News about us
As one of the leading utility consultancies in the UK, Business Cost Consultants is regularly quoted in news and trade press. Below you will find recent press coverage on Business Cost Consultants. Please email us if you would like to find out more about the content of these stories or if you would like to discuss how Business Cost Consultants could help your organisation in similar ways.
Audits Unlimited sees demand surge
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The Scotsman
SOARING energy costs have meant surging business for a Glasgow consultancy service that promises it can save large utility users millions of pounds.
Audits Unlimited is claiming that more than 80 per cent of companies in Scotland pay too much for their utilities and ambitiously guarantees savings for companies spending more than £50,000 a year.
Its clients include one of the UK's largest furniture manufacturer, Morris furniture. Managing director Robert Morris estimates the service has saved the company about £400,000 on utility bills since 2000, close to 20 per cent of the total cost, through consumption advice, negotiation and market knowledge.
Morris, which has about 1,000 staff, is a major user of water and electricity, with many machines running 24 hours a day. Morris rates his company's ability to negotiate but said the expertise required to deal with phone and utility companies requires considerable market knowledge.
"The phone companies and the utility companies make it deliberately complicated so you can't get down to what you're actually paying for.
"We were very aware that some of the prices we were achieving were very keen, but we didn't have the specialised knowledge and experience in the utilities world."
Audits Unlimited monitors consumption of utilities, tenders at low cost points and provides advice on how to reduce consumption.
Other clients include Celtic and Rangers football clubs. Rangers facilities manager Ross Macaskill estimated that in six months the club had reduced its water prices and consumption by almost 50 per cent after employing Audits Unlimited.
Glasgow-based New Gorbals Housing Association, which owns and manages about 2,500 homes believes it has saved more than £50,000 in two years through its monitoring of utility usage and bills.
Audits managing partner Donald Maclean said the savings come from market knowledge rather than simple negotiating skills.
He said: "When it comes to energy, the most important thing we can do is look at market intelligence. If you look at a price graph it goes up and down quite significantly and we've got a fairly decent idea of what is going to happen with the price."
Instead of waiting until a contract is due, tenders are usually put out when the price is believed to be at a low point. Ironically in the last two years electricity and gas prices have been their lowest in the UK in January and February.
"Tell the lay person that the lowest price comes in the middle of winter and they would think you were crazy but that has been the way it has worked out.
"Some companies also buy energy allocations from generators in large tranches, and at the end of given periods can be forced to reduce prices to clear excess stock."
Unmasking waste
UTILITY bills, often estimated for more than six months, can mask major wastage of consumption and even inaccuracy, according to Audits Unlimited managing partner Donald Maclean.
He says: "Business operators often aren't that interested in utilities ... they see a bill and if it is roughly what it was last year they're usually happy. Six months later they get a huge bill which blows the budget. Time and again, huge amounts of money are going into the ground."
See story on The Scotsman website here.
Permanent link for this article
