danish conglomerate operating today in 50 countries but headquartered in Copenhagen, and now I am heading their Hong Kong company which is one of the top 10 private sector employers in the city.

We are pursuing rapid growth to bring under one roof all the services that a client could require. Each service is a business in its own right, but we foresee a greater market for multi-task services and operatives along with redefined service industry roles that better provide a complete service to clients. Globalisation has made all enterprises aware of the risks arising from fixed operating costs: we see great opportunities in meeting emerging needs for outsourcing as organisations move fixed costs to a variable operating cost.

Blue chip portfolio

We have more than two decades of operations in Hong Kong. Our client portfolio is predominantly for services delivered within Grade A infrastructure for blue chip companies and high-end commercial operations, transportation systems, universities and hospitals – businesses that have high value in their assets, image, and operations.

The buildings may be made of heartless marble, granite, steel, glass and artwork but I look upon our service as the people-pleasing supply of asset enrichment, maintenance of hygiene, and the provision of enough security to ensure harmony for our clients and their customers.

Friends have always asked me what is so good about Hong Kong that it stopped my journey far and wide in Asia. I like the excitement on a day-to-day basis. No day has ever been the same as the day before, and that will be true for tomorrow. I like the fact that I can achieve an intensive working schedule and fit in all of my lifestyle needs. In Hong Kong, the rule of thumb is that you use your diary to fit leisure time into your work schedule, elsewhere it is vice versa. This is a town that gets things done. It is such a convenient city that you can weave seamlessly in and out of meetings and offices in no time. Similarly, when entertaining or relaxing.

Hong Kong works at all levels. It has an enduring positive outlook. There is spirit and passion to make good, an intensity and confidence in delivery. With our world view, it is like sitting on the top of the world and watching global events take place in real time.

Other world cities are parochial in comparison. It is harder there to get teams together to perform at this high level. I have an excellent team. I ‘m now the only Western expat in the Hong Kong office and I have absolutely no problems with that. We are a local company serving the local community, albeit it is highly sophisticated – but so are Hongkongers.

Hong Kong has changed over the years, or maybe I have changed. The whole point of coming here in the first place is that it was life enhancing - it was different. It still is, but it has changed in time so that it has never become dull. I realise that I am an inherent expatriate and ever restless: the delight in Hong Kong is that it is ever changing to suit. Friends have changed as people move on, my work has changed as my career has taken unexpected turns, but my relationship with Hong Kong has remained constant.

Bold new era

I was struck by the intensity and concern that people have for this relationship within Hong Kong at the time of the 1997 Handover. I remember, in the early hours after midnight, returning home after a long day and night of events and pathos-filled parties and passing by government offices in Central in the darkness to see workmen already taking down the badges of the old administration and putting up the new. It was a moment for sadness: but only a brief moment. I felt that relationships between Hong Kong colleagues and friends became closer post-1997. The understanding was made clear, Hong Kong is part of China. As a result, I think there is a better understanding to found meaningful relationships.

Hong Kong has shaped my life and also my family. I suspect that my blonde haired, blue-eyed daughter, Natalie, considers herself to be Chinese. She reads, writes, and speaks Putonghua fluently. For her lifetime, she has looked out on, and been part of, a multicultural life experience that cannot be found in England.

I remembered vividly the day we arrived in Hong Kong on board Cathay Pacific. My three month old daughter had a minor surgery weeks earlier and I had enquired about medical coverage prior to the trip. The aircraft landed in Kai Tak, passengers were told to stay in their seats and a white coated Dr Woodside rushed in authoritatively to check on Natalie. He gave my wife his card and said ‘if you need me, my dear, just call.' I thought, wow, what service.

The ‘wow' factor is still there for me after all these years."