The dust had barely settled after Iain Murray's farewell speech as Chair of the British Institute of Facilities Management and no sooner has he been elected Deputy Chair of Global FM. The announcement came yesterday as members gathered in Atlanta for the Global FM Board Meeting, ahead of IFMA's World Workplace Conference and Expo.

A worldwide alliance of member-centered organisations, Global Facility Management Association founded in 2006, is dedicated to providing leadership in the FM profession. It's mission statement: 'Promote the strategic value and progress of facilities management'.

Iain will be working alongside Teena Shouse, Senior FM Consultant at Facility Engineering Associates in Kansas, who has been appointed Chair of Global FM. Additionally Iain will act as Chair of the new Global FM Ambassador Programme.

CEO of total FM provider Connected FM, experienced FM consultant, seasoned orator and progressionist, Iain is ideally suited to his new role and excited about the opportunities ahead. As a well known figure amongst FM professionals and the social media arena, it's no surprise that the congratulatory tweets have been flooding in thick and fast. To them we add our own salute! Well done boss.

richardbyatt: Congratulations on GFM election success Iain!

MCSTraining: @iain_murray Congrats on the #facilitiesmanagement Deputy-chairship Iain!

FMCoach: @iain_murray fantastic news about your election to Deputy Chair of #GlobalFM

BIFM_COO: Congratulations @iain_murray on being elected Deputy Chair for #GlobalFM. Drinks are on you!

TFMTweets: RT @FMCoach: @iain_murray fantastic news about your election to Deputy Chair of #GlobalFM #facilitiesmanagement (I agree!)

FM_Conference: @Connectedfm_IM is new #GlobalFM Deputy Chair - Congrats

fairsnape: RT @Connectedfm_IM: #GlobalFM board elects Teena Shouse #IFMA + @iain_murray as Chair + Deputy respectively #bifm &It; congrats Iain

thefmguru: @connectedfm_IM Congrats

ibroadbent_bifm: Congratulations on your appt, great recognition of your work

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It’s just four weeks since the launch of Connect with FM, the online network for the facilities management industry, and it has already gone viral. On its first day the site attracted a staggering 100 members and has now reached over 330 and growing all the time. Members come from a wide range of backgrounds from bid management, FM software, engineering, waste management to sustainability, healthcare and consultancy. The sector coverage isn’t the only area in which the spectrum is vast, members who’ve listed their locations on the ‘Where are you?’ group show representation from Baltimore, Southampton, Dubai, New Jersey and beyond.

Since its inception 14 forum discussions have been started, 5 events listed, 8 blogs posted and 62 photos uploaded. There are also 12 groups to join on the site, ranging from FM in the Press to FM ‘Best Practice’, with 155 members collectively. As a social network the site is about participation and invites members to comment, discuss, upload, network and even chat online.

Members can also get involved in the competition to win a Sony Bloggie. All they need to do is invite as many of their friends and colleagues as possible. Whoever brings the most new members to the site wins.

We look forward to seeing how the site evolves as members of the industry realise the benefits of contributing to this online platform.

An exciting new online network will be launched on Monday 5th July specifically geared around the FM industry. The Connectedfm sponsored site named ‘Connect with FM’ will allow anyone with an interest in facilities management to come together to share information and advice.

The network will have a range of groups you can join including for example FM ‘Best Practice’ and Who’s Who in FM. There will be discussion forums, blogs, RSS feeds, twitter feeds, videos and photographs, amongst other things.

Regularly updated it will guarantee topical discussions and blogs on FM related subjects, as well as offering useful tips and advice.

If you’re an FM practitioner, expert or simply have an interest in the industry then we hope you’ll become a member and contribute to the network.

Connected FM welcomed its latest arrival this month as John Ferry settled into the role of Commercial MD for the business. John brings with him extensive experience in sales and project management from his work in the interiors fit-out sector. He will be managing the sales and marketing side of the business, with the assistance of Shona Lyttel.

The emergency budget today must have been the most widely anticipated budget of all time, with predictions and pre-budget analysis running amok. I like everyone else anticipated the impact from both a personal and business perspective with some trepidation, were my fears realised, well, not exactly.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a short summary of the impact on business, and it does not seem that bad. Reduced Corporation Tax being the main one, and of course the rescinding of the previous governments move to increase NI.

The VAT increase was widely reported and anticipated, and I was surprised it is not going to be introduced until January of next year (Christmas and January sales will be interesting!).

I suspect that the increase in CGT and VAT may have a bigger impact on the building industry than FM, and in fact this could suggest another period of increased focus on Opex not Capex. I look forward to the CIC view of this. The BIFM have a perspective here.

From a personal perspective I am warned that my income will reduce by 2% in the coming 12 months, which to be honest was not entirely unexpected. Like everyone else, we tightened our belts some time ago and even more so in anticipation of this budget.

The Telegraph has a good five minute guide to give you a quick overview. Scottish Enterprise have their perspective here.

How does this impact on Connectedfm remains to be seen, we like everyone else are working very hard for our margins and I suspect that decreasing spare money will exacerbate it. However, we have been telling everyone that we are a business which can help deliver 'best value', so I suspect now is our time.

We are focused on growth, so some of the NI holiday measures (if we can take advantage of them) might help us, couple this with people who want to work for a stable employer and are less inclined to move, then I would hope we can continue our development as a leading FM provider.

• Appropriate financial qualifications for working in an SME (current TO circa £5m) ACCA, CIMA or CA qualified at minimum with several years experience
• Proven financial management experience with references
• The ability to implement financial processes across the business
• Excellent knowledge of all financial instruments including Invoice Finance and Online Business Banking
• The business acumen to relationship manage the businesses banking
• The ability to produce regular Management Accounts, P&L Accounts, Cashflow & Financial Projections
• Analytical skills in relation to productivity, cash management, supply chain partner terms, material supplier terms, stock management and purchase order management
• Production of the Board papers for financial reporting will also be required