Case Study: Cumbria County Council achieves data-driven workspace transformation and cost savings with FM:Systems

How Cumbria County Council Gained Critical Insights to Transform and Modernize Workspace Usage

Cumbria County Council, a local government body in northwest England managing about 750 assets (including 340 schools) and more than 4,500 staff, needed real-time evidence to support a long-running workplace transformation. The Economy and Environment department wanted to understand actual desk and space use to inform plans to reduce individual desks, create collaborative areas, and right-size their estate amid growing flexible and remote working.

They implemented FM:Systems FMS:Employee, starting with a 400-sensor pilot that revealed building utilization was about 50% lower than assumed, and later expanded to 1,000 sensors. That data-driven insight allowed the council to vacate and plan to lease underused wings, introduce desk booking to manage COVID-safe returns, and pursue operational, financial and environmental efficiencies while improving employee flexibility and wellbeing.

Cumbria County Council

Allan Harty

Assistant Director