Case Study:

Download a PDF copy of the case study.

Left to right: Peter Harrison, Auditel Consultant; Debra Avery, Peepul Centre Operations Manager, John Frape, Peepul Centre Head of Services for Sports & Fitness; Mike Ramsden, Auditel Consultant.

Opened in 2005, the Peepul Centre takes a pragmatic approach to its business model, ensuring it continues to evolve and provide services that meet the needs of people in the local community. Like many organisations which receive funding through local and central government schemes, however, the Centre faces challenges ahead, which Operations Manager, Debra Avery, is determined to ensure they meet head on.

“The Peepul Centre may have registered charity status but we still have to make enough money to survive as a viable business. In the twelve months I’ve been in post we’ve not only seen the announcement of deep cuts in our direct public funding but the trickledown effect of these cuts on major users of our venue hire services, such as the NHS and local government, means our income has also been affected on that side of the business. As a result we’ve had to develop a much more strategic 3-5 year business plan aimed at securing our long-term financial sustainability.”

One of the things that Debra was keen to include in her strategic plan was a thorough review of the Centre’s overheads and service contracts so a meeting between Centre Manager, Bharat Patel, and Auditel consultants, Peter Harrison and Mike Ramsden, at one of the networking events hosted by the Centre in mid-2010 was very timely.

“I’d already done some research and knew it would be possible to secure better prices for many of our overheads and infrastructures and I’d had a look at some of the testimonials on Auditel’s website so there seemed to be a good match between my objectives and their expertise. My first impression of Mike and Peter was how professional they were and this hasn’t changed since. I’m always incredibly impressed by the information and recommendations they come up with and, just as importantly, the fact that within a relatively short period of time they have really come to understand our organisation and the issues that affect us specifically. From my point of view, because I’m so time-poor, their input has been invaluable because not only do they come back with a tremendous amount of information, but they present it clearly and make it simple for me to make decisions; they’ve just saved me a huge job that would have kept me away from other areas of the core business.”

So far, Peter and Mike have identified and implemented savings of over £77,477 across the Centre’s gas, electricity, contract cleaning, washroom services and fire and security systems costs. Other projects now underway include a review of catering and stationery costs.

“Mike and Peter did a fabulous job on their initial projects and saved us a lot of money, so going forward anything that has an overhead attached to it they will be looking at. Over the next couple of years our income and expenditure will change dramatically so any savings Auditel make will directly and significantly affect our bottom line.”

But there are other issues, beyond simple costcutting, about which Debra values Auditel’s expertise and assistance.

“As you can imagine with a centre our size, we have numerous service contracts many of which duplicate costs incurred elsewhere and that’s something I have been keen to address. What Auditel have done very successfully is get us out of some contracts that would have taken me and an expensive legal team to negotiate our way through, but they did it so professionally, I was incredibly impressed. Ultimately, I want to make very sure that the Centre isn’t being ripped off by suppliers and that we aren’t signed up to any contracts that don’t meet our needs, and working with Auditel means I can address both of these issues as an integral part of their
service.”

Savings Breakdown:

Gas, Electricity, Contract Cleaning
Washroom Services and Fire and Security Systems £77,477

Ongoing Additional Projects:

Catering Costs
Stationery Costs

Download a PDF copy of the case study.

The Peepul Centre is a unique, multi-purpose, community venue situated in the heart of Leicester  www.peepulcentre.com.  We’ve been working closely with the centre management since April 2010 in helping to reduce  the venue’s running costs and improve service levels.

To date we have identified and implemented total savings worth over £30,000 per annum across a number of cost areas, with several further projects currently in progress.

Click on the link below to view the testimonial letter from Debra Avery, the Operations Manager at the Peepul Centre:-

Peepul Centre Testimonial Letter

There are a number of changes that will be happening regarding data roaming from the 1^st July 2010. These changes have been introduced by the EU and therefore affect all networks and all users sending and receiving data whilst travelling in a European country.

In summary, these changes are:

• All data roaming activity within the EU will be subject to a cap of €50.00 (between £40 – £45 depending on exchange rates)
• A roaming data bar will be applied once the cap is reached or exceeded
• SMS notifications from Vodafone will be sent at 80% and 100% of cap
• Users are able to opt out of the capping should they wish at any time

The Energy Saving and Water Efficient (environmentally beneficial) Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) schemes allow businesses investing in designated technologies that reduce energy consumption, save water or improve water quality to write off 100% of the cost against taxable profits of the period during which the investment was made.

With effect on and after a date to be appointed by Treasury Order to be made prior to the summer 2010 Parliamentary recess, the energy efficient scheme List will be revised to include two new sub-technologies:-

1. Permanent magnet synchronous motors

2. Biomass fired warm air heaters

One existing technology (Compact heat exchangers) and one sub-technology (Liquid pressure amplification) will be removed.  The criteria for taps and showers in the Water Efficient scheme will be tightened.  Minor housekeeping changes will also be made to the existing criteria of both schemes.

The lists are available on the internet at www.eca.gov.uk

Capital allowances: zero-emission vehicles

Expenditure incurred on a new (and not second hand) zero-emission goods vehicle will qualify for a new 100% FYA if:-

1. The vehicle cannot under any circumstances produce CO2 emissions when driven

2. It is of a design primarily suited to the conveyance of goods or burden

3. The expenditure is incurred on or after 01/04/10 (corporation tax) or 06/04/10 (income tax) and within five years of those dates

Source: Mercia Group via Tearle & Carver Chartered Accountants

Although you can buy data roaming bolt-ons for use abroad, my advice is to go into your phone settings and switch data roaming to OFF, permanently! Remember you can still use WiFi hotspots to connect to the internet abroad, which will work out far cheaper than roaming on the local mobile network.

Edit:  From July 1st, data roaming costs will at least be capped to £45 (50 Euros), but only within the EU.  So travellers to the US and other parts of the World will still be hit by unlimited roaming charges.

The buzz word at the moment is “Hosted VoIP” which effectively replaces the traditional PBX (Private Branch Exchange) hardware that you would currently find in almost any business environment. The exchange service is instead delivered from a secure remote data centre and supplied over a private IP network. The inherent advantages this technology brings make a compelling argument in its favour over a traditional telephone system:-

1/ Lower Total Cost – Fewer lines needed, no call charges between remote company sites, cheaper call rates, reduced on site maintenance and support, low capital investment and depreciation

2/ Advanced Telephony Features – Corporate level PBX functionality available to smaller business users eg. conferencing, advanced incoming call management, virtual grouping, disaster recovery.

3/ Flexibility – Hosted system can be scaled to suit with users and features easily added or removed.  Hot-desking and remote working is possible, providing geographic freedom.  You can even move your entire office and take all your existing numbers with you.

4/ Security & Continuity – Hosted services are provided from a secure remote data centre, with full back-up systems in multiple locations. IP telephony effectively guarantees communication as secure as a private network.

5/ Integration (Convergence) – IP technology allows better integration with other forms of digital communication such as email, SMS, video, and mobiles.

This all sounds fantastic, so what’s stopping you from replacing your aging telephone system right now and reaping the benefits of this new technology?  I think the main issue is perceived quality and reliability of VoIP in general.  Many people have had bad past experiences when the technology was in its infancy and so the whole concept of carrying voice traffic on broadband connections seems a bit flaky.  But this is almost certainly an outdated view as IP technology has matured and Enterprise-Class VoIP systems are now appearing on the market.  If you choose a reputable service provider and carefully analyse the costs and service levels, which is where Auditel can guide you through the maze, there’s no reason why your business shouldn’t benefit from a state-of-the -art Hosted VoIP telephone system.

If you’re interested in more detailed and, most importantly, impartial independent advice on VoIP please give me a call or drop me an email.  I’d be pleased to help.

Anthony Hilton 10/03/10: The old saying has it that the cobbler’s children are always the worst shod so perhaps we should not be surprised that management consultancy, a profession which analyses the problems of others and how to solve them, has been desperately slow at putting itself and its own problems under the spotlight.

Several things flow from this. Only actuaries have more disparaging jokes told about them, which suggests first that the industry has an image problem and, second, that no one is quite sure what it does.

Everyone can see the costs but are less certain about the benefits.

Hence the bad joke that a consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time; or that the central purpose of any bit of consultancy is to sell a client the next bit of consultancy.

And while we are on the subject I did once meet a consultant whose pitch was that he was better equipped than the client to judge the quality of work of consultants so he should be employed to do that.

Now in good times none of this matters very much because there is enough money sloshing around for businesses not to penny-pinch and for consultants to make a good living.

In recession it gets tougher because consultancy is one of the easiest things to cut, particularly if what it contributes is unclear.

Mindful of this, the Management Consultancy Association, reinvigorated since Alan Leaman arrived as chief executive from the Association of British Insurers, decided to bite the bullet and commission Tim Morris, Professor of Management Studies atOxford, to conduct a study of consultants’ value.

The results were startling: some 58% of clients said they were satisfied with the work consultants did and estimated that their work was worth between two and 20 times as much as it cost. Most settled on between eight and 12 times.

Averaging this out and taking into account other projects where the value is equivalent to the price — presumably the less-satisfied customers — then the MCA reckons that the benefits provided by clients are around £6 for every £1 spent. This comes out at an impressive £56 billion.

Perhaps it’s time to kill the jokes.

(Ofcom 11/03/10)

Consumers could make significant savings by switching to best mobile deal

Consumers could save significant amounts of money every year by switching to the best mobile package for their needs, new figures show today. Examples of case studies from Ofcom accredited comparison website BillMonitor show how much consumers could save.

A new guide published today by Ofcom, Consumer Focus and the Communications Consumer Panel is designed to help consumers get the most from their mobile deal and save money.

The guide provides helpful tips on what information you should know from a provider before buying, such as whether there are any additional costs, the length of contract, details on upgrades and network coverage.

With a range of deals and choice available to consumers today, the guide explains the differences between pay-as-you-go and contract. It advises consumers to use BillMonitor (www.billmonitor.com), so far the only Ofcom-accredited site to cover mobile, to shop around and ensure they get the best deal.

The guide also advises on how to get the best deal from a mobile provider, such as checking out mobile coverage in the UK before buying and switching to cheaper online billing. There are also tips on using mobile phones abroad and how to keep your mobile number when changing provider.

Ed Richards, Ofcom’s Chief Executive said: “Ofcom wants to ensure that consumers are getting the best from their mobile deal. This guide is designed to help consumers make informed decisions and to get the best from what’s on offer in the market today.”

Consumer Focus Chief Executive, Mike O’Connor said: “With more than nine million mobile phone deals available, it’s hardly surprising that only one in five of us find it easy to navigate this market. By using this handy guide, and accredited switching site BillMonitor, consumers should be better armed to find the best deal for their needs and save money.”

Communications Consumer Panel Chair, Anna Bradley said: “The Panel is pleased to have contributed to this useful consumer guide that highlights the value of consumers checking the coverage that they will get, and whether they can cancel the contract if the actual coverage does not meet their needs – before they choose a provider.”

The guide can be downloaded here:

www.ofcom.org.uk/files/2010/03/mobiledeal_v2b.pdf

www.ofcom.org.uk/files/2010/03/mobiledeal_cym.pdf (Welsh version)

Now I don’t tend to believe everything I’m told, particularly regarding mobile phones!  So I decided to research it a little further with my old friend Google.  I found a lot of confusing and conflicting information, but this is what I concluded:-

1/ It would appear that contrary to many reports, until very recently, neither 999 or 112 would allow roaming away from your home UK mobile network.  So there would be no advantage using 112, other than that it works in many parts of the World and especially across Europe.  Interestingly, an emergency 999 roaming service was available back in the mid 90s but was switched off for various reasons!

2/ If you happened to have a non-UK sim in your phone, both 999 and 112 would allow roaming on UK networks.

3/ Ofcom sensibly changed things during 2009 and by the end of the year, roaming across all the UK networks was enabled for both 999 and 112.

So my conclusion is that it doesn’t really matter which emergency number you call.  Both 999 and 112 numbers should get priority routing via any available UK network, regardless of the phone’s home network (although it’s unclear if that includes the ’3′ network at the moment).  Good news for those planning to have an emergency in a rural area!

Okay that sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s no joke if you get caught out by a rollover contract on your business electricity or gas. Ofgem have recently been trying to ban this sharp industry practice, but their best efforts have been watered down by the energy suppliers who view rollovers as a primary form of customer retention!  It’s simply not in their own interests to make it simple and transparent for their customers to shop around for the best prices at contract renewal time.

What is a rollover contract?  As the name suggests, it’s an automatic default extension to your energy supply contract when your current fixed price contract ends.  If you do nothing at the end of your contract you will, in most cases, be automatically locked into a new rollover contract for anything up to a further 3 years.  The worst part is that you will have no control over the revised rollover contract prices, which I can assure you will be most uncompetitive.  It’s extremely frustrating when I find a new client locked into one of these rollover contracts for several years.  If often costs them many thousands of pounds and in some cases tens of thousands.

Chances are you probably won’t even notice a rollover has even happened and be blissfully unaware of the money you could have saved by following best practice during the contract renewal process.  If you’re lucky you might have received a benign looking contract renewal offer with the message “no action required” prominently displayed.  Then again you might well have received nothing at all, but the contract will still legally roll over regardless unless you take action at the appropriate time.

So what’s the big deal about a rollover contract?  Why bother taking any action if you are receiving good service and have no intention of switching supplier?  The simple answer is PRICING.  If you show complacency toward your energy supplier they will, without a doubt, take advantage and hike their prices as high as they think they can get away with.  Standard renewal offers are rarely competitive and even less so if you have a history of accepting them without question.  Your tendency to maintain the status quo is known as “inertia” and it allows the supplier to increase their prices due to your complacency.  It’s not uncommon for a business to be paying more than twice the competitive rate for their energy and be legally locked into those prices for several years.  The eye opener for me is that they are often unaware that their prices are uncompetitive in the first place.  What is the going rate for a kWh of electricity today?  Is it 1p, 5p, 10p, 50p?

So how do you avoid a rollover contract and ensure your prices are competitive, even if you have no intention of switching supplier?  The answer is quite simple on the face of it. But in practice there is a minefield out there, deliberately designed to catch you out at every step.  To cut a long story short, approaching the end of your existing contract you need to terminate the contract by following the detailed procedure buried deep in the small print of your contract T&Cs.  Typically this will mean serving written notice of contract termination anything up to 120 days before the contract end date.  It’s very important to do this even if you intend to stay with your current supplier.  Failure to terminate the existing contract within the timescale specified in the T&Cs will inevitably lock you into a rollover contract for at least another year and there’s little you can do about it.  Once the contract termination has been served you can then start to shop around for the continued supply, including your existing supplier, who will now by magic suddenly become much more competitive!! There are many tricks that suppliers use to catch you out during a contract renewal, but I’ll save those for future blogs.

If you have better things do (and I’m sure you have) than trawl through obscure contract T&Cs and lock horns with cunning energy suppliers, you can always get Auditel to do it for you.  We know all the tricks and how to avoid the pitfalls.  We also use our collective buying power to obtain the best commission free pricing from all UK energy providers.  Plus it won’t cost you a penny as we only get paid by sharing the savings we find for you.  Also feel free to call or email if you want any impartial advice on this topic.  I’m on a mission to prevent rollovers so I’ll help you if I can!

PS: This important advice applies equally to ALL UK energy suppliers and don’t expect the big household names to make life easier for you.  Energy supply is a very hard nosed business, but pricing can be very competitive if you play your cards at the right time.