£264,000 in Savings for Managing Agent

Sector: Managing Agent

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£264,000 in Savings for Managing Agent

How We Helped

We started by conducting a thorough review of all utility accounts to identify issues and savings opportunities.

A number of issues were identified:

  • Utility contracts were not being competitively tendered, instead they had been renewed with the same supplier on uncompetitive rates for several consecutive contracts.
  • Utility invoices were being paid without proper validation, so any errors were not being spotted or corrected.
  • A number of supply contracts were arranged with security deposits, however some hadnot been reclaimed after contract completion.
  • Incorrect contracting names had been used, resulting in invoices being paid incorrectly, or not paid at all.
  • Escalating debt issues (in part due to the above point), putting supplies at risk of disconnection and creating unnecessary late payment charges.
  • Over 60% of the 100 supplies were out of contract and had been for some time. Most were small supplies, but some were high consuming supplies that were costing the client thousands of pounds.
  • A number of properties were recharging tenants incorrectly.

Unfortunately, the managing agent was previously unaware of this situation as they had entrusted their previous broker with the responsibility of managing their utilities on their behalf and had assumed all was well.

Challenges: Disorganised and unmanageable portfolio Poor support from previous broker Out of contract supplies

Results

Initial savings – Circa 250k!

Over 90% of the supplies were contracted within the first 3 months resulting in combined annual savings of £246,488

Organisation of the Portfolio

All supplies were aligned to a common contract end date allowing all property managers to be clear on when the contracts for their properties expired, alongside the possibility of negotiating better rates due to the larger portfolio consumption being tendered.

Security Deposit Refunds

All contracts were arranged without a security deposit, and any security deposits from previous contracts were refunded back to the client in full.

Account Corrections

Clifford Talbot Partnership arranged for all accounts to be put into the correct name which allowed for invoices to be paid. This reduced the amount of late payment/debt collection fees charged to the clients, and removed the threat of disconnection.

Tenant Recharging

As part our service, we took over the tenant recharging for the multi-tenanted properties. We worked with the client to resolve a number of historical errors going back 6 years to ensure all charges were clear and correct.

Clifford Talbot Partnership saved our client a total of £264,000

Client benefit of the Utility Bureau Service going forward

We continue to support the property managers though a dedicated account manager, and as such have built a strong relationship with the client and individual property managers.

This allows for them to be confident in the service they are receiving, as they know that their utilities are competitively and accurately tendered; bills are prompt and correct; and recharges robust.

This reliability and trust is important in such a highly competitive sector which is under constant scrutiny by both tenants and property owners alike.

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