Nigel Collins

Framework Housing Association

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:40:02 +0000

Framework is a homelessness charity, based in Nottinghamshire, providing housing, support, training, care and resettlement services to thousands of homeless and vulnerable people in the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and parts of South Yorkshire.

With Government Grants being cut, the need to make sure that running costs are as efficient as possible has never been more acute for Framework Housing Association.

Case Study:

Download a PDF copy of the case study.

Left to right: Auditel Consultants Gillian Gibbon and Nigel Collins; Marie Spencer, John Millard and Sarah Oldershaw of Framework Housing Association

Framework Housing Association is based in Nottingham and has been running for ten years. Initially it benefitted from the incumbent Government’s funding policy for organisations that supported people trying to get their lives back together.

However, in the current economic climate and faced with serious funding cuts, Framework has to keep a very close watch on overheads in order to continue giving support to the estimated 10,000 people with drugs, mental health and alcohol-related problems that they deal with every year.

FD, John Millard says: “A lot of our cost management is done in-house, but some business cost areas are too complicated for us to deal with effectively.”

“We are inundated with calls from cost consultants who promise the earth and deliver little, so I usually tell them we’ve got it covered. But when Auditel Consultant Gillian Gibbon got in touch with us we were having a problem with our phone contracts that we couldn’t sort out ourselves, so we agreed to let her have a go at solving it.”

“We would struggle to hire people with the level of expertise that Auditel and the wider Auditel network can offer. I would definitely recommend them to other organisations. The money they are saving us is put to much better use supporting the people who really need it most.” – John Millard, Framework Housing Association

It soon became clear that with Auditel’s knowledge, experience and buying power, it was a good move.

John continues, ”I was very impressed with how quickly Gill and her colleague Nigel Collins grasped the complexities of our phone set up, despite it being spread across our organisation with a whole range of different tariffs and a wide range of different needs.”

“Being independent and using their industry knowledge and buying power, Auditel were able to talk to the suppliers on a completely different level and through their analysis, negotiation and hard work were able to secure significant savings.”

Savings that now amount to over £60,000.

In the light of this success, Auditel were also asked to examine Framework’s energy spend and their analysis and negotiations with electricity and gas suppliers produced even better results.

What started with a cold call in 2005, has so far turned into savings of over a quarter of a million pounds. Money that is much needed to ensure Framework can continue to support its clients.

Savings Breakdown:

Fixed Line Costs
Call Savings £42,769
Line rentals £19,616

Energy
Electricity £116,341
Gas £74,675
Gas Rebate £2,725

Download a PDF copy of the case study.

Met Police spent £35,000 on 115,000 calls to the speaking clock

nigelcollins — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:45:25 +0000

Reported in the Daily Telegraph along with £200,000 on Directory Enquiries. I doubt any Auditel clients would find themselves in this situation of runaway Directory Enquiries or Speaking Clock charges as our detailed exception reporting will have picked this up before it got out of hand. Where problems occur with example, Premium Rate calls, (what is usually referred to as call abuse), it is because staff believe they can get away with it. Company policies can also be tightened up so as staff know exactly where they stand and of course staff need to be educated as they may be unaware of the cost of these calls.

Now there may well be operational reasons why accurate times are required, especially when the Sweeney are about to break into an East End hideout, shouting ‘your nicked!’

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9024034/Met-Police-spent-35000-on-115000-calls-to-the-speaking-clock.html

Why are we having to bail out European countries? – an idiot’s guide!

nigelcollins — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:48:30 +0000

For anyone trying to work out where our country’s money has gone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D0VhS8qXT0

Broadband Speed Map from OFCOM

nigelcollins — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:46:41 +0000

If you’ve ever been disappointed that your Broadband speed is nowhere near the ‘up to’ speed quoted by your ISP, a means of benchmarking broadband speed is now available.

On Monday, OFCOM launched the UK’s first interactive map of fixed Broadband (or ADSL), using actual data provided by communications providers about the UK’s broadband infrastructure. The map can be found at http://maps.ofcom.org.uk/broadband/

The full report is also available to download at http://maps.ofcom.org.uk/broadband/downloads/ofcom-uk-broadband-speed-report-2011.pdf

14% of the UK still receives less than 2Mbit/s download speed. There is 58% Take-up and only 58% with Superfast availability. Interestingly, average modem sync speed is only 7.5Mbit/s.

Shale Gas

nigelcollins — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:10:57 +0000

Gas prices have historically tended to track the price of oil. With prices so high now that extracting Shale gas from rock using the ‘fracking’ process has become viable, global gas prices are becoming de-coupled from oil prices. This was mentioned in presentations at the Energy Event that I attended last week in Birmingham. This FT article details the affect this is having on the gas market:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cfb0cf3e-79a7-11e0-86bd-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LxOxzYBC

However, shale gas is also seen as controversial due to the high levels of the greenhouse gas, methane that are produced as reported on by the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13053040

What should you do if you are receiving free gas (or electricity)?

nigelcollins — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:27:10 +0000

Occasionally, we some across clients who appear to be receiving free gas or electricity. In reality, there is no such thing as a free lunch and there are generally two common reasons for this. Either the supplier has ‘forgotten’ to bill the supply or the meter is what is called ‘shipperless’ and has not been given a supply number to bill against. Either way, you can be sitting on a financial time bomb as suppliers can back bill up to 6 years.

Companies in this situation may like to contact Auditel for some impartial advice. In any event, it’s dangerous to do nothing without at least accruing for what could turn out to be substantial bill, especially as deemed ‘out of contract’ prices may apply.

Smart Metering being rolled out

nigelcollins — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:19:18 +0000

A number of electricity suppliers, including British Gas are rolling out the installation of smart meters ahead of them becoming mandatory. Customers accepting the offer to have these installed ‘free’ should get more accurate billing but to obtain half hourly data for AM&T (monitoring and targeting of energy usage), there will be an extra cost. There are concerns over compatibility when changing supplier. In any case, it is normal for bills to be estimated for a couple of months after changing supplier where a smart meter is involved. As always, it’s a good idea to have someone checking your bills.

Full details of OFGEM’s consultation (which is now closed) can be found on the DECC website at http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/smart_mtr_imp/smart_mtr_imp.aspx

Recession and Winter Weather – Impact on Gas Contracts

nigelcollins — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:29:25 +0000

Having today just attended a review meeting with one of our major gas suppliers, I now have a better understanding of why ‘take or pay’ clauses have to be imposed. Fixed price gas contracts are priced based on the annual quantity. The AQ is fixed by National Grid (TRANSCO) and is based on historic monthly meter readings. These monthly meter reads also result in a seasonal profile being applied to each supply. Any variation from this profile results in the gas supplier having to reconcile with National Grid based on an average market price. This of course could be a lot higher than the contract price. The gas supplier can try and mitigate their loss by buying on the ‘day ahead’ market.

Last week, seasonal demand was up by 60%. The recession has resulted in a lot of vacated premises. These factors all result in increased risks go the gas supplier. Some of the risk has to be passed onto the customer.

Part of our job is to help our clients to be aware of these risks when entering into a gas contract.

Let’s Rock!

nigelcollins — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:34:20 +0000

At one of the more lively networking meetings that I attend (and even help run as it’s based in Buxton where I live), a visiting presenter suggested that it would be a good idea to mention in my blog that in my spare time, I play the bass guitar in a local rock band, Twisted Lick. Let’s face it, electricity and gas contracts are not the most exciting subject to read about. All of the band play for fun, not for the money as it’s a great way to socialize and to let off steam.

On 9th December, our band is playing at a fund raising Christmas party organized by the members of Buxton 4networking in aid of ‘Help for Heroes’. We’re all looking forward to a great night.

If you want to follow the band, go to http://www.twistedlick.com/

If you want to find out more about 4networking in Buxton,

go to: http://www.4networking.biz/events/buxton/

OK, so it's not the most dynamic pose!

Switching Energy Suppliers – Common Misconception

nigelcollins — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:27:00 +0000

Consumers will welcome the move by Chris Huhne to enforce energy suppliers to give 65 days notice of price rises in energy tariffs as reported last week in Utility Week

http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/uk/electricity/huhne-warns-energy-firms-over.php

However, FDs and business owners of commercial organisations are often under the mis-conception that switching energy suppliers is as easy as with their home electricity and gas. They then find out to their cost that commercial contracts have onerous rollover clauses and that they are not protected under consumer law. This was the basis of a short presentation I gave last week to a business networking group on ‘Why companies should outsource energy procurement.’ If you want to know more, contact me or reply to this blog.