BGIS' CEO Gord Hicks was recently featured on the cover of Insights Success magazine

Transforming Real Estate Assets through Caring, Innovation, and High Performance!

In the business world, attaining success frequently requires prioritizing originality and efficiency. However, what if another factor could make a significant difference? This is where the notion of a “Culture of caring” comes in – an approach that values empathy, respect, and care towards all stakeholders in a business, from personnel to patrons. Although it might not be as widely acknowledged as other business tactics, a culture of caring can profoundly impact both the individuals involved and the overall success of an enterprise.

BGIS is at the forefront of the industry, implementing a game-changing strategy for business solutions that prioritizes compassion, creativity, and exceptional results. Distinguishing itself through a wealth of technical expertise and steadfast dedication to unparalleled service, environmental responsibility, and customer contentment, BGIS exhibits a profound awareness of the importance of the built environment to clients’ core operations and their employees. BGIS ensures that its clients’ facilities function at the highest level, empowering businesses to flourish and propel progressive achievements.

With a global workforce of over 10,000 team members, BGIS has established a significant presence in various sectors, including government, higher education, utilities, telecommunications, financial services, oil & gas, healthcare, and cloud enterprise. With a portfolio comprising over 40,000 facilities and more than 500 million square feet worldwide, BGIS provides unparalleled expertise and an extensive range of services to its diverse client base. BGIS pushes the boundaries of conventional facility management and real estate services by adopting cutting-edge technologies and innovative practices. Utilizing data-driven insights, predictive analytics, and advanced digital platforms, BGIS solutions streamline operations, boost productivity, and enhance client cost efficiencies.

BGIS owes its success to its compassionate culture. The enterprise pledges to construct robust alliances with clients by understanding their distinct requirements and dispensing bespoke resolutions that exceed all expectations. By promoting a cooperative and human-centric approach, BGIS nurtures an atmosphere where clients and their stakeholders feel encouraged, esteemed, and empowered. Under the astute guidance of Gord Hicks, the Chief Executive Officer, it is revolutionizing the landscape of facility management and real estate services through its disruptive business resolutions that are propelled by a culture of compassion, innovation, and high performance.

With a universal presence, an unwavering commitment to excellence, and a focus on sustainability, BGIS empowers organizations to optimize their operations, enhance productivity, and drive long-term success.

Let’s look back on the BGIS journey:

From Passion to Purpose

Gord’s passion for environmental standards in real estate led him to become a Professional Engineer and LEED-accredited professional. He joined BGIS in 1997, climbing the ranks from several executive positions to eventually become President in 2006. In 2016, Gord’s dedication and leadership earned him the role of CEO. Gord’s commitment to environmental stewardship was recognized in 2015 when he was named Canada’s Greenest CEO. He was also honored in 2020 with induction into the Order of Canada, the highest civilian honor in the country, for his exceptional leadership.

Transforming Business Operations

BGIS is a world-renowned provider of Facility Management, Project Delivery, Energy and Sustainability, Asset Management, Workplace Advisory, and Real Estate Services. The company’s primary focus is on delivering transformative business solutions to its clients by fostering a culture of empathy, innovation, and high performance. With a strong engineering background and an unwavering commitment to sustainability and service excellence, BGIS has been in operation since 1992, with office locations in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The company operates in an industry that has been revolutionized in the past 35 years, mainly due to technological advancements.

Gord Hicks shares the company philosophy, “At BGIS, our values are foundational to our culture and are the driving force behind our actions and reactions. We believe in unwavering integrity, passion for innovation, living sustainably, delivering memorable customer experiences, and relentlessly building team member engagement. We are passionate about our clients and are constantly looking to raise the bar in our company, in the industry, and in our communities.”

Facility Management Industry

BGIS is a diverse company comprising individuals from various cultural backgrounds, professions, and perspectives. With a presence in over 15 countries, BGIS offers innovative, expert, and cost-effective solutions to people and places across the globe. Inclusivity is a top priority for BGIS, as they firmly believe that embracing and empowering individuals leads to more meaningful and impactful results. BGIS runs a Future Leaders program, which aims to identify and develop high-potential team members who share the company’s mission and have the drive to enhance their skills and competencies. To address the underrepresentation of female leaders, BGIS launched an initiative called Women of BGIS. This program supports and advances the growth of the female workforce within the company.

BGIS has processes in place to ensure impartiality in their people and culture procedures, aligning them with their employment policies and values. They prioritize creating a diverse team, acknowledging that every employee’s distinct experiences, outlooks, and opinions boost their capacity to deliver exceptional service to clients.

Tailoring Innovative Solutions

BGIS provides a wide variety of services to numerous industries, comprising financial services, healthcare, education, government and public sector, oil, gas, and resources, critical environments, utilities and infrastructure, retail, and media communication and technology. The company’s client-centric approach is evident in its innovative services that primarily focus on technical building services, which offer significant benefits. BGIS is adept at managing even the most intricate and challenging real estate assets, including specific buildings with complex building systems, air conditioning, and maintenance requirements, including data centers. The company also handles real estate assets, such as retail, office, industrial, and critical environments like data centers. Additionally, BGIS is a leading employer for technical and building services in North America.

BGIS is renowned for its unparalleled proficiency in overseeing facilities, executing projects, preserving essential environments, providing eco-friendly solutions, rendering cleaning services, and creating functional workspaces. The firm also provides a wide array of services, including workplace consulting and interior design, that can aid clients in attaining streamlined building services. BGIS employs a holistic approach to facilities management, aiming to maximize cost-effectiveness while guaranteeing that building operations adhere to superior standards of quality and safety.

Secret to Delivering Consistent Quality

BGIS views change as a source of great opportunity. Their unwavering commitment to delivering tangible outcomes for clients stems from their success solely depending on their client’s success. Their approach is distinctive and action-oriented, and they possess the readiness to address any hurdle that clients may encounter. They are revolutionizing the perspective of clients toward their real estate management partners.

In the real estate management field, they shake things up and join forces with their clients in a way that’s innovative and surprising. They take an agile and responsive approach, with an entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to take calculated risks. Their clients reap the rewards of personalized solutions that cater to their own requirements and those of their customers.

Critical Environment Management

Gord has identified three major obstacles that data centers encounter regarding their energy consumption and sustainability efforts. These include the high costs associated with energy, the impact of carbon emissions, and the ineffective use of resources. Fortunately, IoT and AI technologies can assist by allowing for continual monitoring and analysis of data center operations. This leads to improved energy management, better allocation of resources, and, ultimately, a reduction in carbon emissions. The utilization of IoT devices enables monitoring and optimizing energy consumption in a data center. Such devices can collect data on energy usage, temperature, humidity, and airflow, which can then be analyzed to identify patterns and anomalies. As a result, data center operators can optimize energy consumption and identify areas for improvement.

AI can analyze real-time data from sensors and other devices in a data center to anticipate and avoid equipment failures. The use of AI can prevent downtime and decrease energy waste caused by ineffective equipment by detecting potential problems before they happen.

BGIS’s Top Prioritized Performance Metrics

Working closely with clients, BGIS has made significant strides in promoting energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. By developing decarbonization roadmaps in partnership with clients, BGIS has helped support their ESG objectives and minimize their carbon footprint, resulting in a reduction of over 20,000 tons of CO2 emissions across their portfolio. Additionally, BGIS has introduced a zero-waste decommissioning solution for several clients, successfully reducing construction waste by hundreds of thousands of tons. Through the implementation of low-flow plumbing fixtures, smart irrigation programs, indigenous plantings, and hardscaping techniques, BGIS was able to reduce over 1.2 million cubic feet of water usage in its operations. BGIS is also investing in smart building solutions and has assembled a large team of building automation technicians and engineers to facilitate the deployment of cutting-edge BAS and IoT solutions to support clients in their quest to reduce energy consumption. Finally, BGIS is rapidly emerging as a leading EV charger installation provider in North America, spearheading the shift towards a low-carbon transportation sector.

Diversifying Offerings for a Progressive Future

BGIS remains committed to innovation, consistently striving to stay up-to-date with market developments while seeking opportunities to implement progressive solutions that will have a significant impact within the next 1-2 years. As the company continues to expand, it is also evolving its technical services, including diversifying its offerings and ensuring consistency across different geographic locations. BGIS is a boutique provider of disruptive offerings in the industry built to deliver value to clients looking for innovative services and creative solutions.

Rave Reviews and Prestigious Awards

* 2022 Wellness Awards:

The Workplace Benefits Award for Mental Health Program is for employers with more than 5,000 employees.

Canada’s Safest Employer Award for the Best Wellness and Psychological Safety Program.

• Best 50 Corporate Citizens: Corporate Knights
• 2023 Canada’s Safest Employers – Canada’s Safest Employers Organization
• CIPS Excellence in Procurement – CIPS organization
• CREST Performance Leadership Waste Reduction Award: Commercial Real Estate Trailblazers (CREST)
• Patriotic Award (US) – awarded by the US Department of Defense
• Occupational Excellence Achievement Award (US) – awarded by the National Safety Council
• Uptime Institute Award (US)
• APAC Region Awarded by the Uptime Institute.