When Maybrey Reliance — a precision casting foundry based in Hertfordshire — first came to Advantage Utilities, they were having serious trouble with their procurement. Account Manager Greg Ames took one look at their set up and knew what to do.

The problem

“As you are aware”, begins David Lowe, Group Finance Director for the Caro Group. “We had inherited a problem with our procurement and the way in which things were being handled was hugely inconvenient. We were only being offered one option on prices and due to this our costing for energy was forcing up our sales prices.”

Greg undertook a comprehensive assessment of Maybrey Reliance’s situation. Upon investigation it was clear that Maybrey Reliance’s broker were focusing solely on price and little else. The multi-site portfolio had contracts with different end dates, different rates, multiple suppliers and many were out of contract. Greg recognised immediately that a portfolio of Maybrey Reliance’s size and complexity required careful planning and the right options that would suit the company’s needs, budget and resources.

The Solution

Greg knew it was important to offer Maybrey Reliance flexible options that would allow them to develop an energy strategy that would fit in with how they do business. Factors taken into consideration included price, administrative load it would give the client, and the number of suppliers the client would have to deal with.

The options Greg offered Maybrey were:

- The cheapest overall option across different suppliers and different contract end dates (focus: price)

- The cheapest single supplier (focus: balancing price and administrative ease).

- A singe supplier who would provide contracts all with the same end date (focus: administrative ease)

The Result

Maybrey Reliance went with the option that gave them the most administrative ease of all their contracts; having the same end date, meaning that all renewal considerations could happen at once. This took a huge amount of stress away from the team who would have to process the bill payments.

We also managed to save Maybrey Reliance 28% on their energy bills in the first year. We are now into our 3rd year of working with Maybrey Reliance and will work hard to continue the relationship for years to come.

“I would be happy to recommend both yourself and Advantage Utilities Limited to any of our business contacts and would happily speak as a reference to any potential customers of Advantage Utilities Limited.”