Lack of Understanding Seen as the Biggest Barrier to Cost Management

LONDON, November 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Leading cost management consultancy, Auditel, has commissioned an independent survey to examine the strategic importance of cost management amongst organisations across the UK. Over 120 business leaders responded to the survey, which was undertaken by Haymarket publishing.  

Full results have been published on the Auditel website: http://auditel.co.uk/publish/performance-accelerator/

Key findings suggests that:

• (70%) of organisations do not have a cost management strategy in place,
• Lack of understanding is the greatest obstacle to cost management,
• The topic of cost management is on the boardroom agenda for 82% of respondents,
• CEO's are in the main (60%), seen to be champions of cost management exercises, closely followed by Financial Directors (40%),
• In 73% of organisations, cost management measures are undertaken in-house,
• Two thirds of respondents recognise that cost management can accelerate performance, improve efficiency and gain competitive advantage.

Commenting on the research, Chris Allison, Managing Director, Auditel, said: "Auditel commissioned the survey as we were keen to see how cost management is viewed in today's economic environment. The research shows that businesses and organisations have not embraced strategic cost management as well as they could and indeed should, and a lack of knowledge is commonplace. We see this regularly with organisations. There is a genuine lack of understanding between simple cost cutting exercises and strategic cost management.  

"Most organisations don't have the tools to benchmark costs accurately and then monitor them after implementing cost savings. In fact, less than 2% of the survey respondents claim to track costs or have an ongoing programme. That's why, as suggested in a recent KMPG survey, 95% of cost reduction exercises carried out fail and costs come flooding back.

"The survey also shows that almost three quarters of the respondents control their cost management in-house, yet experience suggests that they are ill equipped to deal with the task. Over the past 20 years Auditel has worked with more than 5,000 firms and we can say with some certainty that strategic cost management driven by the right people, with the right tools and knowledge can deliver much greater returns than in-house resource alone. With the right tools and knowledge cost management can lead to improved efficiencies, accelerated performance and help companies gain a competitive advantage."

Established in 1994, Auditel are cost management specialists. Its cost management advice has saved millions of pounds for UK businesses across private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

Notes to Editors:

About Auditel

Established in 1994, Auditel is currently reducing financial waste and improving bottom line profits for thousands of organisations throughout the UK and Ireland across all areas of business expenditure. Their clients range from small businesses to global brands such as Pizza Express, YMCA and Oxford University. Auditel's flexible fee structure gives clients' choice and the ability to manage cost and strategy for the long term.

http://www.auditel.co.uk

For More information contact:
Grant Woodall
Defero Communications
grant@deferouk.co.uk
T: +44(0)2380-632-989

SOURCE Auditel (UK) Ltd - DUPE