The debacle at Southern Cross and recent documentaries have cast a shadow over the healthcare sector, but the truth is not all care /nursing homes are in it for profit. The abuse shown in a recent documentary shows the very worst care of individuals, but we have to believe these are isolated incidents.  

From the clients we have and the many we work with in the care sector they operate ethical businesses with dignity of care at the heart of their operations.      

So we would ask that the negative headlines that have been prevalent of late are balanced with some coverage of the high quality care that is being carried out in care and nursing homes up and down the UK.

It is easy to apply blanket blame to the care sector but how many of us honestly would carry out the duties of those in this industry. Lets give thanks to the majority in the care sector who genuinely do a good job.

 Training is now getting tough 92 miles covered this weekend and Sunday’s 40 mile was just in the most atrocious weather conditions rain, wind and bitterly cold. Also no fun coming down a mountain in such conditions, with slick tyres and just calliper brakes.

 Next week’s training ride is taking on the Shropshire Hill Challenge 66 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing and after that I will know if I am ready for the main challenge of 350 miles in 5 days.

It is certainly testing the ageing limbs, but for a great cause, and I will admit I have not slept as well for years.

For those that have sponsored or made pledges to Team Auditel we very much appreciate your support.  If you have not yet sponsored us and would like to support our challenge then please just take 1 minute to visit our Just Giving site and make your donation to Help the Heroes.

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/team-auditel

 Thank you for your support

Adrian Burton

So suitably motivated 6 Auditel affiliates all it has to be said well past our best sporting days will be cycling 350 miles from Lands End to Twickenham between the 5 – 9 July 2011 averaging 80 miles per day.  

Already a lot of money, time, and effort has been put in by those taking part. Personally I purchased my first road bike in November of last year to begin the training. As of now I am up to 100 miles a week with many hours of training still ahead.

We have a target to raise £10,000 this year for Help the Heroes and this is just one way we hope to achieve this goal.

At our supplier exhibition held at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire  last Friday we launched the GBBR challenge and can I take this opportunity to thank those suppliers who have donated most generously to date.

However, to spur Auditel on the last leg of of training which will involve up to 150 miles aweek being covered, a geat incentive would be to raise as much money as possible now. This I am sure will make the pain of 4 days in the saddle easier.

So all I would ask is if you wish to help us with this challenge and raise some funds for Help the Heroes then please take 1 minute to visit the Just Giving website below. Any donation small or large is much apprciated and a step closer to our target.

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/team-auditel

Thank You

Adrian Burton

Consumer Focus, the watchdog, stated 40 % of its small business complaints are about backdated bills.

It is a fact that energy companies have teams and in some cases outsource the investigation of their own billing systems to look for billing errors. Once identified then statute of limitations allows them to go back 6 years in the recovery of undercharged bills.  

Consumer Focus said it received almost 1,848 complaints last year from small businesses whose energy charges had been underestimated and warned that the problem will get worse.

Clearly shock large bills arriving through the post can have massive consequences for small businesses, even though in some cases the fault lies with the energy company for constant mis reading of a meter.

The current legislation sits in the favour of energy companies and customers are expected to allow access for readings to be obtained and check bills for accuracy when received.

However, if you are in doubt that bills being received seem possibly low or perhaps even high then why not approach an independent company that specialises in this area to check your bills for accuracy, and possibly avoid shock bills at a later date.

One company we recently worked with had a rebate of 98% on a final electricity bill they received in October 10, and we are seeing more cases of companies approaching us with regard to high energy bills.

Mr Buchanan believes that energy companies need to make the tariffs being offered easier to understand so that consumers are able to make comparisons.

Apparently since 2008 the number of tariffs available has grown from 180 to over 300 now currently in the market.

Ofgem further added The “big six” suppliers should also face more competition, this would be great but it is not easy for new suppliers to enter the market and actually be competitive against the main suppliers.

Ofgem has said it would force the main suppliers to auction off up to a fifth of the electricity they generate, making room for new companies. However, only a few years  ago we saw independent companies such as Bizz Energy and E4B go to the wall as they could not compete on a cost basis even though in their final set of accounts Bizz Energy had a turnover of £175 million. So whilst OFGEM must be applauded for the idea they have to realise without government incentives small independents will struggle to enter the market and compete against the major players.

Ofgem also commented that the “big six” energy firms “have adjusted prices in response to rising costs more quickly than they reduced them when costs fell”.

In the same piece it also made reference to British Gas operating profits having risen by 24% in 2010 to £742m, it will be interesting to see what profits they declare for 2011 against the back drop of rising costs for consumers. Also when reported in the papers this weekend that 5 British Gas senior managers shared in salaries and bonus’s of over £3 million pounds last year.

The reason Ofgem have launched this enquiry is because it is felt suppliers are making excessive profits.

In November, Ofgem said that energy supplier’s net profit margin per typical customer rose from £65 in September to £90 in November, a 38% rise.

At a time when energy prices are increasing dramatically affecting everyone it is disappointing to think that one or two senior managers might be being paid excessive salaries and bonus’s.

In the second week of an amnesty 644 homes came forward to say they had not received a recent bill. Thames have in the case of these customers stated they will not have to pay back dated bills.

However, they still have 2,367 homes on record that are still being investigated and in the event that Thames find they should have been billed the law allows for the water company to reclaim back up to 6 years of non payment.

At the moment Thames aims to complete the project by the end of March and could find upto 20,000 homes that have been unbilled, as the average price of a Thames water bill is £300 per year this could increase their coffers dramatically.

The important things for businesses out of this story is to be watchful of your bills it is not just domestic properties that do not receive bills. Auditel on a regular basis come across companies who move into new premises and months down the line no water bill or energy bill has been received. This is just building up a big problem down the line as more and more utility companies are carrying out these type of audits. 

So just take a moment to check if energy bills are coming in for all your meters and that you are receiving water bills, better to face the issue now than to build up a big problem later.

To deliver savings does take time something many company’s do not have and so this results in missed opportunities and contracts that possibly are not the best for the business.

It also helps when procuring utilities and telecoms to understand the offer being made and the contract in front of you, its the small detail that will always catch you out and possibly result in a costlier contract than first intended.

One such company that recognised this was Busy Bees the country’s leading provider of pre school day care.  Their business is predominantly a people business, and this is where they have to concentrate their efforts.  Appreciating  the benefits of Auditel’s contingency model they invited us initailly to look at water costs within the business. Based on the success delivered we were then invited to assist in other cost areas.

To see the full extent of the savings we delivered please take a look at our latest testimonial. 

  http://auditelconsultants.co.uk/adrianburton/2011/02/07/busy-bees/

Case Study:

Download a PDF copy of the case study.

Left to right: Adrian Burton, Auditel Consultant and Paul Creaser, IT Manager, Busy Bees

Busy Bees FD Simon Irons first met with Adrian Burton of Auditel in September 2008 and although sceptical about the Auditel proposition a trial project was agreed to review water charges across the company’s 122 nurseries. Realising the scale of the project Adrian enlisted his Auditel colleague Neil Calcutt and a plan of action was agreed to assess each nursery.

Over a six month period Auditel were able to recoup over £45,000 worth of water rebates and identified on-going annual savings in excess of £14,000.

Following the water success Simon Irons then invited Auditel to meet with department heads to identify other projects where Auditel might be able to streamline costs.

As a result of this exercise a project was identified to help Busy Bees with a tricky negotiation with their current telephone supplier, at the time the company was in a negotiation with regard to 60 separate contracts covering their telecoms estate and a 5 year contract was under consideration. Paul Creaser (IT Manager) had already obtained some savings but it was felt an impartial view of the proposal would be sensible.

Busy Bee’s IT Manager, Paul Creaser, worked with Adrian Burton on the project during early 2010. Adrian explains how he was able to help ‘’What Auditel were able to do was use our knowledge of the market to identify areas for additional savings and also negotiate with the incumbent supplier to achieve a common end date for all the existing contracts.’’ This resulted in a shorter 2 year agreement being entered into, and delivering 1 common end date for all contracts. The annual additional saving obtained following this work is estimated at £18,000.

The next area looked at was mobiles where Paul had already achieved significant savings and Auditel’s role was to check the various proposals received from the tendering exercise conducted by Busy Bees and provide advice on the most appropriate solution for the business. Auditel’s work has provided Paul with peace of mind that Busy Bees are currently receiving best value.

Most recently, Auditel was asked to assist with a dispute over a final electricity bill at one of the nurseries. The result of Auditel’s work was a 90% reduction in the charge and a refund cheque from the supplier.

Financial Director Simon Irons adds, “We have a cost base of around £70m per annum the majority of which is personnel so clearly this is where management must focus its attention. We lack the time and knowledge to look for efficiencies and savings in more minor expense lines and Auditel allow us to take these opportunities without diverting attention from our main goals.”

Savings Achieved:

Water – £14,000 pa
plus rebates of £45,000
Landlines £18,000
Electricity overcharge refund 90%

Download a PDF copy of the case study.

At present the environment agency is not sure how to deal with those that have not registered. Do they make an example of them and issue the fines as laid down or allow more time. 

At the moment the scale of the problem is not even known. It is thought that the numbers that have failed to register are anything from 15% to 40% of those that should have been liable.

A key question has to be why have companies failed in their obligation. Which comes down to not understanding what is expected, the time to collect the information,  and the on line system not being user friendly.

For those that did register sadly the hard bit now begins as you have to demonstrate compliance, and how will the government realistically check the accuracy of responses.

In truth the scheme has to be made simpler which hopefully will be looked at next year when the Department of Energy considers the recommendations from the Committee on Climate Change.   

You also have to consider that this is meant to be a neutral taxation policy introduced to make companies responsible for their carbon footprint. What now has to be asked is what will be the cost to police the policy by the government at a time when costs are an issue. The task for the new government is to ensure that this does not become another white elephant.

”The Black Country Chamber of Commerce has been striving over the past few months to identify partners that can add real value to our members and enhance your membership with us. One such company we are now working with is Auditel who are a national independent cost management company.

We have partnered with them so members can take advantage of the free business audit they offer across a company’s overhead costs. The areas they specialise in are energy, telecoms, water, waste and business consumables projects.

Before embarking on the partnership we thought it important to put them to the test and asked them to work on projects with 2 of our members. It’s fair to say they delivered excellent results and now their services are available to all our members.

The members who benefitted from the audit were:

Rubber Astic is based in Bilston and have been manufacturing rubber and foam products for over 40 years into industries such as, automotive, aerospace, nautical, medical and consumer goods.

Birmingham Plating who are based in Smethwick since 1982 providing plating finishes such as chrome, nickel, zinc and electroplating

The results obtained by Auditel based on the previous contracts in place were:

Rubber Astic

Gas reduced contract costs by 32%

Electricity reduced contract costs by 25%

Telephones reduced call charges by 53%

Managing Director Mike Dell said:

’Buying utilities is becoming a more and more complex area for businesses and represents the potential to generate large savings if done well. It is an area where we have relied upon specialist consultants for sometime. We used Auditel because of their connection with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, of whom we are members. The service provided was excellent with Adrian quickly understanding the needs of both of manufacturing sites. We will continue to use Auditel and would recommend them to any businesses looking to save costs’’.

Birmingham Plating

Gas reduced contract costs by 14%

Electricity reduced contract costs by 20%

Telephones reduced call charges by 71%                  

A rebate from the current telecom provider of £945 obtained.

What Auditel are now able to offer chamber members is an in depth analysis of your overhead costs to identify billing errors, and place the most competitive contracts to suit your business need.

The audits they carry out are done on a contingency model meaning they are only paid if they deliver savings to you, if not then they do not charge for their services”.

Black Country Chamber of Commerce article