Energy and Water Performance

Why energy efficiency?

Putting energy prices and the environment at the top of your agenda is a smart environmental and business practice. Reducing energy consumption will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating, manufacturing and consumption costs.

Action plan

1. Set a company energy policy – by making energy efficiency a part of operational procedures and a consideration in every business decision.

2. Perform an energy audit – to assess where energy efficiency can be improved.

3. Implement energy-efficiency recommendations.

4. Encourage employee participation and innovation – educate employees and introduce easy-to-follow energy-efficient practices.

5. Introduce financial incentives for employees to come up with energy-saving ideas.

6. Track energy costs both before and after energy improvements – information creates your next set of action plans.

7. Optimise energy in manufacturing processes and activities – improves competitiveness!

The bottom-line

According to insolvency firms one in three companies is “regularly” reaching their overhead limit, highlighting rising financial distress among businesses – energy cost efficiency is a necessity!

The Auditel Partner Programme

We have 3 Auditel Partner Programme Workshops taking place this week. These meetings with our affiliates are taking place in Birmingham, Winchester and Manchester.

The Auditel Partner Programme adds a new dimension to client relationships.   The programme presents opportunities for Auditel Affiliates to achieve their desired client growth goals.  Client relationships are enhanced and strengthened and a true ‘Win-Win’ between Partner and Affiliate is achieved.

How to create competitive advantage through energy cost reduction

Significant increases in the cost of energy is a compelling reason for any organisation to reduce energy consumption. The good news is that energy cost reduction is relatively easy to achieve and can lead to significant bottom-line benefits.

Energy consumes 5 to 20 percent of overhead costs. This is spiralling upwards as tariffs continue to increase in 2012 and beyond. Organisations MUST therefore find a way of mitigating this in order to remain competitive.

Wake up ….you must pay attention to energy efficiency!

The trend is towards a cheaper, greener more sustainable future and you need an active corporate energy strategy.  If you don’t adjust, you may not survive as profits decline and you will find many clients who demand environmentally friendly products just going elsewhere.

Energy management is a serious issue

According to the Deloitte resources 2011 US Study, 90% of companies have set goals regarding electricity and energy management practices. 76% have goals related to reducing electricity cost/consumption and 71% have goals targeted at improving the efficiency of the building in which they operate. These goals are significant, typically aiming for an average of 25% in electricity or cost reduction, most often with a 2–3 year time horizon. 56% of the companies have goals aimed at improving profitability through electricity reduction.

What have you done?

Energy strategies are about hard-core business decisions and not fluffy green issues. You need to understand how to compete in a rapidly changing world, better asset utilisation, smarter use of technology and much tighter management of the entire supply chain.

Your future depends on it!

If you have an energy policy and strategy document, that’s a great start. You need to understand how to transform your organisation and have a plan in place to achieve it – otherwise you may not be around tomorrow.

April 2012 Regional Meetings

We have just finished another week of 3 Regional Meetings, which took place around the country and involved over 130 members of the Auditel network.

The Auditel Regional Meetings give those Affiliates that specialise in specific areas, the opportunity to provide the network with an overview of how they operate with their suppliers and clients.

These meetings are also a great opportunity for our suppliers to meet with our network, discuss new technologies and industry trends and work strategically to provide a future working arrangement that benefits the supplier, our clients and ourselves.

Our Affiliates value the contact with their colleagues. Some find them a key part of their Auditel business, a forum to keep abreast of projects within the network and they are undeniably a great support for those that are new to the network.

The 3 SIMple secrets to taming escalating mobile phone costs

In this complex marketplace with a huge array of suppliers, tariffs, add-ons and equipment, businesses find it extremely difficult to discover the most effective cost solutions for mobile phone fleet management. According to Ofcom, “A whopping £4.8 billion is wasted every year.” Why?

An industry insider suggests too many suppliers chasing connection targets and maximum profit margins, many customers are offered inadequate tariffs and unbalanced solutions.  Under-pressure and inexperienced purchasers, technophobes, and a ‘better the devil you know’ attitude to an incumbent supplier can often lead to an inefficient solution being provided.  The expected market price that the customers’ usage and spend should reflect is rarely achieved.  Once signed up, they receive a ‘not my problem anymore’ attitude when seeking customer service.

Any wonder then that many of those responsible for purchasing decisions are increasingly turning to independent cost management networks, like Auditel, for expert help.
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Cost Transformation: can we learn from the UK Government’s approach?

It was interesting to see BBC News report that parliament’s Public Administration Committee has reported that a lack of strategic thinking is leading to a “patch and mend” approach to policy-making.

Putting the politics to one side and given that the Government’s main task in this parliament is to reduce the deficit, there are strong parallels between their approach and any company’s cost management activities. There are times when only a systemic view of a company’s problems will produce effective results. The Government has chosen to mostly manage their cost transformation through departmental initiatives and are perhaps missing the synergy opportunities from looking at “UK Government PLC” as a whole.

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Try sleeping with a mosquito….(Brokers vs Consultants vs Doing it yourself)

Brokers vs Consultants vs Doing it yourself

One of the most common questions we get asked is why should I use outsourced specialists when we can do it in-house for free or use a broker for free. In this article I try to address some of these issues with some pro’s & con’s for each type of approach.

This is by no means exhaustive because to go through all the pitfalls would take a small book and would still probably miss something out. I’ll also concentrate on Energy because it’s relatively easy to explain with simple examples, though the same could be applied to Telecoms, Stationery, Freight/Courier brokers etc etc.

Doing it Yourself

Pro’s

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F1 check out as Hotel Group Counts Cost of Speed Restrictions

This week we see the importance of getting the little things right. Last weekend The Feathers Hotel Group, based in the North West of England counted the cost of a poor internet connection, when an unnamed Formula 1 team checked out of their hotel and into a rival property just a few doors away.

This came at a cost of £3500 to the hotel group, and further more, left them with an empty hotel for the weekend. Long-term it is unlikely that the team will ever stay at the hotel again, and consequently an avoidable fault has cost the group a prestigious customer. James Pink of telecommunications experts Pink Connect had this to say: “In today’s digital age, people need to be able to access information quickly so it’s more important than ever to ensure a strong, fast internet connection for customers.”

With the ever-changing improvements in technology, customers expect excellence at all times. The problem stemmed from the hotel’s use of an ADSL connection, which are subject to a fair use policy or download limit. When these limits are reached, the hotel is then left with a slow service until the following month.

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First Quarter 2012 Brings 73 Profit Warnings

A rollercoaster of profit warnings marked the first three months of 2012 according to Ernst Young. The flurry of warnings in the opening weeks of 2012 is caused by renewed fears that euro zone problems will further impact consumer and business confidence.

Spendthrift Britons Rediscover Virtues of Saving

But things are about to get much worse. According to the IMF spendthrift Britons will rediscover the virtues of saving during the next few years. A near 40-percent increase in the scale of British savings during the this decade is on the cards. In troubled times people hang on to their cash even if it makes little economic sense, look at the mid-Seventies when inflation was soaring as high as 26% interest rates were negative and the value of people’s savings were reducing-year-on-year, bit like it is today, albeit with lower inflation and lower rates.

So we are progressing from an environment where businesses have been hoarding cash to one where consumers will be doing exactly the same.
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The Perils of Broker Offers

Brokers for all types of service proliferate on the internet. Why should you be wary?

Lets assume you are looking to renew your business electricity contract. Your supplier writes and offers renewal at 10p per unit so you shop around online & can find a price through XYZ Brokers ltd of 9.5p. Yes!!! Success!!!

But what lies behind this offer? Typically, XYZ Brokers ltd will approach a number of suppliers & will obtain prices on your behalf that includes their commission. This varies from supplier to supplier, area to area, client profile to client profile etc. So, your offer of 9.5p may comprise a cost of, say 8p per unit for the electricity & broker commission of 1.5p for example.

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