High street banks suffer the same space management issues as any other retailer, however brands in this sector usually have a branch in every town centre. The cost-impact of poor quality data not only makes informed decision-making difficult across the estate, but also reduces the likelihood of maintaining branch consistency in terms of space design and space management.

Over the past 20 years, the retail banking sector has undergone a huge change with smaller banks being swept up by the larger groups, ensuing the demise of branches branded as Midland Bank, Abbey National and TSB. As a result, programmes of rapid refit and refurbishment were untaken as quickly as possible to rebrand old units. Several years on and the importance of quality data has never been more important.

To put this in perspective, Lloyds Bank have around 1,800 branches in the UK, whereas popular fashion retailer, Primark has about 160. In addition every customer visit is a potential sale or at least an opportunity for engagement with a client. Hence, the cost of ordering the wrong amount of POS, of not understanding the fixtures you have, or of leasing premises that are not fit for purpose could be substantial.

 What can space management teams within the banking sector do?

Being able to query quality data about your estate is crucial in helping you to make the right decisions; for example:

• How many branches have more than 4 cashiers and more than 3,000 sq ft circulation space?
• How many branches have less than 2 external cash points and less than 2 merchandisable windows?
• Which branches have the 2002 consultation desk and how many of them are across the estate?
• How many branches have more than 60% total floor space dedicated to back-office functions?

Although the answers to such questions don’t offer solutions in themselves, they can help a bank’s property team to identify branches that are either outdated, using space inefficiently, or that have outdated fixtures; prioritising spending and portfolio disposals.

How could a bank achieve this level of intelligence?

The first step is to get a clear picture of the estate as it stands today. This could be via an audit - if CAD plans already exist – or via the creation of new survey data. Then, once an up to date CAD plan is available for each branch, they can be populated with intelligent blocks for each fixture type, and the different spaces tagged with their core business function.

Once the plans are synchronised with a secure online database, accurate reports can be created from anywhere in the world. These may be exported to an Excel format for other departments to use, and PDF versions of plans can be downloaded for marking-up on-site using an iPad – helping banks to share more accurate information, more easily.

Here at CADS, our business is to help any retailer to make the most of its estate. Our range of tools can help high street banks to achieve all the points outlined above. So, if you think the above sounds interesting, please get in touch.

rcooper@cadesignservices.co.uk

Have you checked how much your property costs to rebuild or do you rely on the buildings insurance company or broker? Robin Thorp, Chartered Building Surveyor at CADS discusses the importance of accurate information.

Why is it important to establish an accurate assessment of your rebuilding cost?

When taking out buildings insurance you might not receive the full value of your insurance claim if your property is undervalued. On the other hand if the rebuild cost is overvalued on your insurance policy, you are likely to be paying excessive premiums. At CADS  we can assist customers by calculating the correct value for which the property should be insured. This survey can be undertaken on a one-off basis or reviewed annually where required.

Why not ask an Estate Agent to value my property and give this figure to the insurance  broker?

The distinction should be made between what a property is worth as a financial asset (Market Value) and what it costs to build or be rebuilt. Famously the ‘Location, Location, Location’  influence upon market value is amongst those which have no bearing at all on building cost. CADS Building Insurance Cost assessments are produced using published building cost information from recognised industry sources and follow the guidelines recommended by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Towards the end of last year the CADS 3D team were involved in a 3D visualisation project for Howards Estate Agents. These visuals helped to market a new development where no actual photographs were available.

You can see the 3D visuals of the development project live on the Rightmove website now: http://bit.ly/x1VFFl

The BIM Christmas Tree

Christmas is a great time for reflecting on how the past year has gone and looking forward to the coming year. It’s also perfect for taking some time out and doing something a little bit different.

This year, we challenged the CADS 3D team to make a unique Christmas card which represents CADS and our intended focus for 2012.  Working together, the marketing and 3D teams decided to create a Christmas 3D animation that would communicate aspects of Christmas, retail and Business Information Modelling (BIM). And so the BIM Christmas tree was born!

The team started by creating a snowy Christmas scene, inspired by an area of Norwich City Centre where thousands of shoppers will be undoubtedly spending their hard-earned cash over the Christmas period.

When designing the 3D visuals, CADS 3D were keen to strike a good balance between the colder blue colours outside, with the warm and inviting  lighting from the shops:

Next was the Christmas tree. Not just any tree, but a BIM-ed up Christmas tree! To achieve this the tree was built up of different floors, separated by floor slabs with a complete glass façade. The red lights and star on top are added extras that would not usually be included in a BIM design!

With all of the modelling and lighting complete, the card was animated, bringing it to life.  The tree is gradually ‘built’ as it falls out of the sky. It shows the structure coming together and a design being realised:

As a company, we have been spending an increasing amount of time on a combination of BIM and 3D visualisation throughout 2011. Working with our in-house BIM specialists, www.cadnet.ltd.uk, and architects, www.3darchitects.co.uk, we plan on devoting even more of our time and energy to furthering our BIM experiencein 2012.

For now, with the Christmas tree built, and firmly rooted in the ground, let me extend my season’s greetings and bring on the new year!

Paul
CADS 3D Visualisation Team Leader

CADS 3D, our in-house 3D visualisation team have put together this Christmas animation for all of our customers and blog readers.

Here’s to a fantastic Christmas and an even better 2012!