Innovations/investments
Capital investment rose
to R491 million. This included
spending by Bidair as the
business geared up for its
role as a ground-handling
licence-holder. The timeframe
for appropriate returns on
investment should not be
lengthy, however, as solid
income generation is expected.
The travel booking engine
developed for Bid Travel
Services was formally launched
to several major corporate
clients. This e-solution
has been several years in
development and delivers
major price and time efficiencies.
Client response has been
universally positive.
Bidvest Bank maintained
the pace of product innovation
with several new foreign
exchange offerings in currencies
not traditionally covered
by major banks.
The cash-and-carry concept
launched last year by Bidserv
Industrial Products has proved
a major success. An increase
in warehouse foot-traffic
was driven by retail-style
cross-merchandising, involving
product groups from overalls
to hard hats to chemicals.
This was followed by a big
increase in phone-in orders.
Risks
Risk is reviewed, identified
and mitigated by risk committees
within each operating division.
Legislative risk is ever
present for big employers
as changes to labour law
or workplace regulation can
have a major impact. The
risk is minimised by ensuring
that all legislative standards
are fully observed. Legislative
risk is balanced by lawmaking
trends that support a quality
service offering, as noted
earlier.
As a large employer HIV/Aids
has a major impact and is
an ever present risk. Where
the industry is regulated
we are working on industry-wide
solutions to HIV/Aids.
BBBEE procurement scoring
is a risk area for any business
that positions itself as
a preferred provider to major
public and private sector
operations. The issue is
addressed by driving constant
improvements across all pillars
of the empowerment scorecard.
Technology risk is low in
many areas, but occurs in
the travel field (the growth
in online bookings) and specialised
fields such as industrial
cleaning and office automation.
In comparative terms, the
effect is beneficial as Bidserv
is able to invest in new
technology at levels many
competitors would find hard
to match.
Investment risk is mitigated
by our hands-on management
style and our practice of
giving high priority to obtaining
appropriate and prompt returns
after any investment, sizeable
or otherwise.
The risk of client loss
is implicit in our business
model. We serve customers
who demand consistently high
quality. This tends to mean
major corporates or large
public sector bodies. Loss
of a big national account
would impact the bottom line
of any single business unit.
The risk is managed by maintaining
both relationships and quality.
Sustainability factors
Training investment rose
141% to R86 million. One
of the drivers was the cost
of training 2 000 new personnel
to ensure Bidair delivers
the quality standards set
down in the SLAs that underpin
the ACSA super licence. In
addition, a concerted effort
is being made across the
board to develop our people
through increased investment
in training. The change in
the DTI codes impacted this
year’s data.
Employment equity
and BEE improvements
were achieved across
the business. Bidserv
benefits from the efforts
of a dedicated executive
unit that maintains
single-minded focus
on BEE scorecard issues.
Our BEE procurement
spend has increased
significantly in line
with the requirements
of the DTI codes of
good practice.
Recruitment is heavily
biased toward historically
disadvantaged candidates.
Staff numbers rose
to 63 493. Growth of
a further 7 000 jobs
is projected for 2009.
