We see Strong Demand for Our Services: Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Group CEO, ISS
What is ISS’s core business in India? Is there any difference between your offerings/ services in other markets and India?
ISS’s offers Integrated Facility Services, Technical services, Cleaning services, Food services Property Management Services, and Security Services. Globally we follow the same systems, processes, products and platforms. Where required, we customize our offerings/solutions to cater to local requirements. Ultimately for us, we need to take care of the Customer issue(s) by delivering effective solutions. This is a continuous process. What was good yesterday, may I dare say, will not be so great tomorrow. Continuous innovation is a must. Customer requirements change, new developments happen – and as required, we study these and do the needful to do what is right for our customers and meet/exceed their benchmarks.
Since when have you been in India and what has been the growth over the years?
ISS has been in India since 2005. We started out by acquiring a Cleaning Company followed by other services. Today, we are happy to say, we are a pan-India company with a presence in 23 states, employing 43,000+ people. As mentioned earlier, we plan to take this up to 70,000 – 75,000 people over the next few years as we see strong demand for our services as global firms come into India and India firms too, increasingly look to outsourcing their non-core services. It helps that with each passing month we have more companies to showcase to potential new clients.
What are your plans for India over the next two to three years? How important is India as a market for ISS?
India is an important market for ISS. The India economy is growing, global companies are moving to India for a variety of reasons– both for manufacturing as well as for services/back offices. Government programs such as “Make in India” and positioning India as a base for diversifying global supply chains are feeding the growth. All these businesses need quality FM partners. Many of our global customers are setting up additional offices in India and/or are expanding their presence & footprint. We plan to grow with our existing customers as well as acquire new ones. We believe that our focus on delivering Solutions spanning Sustainability, Leveraging Technology and Self-delivery of services is key for delivering quality services at scale, consistency and incorporating the latest innovations – which meet the aspirations of our customers.
What have been the investments into the country so far? Are any new investments being planned for the country?
Our Customer-centric Solutions driven approach has allowed us to make good inroads over the last 12-18 months into acquiring new customers. Globally, in 2021, we adopted a new strategy called OneISS. It represents the start of a new journey, refocused and relentless in driving execution and delivering on the promise of the company’s global strengths. It is a strategy that will help us achieve our purpose – connecting people and places to make the world work better.” Executing this strategy, ISS has made solid operational and financial progress. Furthermore, we took significant steps in fulfilling our strategic ambitions with a sharper focus on key segments, investments in technology and a more aligned global operating model. Despite another year in light of the pandemic, our many placemakers played a vital role in making the world work better – meeting our customers’ demands for dedicated services and improved solutions. ISS is well positioned for a Covid-19 recovery and to become an even stronger business in the future - to the benefit of all our stakeholders. The OneISS strategy will deliver a Stronger, Simpler, Closer ISS. As the customers/business grow, all the required investments will be made. We are hungry for growth and will not shy away from investing in the right spheres. Even during the pandemic, we have been making investments in getting our global structure and framework deployed in India. We have hired great talent that is desirous of working in a welcoming & trusting environment.
Is India also emerging for you as a location for strategic planning and setting up knowledge centers?
Over the last 2 years, in line with the OneISS strategy, India has designated Subject Matter Experts in specific areas which are key to developing the right solutions for our customers. These SME’s collaborate with their global peers as well as the Group Leaders evolve processes/tools & technologies to deliver what is best for our customers. In many cases, we come up with unique challenges – the India SME’s use their expertise to solve the issue and also table the issue in our global SME calls and collectively expertise rolls in from across the globe. From this is crafted the final solution to the Customer.
Where does India stand in terms of your revenues? What percentage is it contributing currently and how much do you expect it to go up to by 2025? Do you see any difference in margins from India and other countries? Is India more manpower intensive?
Margins vary by country and is a function of the competition & regulation and most importantly the maturity of the market. In India, we have a broad mix of companies. Many are mature global & Indian customers who have been with us for a long time. There is a huge level of trust and dependency between the Customers & ISS. In such cases, we explore new models which allow us to pass on efficiencies to our customers thereby helping them save, while we, through the use of our expertise are able to evolve a winning proposition. We are confident that over time, as trust builds, we will be able to do so and build win-win propositions for both ISS and our customers.
What are your revenue expectations in the Indian market?
As mentioned above, we have identified our key segments (Financial Services, Technology and Professional Services, and Industry & Manufacturing. We have, and will continue to sharpen our focus on our clients in these markets, understand what they need and what we need to solve for –and grow. This approach, we feel, will help us double our current revenues in the next 3-4 years.
