Auditel Consultant:
Nick Beaumont-Jones

Summer? What summer??

08 Sep 2010 | Filed under: Cost Management, Procurement

Another summer came and went and I wonder how I managed to miss it again.

Not that I’m complaining you understand but July and August go past in a blur as I prepare every year for the Great British Energy Contract Renewal Season.

In the past eight weeks I have reviewed, tendered and negotiated no fewer than 26 gas and 58 electricity supplies for my clients. Plus 90 telephone connections!

When de-regulation of the utilities industry took place in the late 1980s, 1st October must have seemed like a sensible date on which to transfer these massive companies from public to private ownership. Unfortunately this left us with a legacy of contract dates which more often than not tend to start and finish on the same date. Hence the mad scramble for consumers and suppliers alike to review their contacts during the late summer months.

Of course, the logjam isn’t helped by many of the clients’ and suppliers’ key staff being away on their summer holidays at such a busy time but somehow the British ability to muddle through seems to win the day.

Now the dust is finally settling it is really good to see that so many savings can still be achieved in what is an increasingly competitive market with supplier margins under pressure as never before. The fluctuations in the marketplace in recent weeks have at times been extreme with differences in gas prices, for example, being as high as 10% within a few days. Few gas suppliers will quote for more than 24 hour periods at the moment due to the volatility of the market and this can lead to some pretty hairy moments for the larger consumers as they scramble to get their contracts signed off before that 4pm deadline.

So another summer passes … and now maybe time for a belated break!