M2C: An immortal business on the digital wave

Software analysing the footage from security cameras can now advise on the placement of a shelf with a special offer based on customer reactions. Another system very accurately counts how many people are moving around the mall, and another can make recommendations to improve warehouse layout. Facility management no longer means just a security guard with a walkie-talkie or a cleaner with a mop. In the concept of the domestic M2C group, it is a field increasingly imbued with digital technologies. Of course, it wouldn't be possible without manpower - the company employs around 8,000 people, but its philosophy is a considered combination of both people and technology. "Our Czech monitoring centre, a kind of central brain for facility management, looks like NASA ground control," says Matěj Bárta, the current head and owner of M2C, describing the extent of digitisation.

Unlike many of its competitors, the company does not use various subcontractors, but always relies on its own manpower, which it increases when necessary, sometimes through acquisitions. The result is continued growth and expansion across Europe from Turkey to Belgium, to the United States and the Middle East. Successes like this do not happen overnight and the company's history spans 33 years, during which it has gone through various stages.

Merging stage

In the beginning, there was a youthful desire to go into business when it was finally possible after the Velvet Revolution. In 1992, a group of students started a company providing various services from events organisation to tutoring and even dog walking. Among the customers of the events organisation section was the Prague State Opera, whose director at the time decided to organise an event similar to the Vienna Opera Ball in the Czech capital. One of the main stars of the event was Ivanka Trump. "A curious situation arose when, just a few days before her arrival, the head of the opera came to the company management and said that a driver and bodyguards had not been provided for Ivanka. And so began the business in the field of security, with which we have been associated for many years," recalls Matěj Bárta. The company then grew steadily, he says, and in 1997 began providing security for the first large shopping centre - Centrum Černý most in Prague.

One of the key periods came at the end of the first decade of the new millennium and the onset of the financial crisis. In 2010, the ownership structure changed when Matěj Bárta, through a newly established holding structure, bought shares in the company and began to manage it as a key owner. The crisis also brought new opportunities. Many properties were owned by pension or multinational and overseas funds, and due to the economic problems, there was pressure for efficiency and cost cutting. Facility management was at that time usually divided into individual activities provided by different companies. "We started to bundle services together, which generated cost savings for us because it increased labour productivity and brought a lot of positive effects from a logistics perspective," says Bárta. In addition to providing security, M2C expanded its offer to include maintenance, cleaning and grounds maintenance.

This met with a very positive response from customers, and the company decided to expand beyond the Czech Republic. As it often worked for multinational companies on the domestic market, the good references that the company had earned on the domestic market helped it to expand abroad, especially eastwards, to Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. "We gradually grew to the level of eight thousand employees," says Bárta, adding that the company is now a true multicultural mix. But M2C also had the confidence to head west, where it often started from scratch. It already had a strong brand within the industry, the range of its services was impressive, and one advantage was that it was a newcomer on the well established western markets, where tenants welcomed a breath of fresh air. But its work for multinational corporations also played a role there, as these companies subsequently appreciated the opportunity to utilise the proven service in other countries of operation.

Technological evolution

At the same time, its services continued to expand in order to cover clients’ various needs. Various low-current solutions from access control systems to cameras were added to the mix. From there it was only a short step to the next breakthrough: digitalization and the creation of custom software for facility management amongst other things. "We started to find that thanks to camera coverage and access systems, a lot of data is collected, and if we can collate it and use it in a good enough way, the productivity of facility management will increase, because more information allows better decision-making," explains Bárta. In 2013, the first technology centre for remote control (called M2C Space) was launched.

The company increased its focus on technology and came up with a number of innovations, such as the Welcomo electronic kiosk to reliably replace the receptionist or completely unattended access to the logistics area. This direction has paid off. "We were getting more and more enquiries from customers that we were unable to handle. That's why we made acquisitions in the IT area," says Bárta. In 2022, M2C bought Good Sailors, a development company that employs people with disabilities. In software development this produces remarkable results, not only because these people are often blessed with unusual talents, but also because they can look at a problem in a non-traditional way. As a result, M2C now has a range of software products allowing effective facility management, but also addressing specific client problems, such as controlling flows in gas storage tanks. Thanks to this offer, the Czech company has also managed to establish itself on non-European markets. The software or the Welcomo electronic receptionist are the basis for its transatlantic expansion, specifically into the North American market.

M2C, however, relies on expanding capacity in different directions, with the common denominator being truly comprehensive property care. In addition to intangible intellectual property, it has therefore developed a very tangible ability to provide the minor construction works required by the managed facilities, such as interior refurbishment of rental units in shopping centres, office refurbishment, construction of reception areas or, for example, the roads within a complex. Two years ago, it significantly strengthened this competence with the purchase of the Slovak company Optimal Partner.

Your own people are worth it

Matěj Bárta openly admits that although the company's history is characterized by growth, it has also had its fair share of weaker years. Relying on our own people instead of the popular outsourcing carries the risk of significant employee costs, and the leaner years were usually caused by their unexpected rise. "We are highly dependent on inflation, minimum and average wages. In particular, certain governments in Europe are capable of increasing labour costs in an unforeseeable manner, and usually we cannot pass these extra costs on to the clients straight away," explains Bárta. However, he truly believes in building his own team because, in his opinion, this allows him to guarantee a high-quality service and develop the company’s own extensive know-how, which lies in its people. When it comes to the dead ends that M2C has had, he says it was without doubt the development of some software that did not come up to expectations or where the return on investment was not interesting in the end.

Today, the company generates about half of its turnover from facility management in the Czech Republic, 30 percent from the same business abroad, and about one-fifth from new technologies. It wants to develop mainly through further foreign and technological expansion. The proceeds from the IPO on the Prague Stock Exchange will help in this regard. "We intend to use this money to acquire companies in the industry and technology companies, to further develop our software and to strengthen our position in the United States. But we are not neglecting our core business, so we plan to use some of the funds to build our team," says Matěj Bárta. He says the main direction remains unchanged. "We are in the smart services business, helping to transform real estate from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. We often say that by combining our services we also increase their value," concludes the M2C boss.