New Year's Resolution: "…Really Must Talk to Auditel About My Overheads This Year"

LONDON, January 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Chris Allison, Managing Director of Auditel, the UK's leading cost management consultancy, comments: "You'd be in very good company. According to Deloitte's third biennial cost survey 2013, 76% of respondents expect their company to reduce costs over the next 24 months. However, the survey also found that in 2012, the failure rate for cost initiatives climbed to 48%, meaning that nearly half of all initiatives fail to achieve their goals.

"Our own recent survey with Management Today, suggests that the majority of organisations are focussed on simple cost cutting or cost reduction exercises. Effective cost management, on the other hand, requires software tools to monitor what is done effectively. Then there must be a process that gives management information to the decision-makers, both at the start and through the ongoing activity, when improvements have been put in place. Many companies lack this facility and an increasing number have decided to outsource for specialist knowledge."

Over the past 20 years, Auditel has worked with more than 5,000 firms and has delivered greater returns than their in-house resources could achieve. Although energy and communications are usually top of the agenda,  Allison says that more than 80 different business expenses are covered. For example, savings between 30% to 60% have been made on janitorial supplies, print, clothing, water, cleaning, stationery, photocopiers, waste and intruder alarms.

Case study

Rouse Partners are a leading independent firm of accountants in Buckinghamshire, providing high quality accountancy, tax, audit and advisory services for individuals and businesses in London and the UK. Neil Relph, their Managing Partner, engaged Auditel in 2011. He said: "Staff  members don't have the time or tools to carry out any meaningful analysis of essential business costs, let alone follow through with benchmarking, negotiation and implementation."

Impressive savings have been achieved in several areas through applying Auditel's proprietary holistic approach to cost management - Total Cost of Purchase®, and their advanced analytical tools. These were Fixed line telecoms 29%; Mobile communications 24%; Office supplies 20-25%; Records storage & management 30%; Office cleaning 30%; Gas 50% and HR services 37%

Neil Relph added: "Auditel's cost management is a fantastic service, system and process. It's much more cost effective to engage external experts than for us to employ someone. Not only have our overheads been reduced but we are confident that our costs are being monitored continuously. This gives increased confidence to settle bills, safe in the knowledge that they are accurate and have been scrutinised. In short, we view Auditel as part of the team."  

He also sees the opportunity to include cost management in their portfolio, thus adding value to their existing client relationships and providing an extra benefit for prospective clients.

As Allison points out: "There is a difference between cost cutting and cost management. Cost cutting is a one-time attempt to decrease your expenses. Cost management is an ongoing task of monitoring your expenses, keeping track of what is spent and constantly watching the marketplace to ensure that you are receiving the best value for your pound. Even if you think you've got all your essential costs under control, it won't hurt to make sure. Why not book your Auditel Business Health Check plus a Financial Health Check today and add to your bottom line this new year!

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.

More information: Norman Grossman, PR Officer, Auditel (UK) Ltd, St Paul's Gate, Cross Street, Winchester, SO23 8SZ. T: +44(0)7966-436717.