Case Studies
“Axiom’s reputation for expert auditing and professional reporting were the reasons we engaged them... the competitiveness of their terms did not prepare me for their exceptional service levels... ...the benefits resulting to us, were the icing on the cake. ”
— Gillian Brown, Group Energy Manager
NHS GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE - TIMELINE SERVICE
Contract Start Date - 02.06.2016
Completion Date - 31.03.2017
Amount Refunded - £638,407
Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS Health Board are the largest NHS Organisation in the UK spending in excess of £30,000,000 per annum on utilities. The Board have an extensive Energy Management and Sustainability team, with Group Energy Managers overseeing on-site teams at each of the major facilities.
Axiom were engaged at group level, to provide a deep-dive retrospective audit covering energy costs across the entire Board. They did so by calling off on the Analysis & Reconciliation Services Framework
Due to the size of the portfolio the audit was broken down into 2 streams - first the physical energy costs; the fiscal journey from power-station to plug, followed by a taxes & levies audit by the utilities accounting team.
Significant refunds were identified by both audit streams. In total over £600,000 of refunds were handed back to the board, and annual ongoing savings were in excess of £150,000
“Axiom have been managing our utility spend since 2015. They began by ensuring all our old utility bills were correct, and have since gone on to negotiate our electricity & gas contracts at both academies. I think it's fair to say, their service is excellent!”
— Sue Collins, Financial Director
ALDRIDGE COMMUNITY ACADEMIES - TIMELINE SERVICE & PURCHASE+PLUS
Contract Start Date - 29/04/2015
Completion Date - Ongoing
Amount Saved - £37,400
BACA & PACA are academies in and around Brighton that are part of the the Aldridge Foundation. Although part of the same foundation, they are autonomous academies that share some central functions.
Axiom were appointed in April 2015 to provide a Timeline Audit to both academies - checking electricity, gas and water billing going back over 6 years. This yielded a small refund to one of the academies, but both audits uncovered areas that, once corrected yielded ongoing savings.
Axiom analysts also noticed that one of the supply contracts had finished, and the academy was being charged expensive "out-of-contract" rates. With BACA's permission, Axiom undertook a tender exercise - fully compliant with Public Sector Procurement directives, to source a new contract. This resulted in a significant saving to the Academy, and Axiom were asked to negotiate new supply contracts for both electricity and gas at each Academy - both academies are now co-terminus with regard to both power and gas, and have significantly reduced costs across the board.
“I think the measure of how good a service a consultant supplies, is whether or not you feel you could manage without them. Axiom have made themselves indispensable.”
— Brendan Purcell, Energy & Sustainability Manager
LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL - WATER BUREAU SERVICE
Contract Start Date – 17.03.2015
Completion Date – Ongoing
Amount Refunded - £64,312
The Council spend approximately £1,000,000 per annum on water & wastewater charges each year, and have rigorous in-house validation procedures for billing.
The Council were looking for a consultancy that could provide a "deep dive" audit of their water charges without the need for much project management from Council staff as workloads were already stretched. The Council also needed a provider that could be flexible in their approach to remuneration, as the usual share-of-savings model did not work for them.
Axiom were engaged to provide the service on a fee only basis in March 2015, and were given several lever arch files of billing and a letter of authority soon after.
The relationship still continues today. Each month, the Council has added to Axiom's remit - from the initial deep dive audit, to where they are now providing a monthly water bureau report to the Council, and have been asked to backfill the database with the last 6 year's billing.
“I can't ask for anything more than a professional, independent service that generates savings and frees time for me and my team.”
— Nick Harper, Managing Director
ODU UK LTD- TIMELINE SERVICE
Contract Start Date – 15.04.2016
Completion Date – 27.07.2016
Amount Refunded - £48,212
ODU is one of the leading international suppliers of connection systems, employing 1,650 people around the world.
They had previously undertaken a retrospective audit with another consultancy, but were dismayed with the amount of work they needed to do to get things underway.
Axiom were engaged by ODU UK to undertake a Timeline Audit on their UK energy and water supplies, the results of which were annual savings of over 14%.