Five minutes with Mehdi Nosratlu

Mehdi Nosratlu.

Who are you and what do you do?
I am the business development manager of Al Arsh Facilities Management. After graduating as a mechanical engineer and ERP applications student, I spent 30 years in Germany and Switzerland as a consultant in business process reengineering and Optimising. 

I moved to the UAE in 2006 to work in FM. My main challenge is to convince clients to look at the whole picture when considering FM services.

FM is not only maintenance of the AC or assigning cleaners for a building but rather multidisciplinary services involving many processes and skills.
    
What first inspired you to work in FM?
FM is the basic need of having a shelter that is safe, clean, easily accessible and provides a comfortable environment for its users to live and work.

Being able to introduce new technologies for the upkeep, lifecycle and management of a facility and keep the operational costs as low as possible gave me the inspiration to work in this sector.

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What’s new for your company this year?
Let me answer this question with a quote. “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

The escalating cost of energy, especially because of the increase in demand, creates the need to provide services in energy management, that means utilising existing resources more efficiently and minimising wastages.   

Where do you see FM in five years time?
As a result of the economic climate, many organisations, owners and developers will focus on the ‘bidding price’ when it comes to FM services. But times are changing and all stakeholders are starting to look at the quality of facility management services.

They realise FM is an integral part of the built asset. Key factors in the future will be asset management, which focuses on investment returns and proper facilities maintenance to optimise lifecycle costs. The quality of FM will differentiate the well kept facility from the poor one.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in FM?
Education. We are starting to see FM courses being offered in the UAE, this is a very positive sign. I am in favour of specialisation.

FM involves many disciplines. Focus on a skill which you are good at, understand international practices and standards especially from FM mature countries and adopt them locally considering the cultural, religious and development aspects.  
 
What do you do in your spare time?
I read books, take long walks and play chess. I am currently reading Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman.  

What software can you not live without?
I cannot live without Google.

Finally, fmME readers should use my company because…?
Al Arsh is an experienced  local company with international FM expertise.