Education Solutions

Delivering sustainable
value in the Education
Sector

TM

1
Sustainability and financial
pressures are key challenges
facing the education sector

Find out more at

expensereduction.com
2
Helping Schools, MATs, Colleges and
Universities reduce costs, significantly
improve service levels from suppliers and
improve processes and procedures

Sustainability and financial pressures are key challenges facing the We have helped schools,
education sector. Education is an – if not, the – essential driving
force for delivering the skills required by economies all over the
MATs, colleges and
World. Despite the mounting financial challenges, some education universities across the
providers are managing to push forward, utilising their most
effective talent to thrive in a world that never stops changing.
UK reduce expenditure,
improve service delivery
Securing best value from suppliers is key to supporting
educational outcomes, with additional funds made available
and ensure they get best
which can be re-invested for the benefit of students. Areas of value from their chosen
spend where we help our clients achieve sustainable value include
office and classroom supplies, photocopiers, energy, water &
suppliers.
wastewater, facilities management/maintenance and IT.

Common, too, in all the education organisations ERA has worked

and works with, is a desire to reduce their environmental impact.
Our clients have benefitted from the introduction of carbon
reduction technologies, increased recycling and working practices
to reduce energy consumption. Many chose to swap to recycled
stationery supplies and benefit from reduced energy consumption
of replacement equipment.

We have helped educational establishments across the UK reduce

expenditure, improve service delivery and ensure they get best
value from their chosen suppliers.

3
Sector Challenges

Agency Staffing Catering

Office & Classroom Supplies Cleaning

Communications Energy

IT Photocopiers

Waste Water

4
 Who are ERA
Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) help schools, MATs, colleges and universities to get best value from
their suppliers by improving the quality of the products and services they receive and reducing the price
paid for them.
Our unparalleled network of 135 procurement specialists in the UK boasts a range of expertise in the areas
where you spend money with suppliers. With this unrivalled expertise, in depth market knowledge, over
£775m of supplier spend under review annually, and with the time and resource to help implement and
monitor solutions, we work alongside stakeholders to help overcome the challenges that are preventing them
from achieving best value from suppliers.
Crucially, we are completely independent, so are free to approach any suppliers in the market and always work
in our clients’ best interests. We unlock the opportunities in the supply chain to help clients achieve savings and
improve efficiencies - but don’t just take our word for it.

This is evident in our proven track record which demonstrates how we work with
our clients to help them to achieve savings and improve efficiencies.
ERA are also an approved supplier on Lot 2 of Crown Commercial Service’s
Management Consultancy Framework 2 (RM6008) which is for the provision of
“Procurement, Supply Chain and Commercial Consultancy Services” to any UK
public sector bodies.

Realising the value of

CASE STUDY

long-term relationships
Established in 1873, Bilton Grange is an outstanding boarding
and day school in Warwickshire providing the very best
environment and education for its students.
When ERA reached out to the Bursar, he found that his
valuable time was being taken up managing procurement and
operational projects. Despite the school’s best efforts, they had
neither the in-house expertise nor the resource to properly
manage them. After a successful two-year partnership, ERA
brought savings and service improvements across the board
which will continue to benefit the school for years to come.

“The projects were a great success for us and

achieved both cost savings and improved service
levels. The best thing about working with ERA is
their knowledge and expertise across such a broad
range of spending – it’s not something you can
replicate in-house.
It was hands-off for us; they did all the hard work
and just reported every quarter. The reports that the
specialists produce are very in depth; it’s not just
you saved ‘X’ or improved ‘Y’ - it’s the reasons why
and how with strategic analysis. It gives you more
visibility and offers you more control going forwards
by putting you in a stronger position.”
ANDREW PARKER, DEPUTY BURSAR, BILTON GRANGE

5
Challenges
Lack of Funding
Recent figures indicate that four in five State schools in England will be financially worse off in
the 2019/20 academic year than they were in 2015.

The Government has pledged to invest an extra £7.1bn in schools in England over the next three
years up to 2022-23, after years of devastating cuts. This includes an increase of £2.6bn to the
core schools’ budget in 2020-21 but it is likely there will still be a shortfall of £2.5bn.

Education for the 16 to 19 age group, which has been particularly badly hit by austerity in recent
years, will face a shortfall of £1.1bn, despite the Government’s promises on additional funding
with an additional £700m promised for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Having worked extensively within the Education sector over the past two decades, ERA have seen
at first hand the detrimental impact that lack of funding has on teaching and learning in schools,
MAT’s and colleges, particularly on staffing levels, reduced curriculum provision and extra-
curricular activities to an extent where teachers have been forced to pay for teaching materials
out of their own pockets.

Lack of Resource and Expertise

The roles of CEO, COO, CFO, Bursar, Business or Finance Manager within this sector are vitally
important.

Unfortunately, incumbents in these roles often do not have the time, resources or expertise
to manage each and every cost area, with the added challenges of statutory constraints and
demands faced by those in public sector education.

Public Sector Frameworks

Purchasing via a Public Sector Framework (or Procurement Framework) can help with these
challenges. Whilst frameworks are useful, do you know if they are really delivering best value?
They are restricted by the specific suppliers who are accepted on to them and there are many
frameworks to choose from, offering different pricing and service levels.

As an approved supplier on a procurement consultancy framework ourselves, we work together

with our clients to help them optimise the use of frameworks, offering alternatives where a
particular framework may be outdated or where the best value suppliers are not included.

6
 Sector Overview

Four in five State schools in England will be financially worse off in 2020 compared to 2015

Including a £2.6bn
2020 2023 investment to school
core budget

£7.1bn Government pledged funding over the next three years

Likely to be a shortfall of £2.5bn remaining following devasting cuts

Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis says since 2009, spending has fallen by 8% per pupil
once rising costs such as pay and pension contributions are taken into account.

The Brexit effect

Just 23% of independent schools feel completely

prepared to deal with the change Brexit will bring
57%

Over half (57%) of British schools and colleges currently

employ EU nationals and a third of these are unclear if those
staff will want or be able to remain in the UK post Brexit

43% of education establishments acknowledge Brexit will have an impact

7
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48665923
https://www.ecclesiastical.com/insights/brexit-impact-on-education/
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/09/30/most-state-schools-in-england-will-still-be-worse-off-in-2020-than-in-2015-despite-government-promises/
Photocopiers
At ERA we understand that photocopiers and printing are an
essential part of educational spend.

With pressure on budgets and the need to make funds go

further, finding the right photocopier supplier is key.

We can demonstrate that working smarter using the very latest technology paired with quality
support can ensure that the right resources are in place whilst reducing your print costs.

What we find in schools, colleges and universities…

• They have machines with higher specifications than they need, meaning they are paying
more for their fleet. We provide detailed analysis of usage and device requirements in order
to “right-size” the fleet.

• They have more machines than they really need – we optimise size and location of clients’
fleets.

• They remain with the same supplier each time a contract is due for renewal, because
they do not have the time or resources to research the market. This often leads to pricing
complacency and higher costs. We conduct a thorough test of the market, and provide
a range of machine and supplier options. We then ensure that the supplier terms and
conditions are fair and reasonable, and are written in favour of our clients.

• They rarely have time to check invoices against original tenders and/or agreement terms,
due to lack of resource. We undertake forensic analysis of historic charges and quite often
discover errors and arrange for credits. We also check each quarter invoices related to any
new agreements that are implemented.

• They are amongst the highest users of colour pages, which can cost up to 10 times more
than mono. We provide detailed analysis of each machine’s colour output, provide assistance
in helping to reduce their colour ratios and benchmark them against other similar sized
establishments.

• They have often invested in Print Management software but rarely use many of the cost-
saving features available. We will provide advice and guidance as to how to get the best out
of the products they currently have and assist with scoping out the most suitable solution
when it is due for replacement.

• They are not monitoring supplier performance. We ensure that service levels are agreed
up front and monitor these for supplier and machine performance. Any non compliance is
followed up with suppliers.

Multi-Academy Trusts in particular –

• As schools join a MAT they often bring with them historic supplier arrangements and
agreements, all with different suppliers, contract terms and conditions and expiry dates.
We will undertake a thorough audit of all sites and produce a comprehensive schedule of
machines and costs. Going forward we will look to consolidate the number of suppliers and
associated agreements, and formulate a Trust-wide policy for the acquisition of replacement
machines.

8
 Savings in photocopier
CASE STUDY

costs for Gloucestershire

Academy
Dene Magna School is a mixed secondary school in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire. It currently
educates 860 students aged 11 to 16 and was given permission to open a sixth form
provision from Sept 2019.

As with any school, budgets at Dene Magna are carefully managed and best value-for-money
is a must. When Business Manager, Janet Ray, brought in ERA, the initial aim was to save
costs. However, Janet quickly realised the scope of ERA’s expertise offered much more than
financial benefits. Four years on, an agile and strategic partnership continues to deliver
greater visibility on spend, improved service levels and advice on the latest solutions; as well
as ongoing savings.

“Working with ERA is great because it’s all done at no risk to the school. The
work that they do helps with budgeting year-on-year and does allow us to
spend elsewhere. As well as being highly professional, everyone has always
been a pleasure to work with. I would and have recommended them to other
schools.”
JANET RAY, BUSINESS MANAGER - DENE MAGNA SCHOOL

9
Catering
For many educational establishments, catering is a significant
spend, whether for catering supplies or for an outsourced
catering service.
Typically for the former, a wide array of suppliers is used for similar items and competition may
be actively encouraged, but this requires a great deal of input from catering staff to manage
effectively. Far better to review, tender and consolidate to as few suppliers as required to deliver
a best value service.

For contract catering, communication and monitoring are vital because although outsourced, the
responsibility still lies with Business Managers and Bursars, yet management of the service is not
generally within their control.

We help our clients consolidate, simplify and audit to ensure delivery matches expectations.
Benefits include reduced administration, better service, enhanced quality and cost optimisation.

10
 Academy savings in food supplies
CASE STUDY

The School had 8 incumbent suppliers, no structure to food ordering and no means of measuring performance. The business
was tendered to 11 suppliers with the School’s agreement and a single supplier was chosen for the food spend under review.
They retained local butcher, dairy and fruit & vegetables suppliers in accordance with their CSR policies.
Annual savings are 15% with the added bonus of a free grant from the new supplier to purchase kitchen equipment. Actual
savings have exceeded expectations.
In conjunction with a cashless payment system and increased average spend per student, they no longer need to subsidise
catering; it now produces a surplus. Finance staff do not have to devote as much time to process catering invoices and
kitchen ordering has become streamlined.

11
Office & Classroom Supplies
Office & Classroom Supplies is a key area of spend. In ERA’s
experience educational establishments tend to have a number
of suppliers and spend time “shopping around” for the best
deal, which does not tend to be the best use of time and
resource.
Although there are several areas that would benefit from an independent cost review to
ensure best value is being achieved, office and classroom supplies is often overlooked. Yet
when procured professionally significant savings and efficiencies can be achieved. With several
hundred, often thousands, of items purchased throughout an academic year, ensuring the very
best value, service and quality is time consuming, requiring extra resources which are not readily
available.

Benefits we deliver include:

• A detailed, forensic analysis of spend, which gives complete transparency of products

purchased and prices paid over a period of time. We often see different prices paid at
different sites for the same product, premium products purchased and suppliers increasing
prices over time.

• Supplier rationalisation. Multiple suppliers are often used, which increases administration
time for ordering/processing. We can help to reduce the number of suppliers, resulting in
increased efficiency of ordering/processing.

• A contract list of items to purchase. This helps staff save time by not having to “shop
around”, confident in the knowledge that they are purchasing the right product at the right
price.

• Ongoing monitoring of the supplier solution implemented to ensure best value products are
being purchased at the correct price and supplier performance is optimised.

Cost Areas Include:

• Stationery • General Office Supplies

• Computer Consumables • Janitorial Supplies

• Educational Supplies • Office Equipment

• Franking Machine • Office Furniture

12
 Office & classroom
CASE STUDY

supplies savings for

Buckinghamshire Academy
ERA reviewed spend on office & classroom supplies for an Academy that had 8
incumbent suppliers. The spend was tendered to 12 suppliers and the school chose a
local supplier who offered a 23% saving, with improved levels of service.
ERA advised the school on centralising and managing their stationery supplies
rather than 41 different departments ordering in isolation. The School now
controls its stationery spend.

School finance staff are very happy with the expected reduction in their
administrative workload from an average of one stationery order per day to
one per week plus other benefits of consolidating their suppliers such as easier
communications, resolving delivery issues and monthly billing. The new supplier
also collects confidential shredded waste for free.

13
Energy & Water
Energy and water are major costs for schools, colleges and universities with a major part to
play in their environmental impact. Some establishments will have greater scope for savings
than others.

Many schools, colleges and universities overspend on energy and water bills simply because
they don’t understand what can appear to be complex utilities markets, contracts, tendering
techniques and cost management. Overspends are much higher when default rates are incurred
following energy contract expiry – sometimes up to 50% or more.

It makes sense to tighten the management of energy and water costs and plan to switch and
spend less. When it comes to renewal, all contracts should be put out to tender to gather as
many quotes as possible in order to identify the best value deal. The renewal price of an existing
contract at the end of the term can be significantly higher than those that can be found via a
thorough tender process.

Very often, schools, colleges and universities simply don’t have the time, resources or the
expertise in-house to manage their energy and water costs. We research the market, source,
negotiate and procure the best value for all energy and water contracts for all educational
organisations.

Focusing on water: since the deregulation of the non-domestic water market in April 2017, we
have been procuring water at competitive rates for our clients.

We start by undertaking an independent forensic audit of your water utility invoices to establish
if your current charges are correct.

We then look at the monitoring and management of your supplies, and finally we investigate
water efficiency.

We have delivered savings for our clients (both historic rebates and future budget), that come
from the validation of invoice charges, through to management of supplies and water efficiency
measures. Our mission is to provide “Clear solutions to water & wastewater problems”.

“The project of consolidating the supply of gas and electricity for all our
sites was rather daunting and would have been very difficult to achieve
without the input of the ERA specialist. Bringing all our accounts in line
with each other over a 3-year period, the renewals during and after that
time as well as the administration of changes during the contract periods
could not have been managed more smoothly.

Throughout the process, and in particular when we encountered a

lengthy period of complicated billing issues with one supplier, the
ERA specialist has always been available, supporting us at every step.
With ERA’s help, we have gained a complete overview of our energy
requirements, allowing us to control costs not only in terms of the supply
itself but also in terms of its administration.”

BIRGIT MULLER, OISE (INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SCHOOLS)

14
Waste
Waste and recycling is particularly important due to impending legislation that requires waste to
be segregated into separate streams such as paper, glass and food. All organisations should be
thinking about this now.

In our experience, educational establishments have heavy bins due to the nature of waste
disposed of, which means they often pay higher unit rate costs or alternatively are hit by
overweight charges. We work with our clients to reduce the weight of bins, recommending cost-
effective solutions to reduce overweight charges.

Educational establishments generally create a lot of food waste – ensuring that this waste is
captured and dealt with in an environmentally effective way reduces their carbon impact. We can
advise on the best methods that have worked for hundreds of educational clients.

Improving the efficiency of waste handling processes, such as the introduction of waste
segregation, compaction or baling will usually provide expense reduction opportunities that
wouldn’t otherwise have been achieved. Apart from the obvious environmental benefits, such
changes reduce vehicle movements, transport costs and maximise any rebates available.

ERA will pinpoint any potential improvements to the current waste systems, such as amended
collection schedules or bin sizes. Incumbent suppliers rarely have a clear incentive to reduce
“fresh air” tipping costs – but we do.

If your organisation hasn’t reviewed its waste systems in recent years, then there are almost
certainly more efficient and effective options that could be employed. Approaching the market,
we help our clients to select suppliers that are the best match for their unique needs.

“We are absolutely delighted with the results of engaging ERA to

explore our waste costs. I had suspected there were savings available
but we just didn’t have the time or internal resource to uncover them.
ERA’s inside knowledge and determination to find us the best service
available, combined with the continued support they have provided us
has enhanced our waste processes and saved us a considerable amount
of money.”

CHRIS YOUNG, BURSAR, ST MICHAEL’S SCHOOL

15
Four recommendations to reduce
IT costs
As with any business leader, a key consideration is ensuring
that costs are kept under control and optimised where
possible.

We have put together four suggestions for how you can future-
proof your investment in technology, minimise the impact on
your budgets and ensure that IT within your establishment is
always available for staff and student use.

1) The Managed ICT Support Model

Over years of providing ICT support across the UK, we’ve noticed a recurring trend: every so
often we get a panicked call from an ICT or Business Manager reporting a serious, network-wide
problem: “The network is down, no one can get online… help!”

While this can happen at any educational establishment for a variety of reasons, in these specific
cases, when we delve deeper into the root cause of the problem, we have found a common
denominator: while the educational establishment has grown over a number of years and the
network has expanded commensurately, the size of the ICT team has remained the same and
they are simply unable to cope.

At this point the educational establishment can hire more technicians to help cope with the
workload but often it’s more cost-effective to simply ‘top up’ ICT support with a flexible, managed
service and remote support model.

Under this model, the ‘overflow’ of IT issues can be passed on to an external support provider via
email, online or telephone. This generates a ‘ticket’ on the provider’s side that will continue to be
monitored by their senior staff until the issue is resolved. The support contract is often subject to
a Service Level Agreement that has resolution times built into it, so that high service levels are
maintained.

This model can consist of remote support, regular on-site visits and ‘banked’ emergency visits
and can easily be scaled up or down or finely-tuned according to changing needs.

16
2) ICT Procurement and the Total Cost of Ownership

When it comes to procuring IT assets, sometimes there is the temptation to make a decision based
purely on the short-term costs rather than taking an honest look at the Total Costs of Ownership
(TCO) over the medium and long term.

An example of this is choosing between buying an interactive projector and an interactive display:
Projectors tend to be less expensive at the outset so it may seem like the more attractive option,
but a projector will also have bulbs and filters that will need to be maintained and replaced by
professionals. On the other hand, a good interactive display screen will often need no maintenance
at all in the long term so it may in fact end up being the more cost-effective option.

Another scenario is choosing between replacing an old PC with a new machine and upgrading its
memory (RAM). It’s significantly cheaper to upgrade the RAM however this may only extend the
machine’s useful lifetime by a relatively short time after which it will need to be replaced anyway.

Note: We are not saying that you should choose the interactive display and a new PC every time
you are faced with those options – there are other factors that can come into play in both those
scenarios. The point is that working out the total cost of ownership before buying ICT assets will
give you a more accurate reflection of their true cost and will help you to save money in the long
run.

3) Server Virtualisation

Virtualisation is the practice of configuring one powerful server in a way that divides its capacity
and makes it behave like multiple servers. This increases its efficiency and negates the need to buy
additional servers – as was the case in the past.

This has become a very widely-used practice. If you have an on-site server it’s probably virtualised
already – but it’s definitely worth making sure.

As well as the immediate saving of having to purchase and service fewer servers, the energy
consumption of a virtualised server is up to 70% less than the traditional setup which translates to
lower running costs and better green credentials.

17
4) Cloud Adoption

Cost-saving is one of the most compelling reasons for educational establishments to migrate their
data and services to the cloud. In the education context, working ‘in the cloud’ really just means
that your organisation’s files are created, stored or accessed online through a browser or app
rather than a local machine or server. The same files can then be accessed by multiple devices
from anywhere with an internet connection.

This concept can be applied to email, administrative systems, data backup, and learning
applications. Often educational establishments opt for a ‘hybrid’ cloud environment where some
services are cloud-based and others remain on the local network.

Migrating to a cloud infrastructure may seem like a daunting task to undertake but if deployed
properly, it can result in less maintenance hours, reduced energy costs and reduced upfront
capital costs for equipment and software licenses.

It’s important to note that any cloud migration project should be compliant with the Department
for Education’s Cloud Services Data Security guidelines.

“ERA UK are easy to work with, accessible and we have the

utmost confidence in them. I always tell anyone considering
a cost-saving or service level review of any kind to contact
them, without hesitation.
We were clear about the outcomes that we wanted to achieve,
but understanding the market and what a good, bad or
even an average deal looked like, was difficult. We needed
independent, objective advice from experts in the field. And
that’s exactly what we got. At the outset, much as I knew
I needed help, I wasn’t sure if it represented good value
for money – the reality is that I’ve achieved better quality
of service all round and I have almost certainly made cost
savings and reduced my own and my staff’s time in getting
things sorted! It’s been a win-win scenario.”
CAROLINE PURDOM, BURSAR, DAVENIES SCHOOL

18
“Expense Reduction Analysts provided comprehensive
reports that were easy to understand and, post
implementation, produced regular Management
Information that evidenced the project results. Not only
have they delivered value for money, they have saved
me a lot of time.”
JOHN CHAPMAN, PURCHASING MANAGER, UNIVERSITY OF HULL

19
Authors
Nick Clement
Nick joined ERA after more than twenty-five years in the Mailing and Distribution Industry. Since
joining, he has specialised in business development and client management focusing on Consultative
Solutions, Cost, Purchase & Supply Chain, and Strategic Partnerships. Nick continues to combine his
strong client focus with an analytical, problem-solving approach with a full understanding of the
Public Sector focusing predominantly on Education where he has gained extensive experience working
with schools, MATs and colleges. He is adaptable and resourceful, with the ability to perform at both
strategic and operational levels. Alongside this, he is an effective communicator, with well-developed
cultural fluency and excellent listening and presentation skills. Accomplished when it comes to
negotiation, Nick has the capacity to establish, develop and sustain key commercial relationships with
clients and suppliers alike.

nclement@expensereduction.com

Paul Duesbery
Paul joined ERA after working for KPMG for over 20 years and has focussed on helping clients
in the Education Sector achieve sustainable savings that they have been able to reinvest for
the benefit of their students. He has worked together with a number of Multi Academy Trusts
to deliver many successful projects to over 100 schools, with areas reviewed including Office &
Classroom Supplies, Photocopiers, Energy, Water & Wastewater, Telecommunications, Catering,
Cleaning and Waste Management.

pduesbery@expensereduction.com

Julian Mobbs
Julian is a well-rounded senior Director and Board member with more than 25 years’ experience
in business. Julian spent the 20 years before joining ERA in businesses serving the education
sector, which has given him a detailed understanding of the needs of all types of educational
organizations providing teaching to all ages, both in the public and private sector, in the UK
and overseas. Since joining ERA, he has successfully overseen projects in a significant number
of schools, colleges and MATs, and was instrumental in ERA being awarded a place on Lot 2 of
Crown Commercial Service’s Management Consultancy Framework 2 (RM6008) which is for the
provision of “Procurement, Supply Chain and Commercial Consultancy Services” to any UK public
sector bodies.

jmobbs@expensereduction.com

20
Summary
Sustainability and financial pressures are key issues facing
the education sector, with all tiers experiencing challenging
conditions. Education is an – if not, the – essential driving
force for delivering the skills required by economies all over
the world.

Despite the mounting financial challenges, some education

providers are managing to push forward, utilising their
most effective talent to thrive in a world that never
stops changing.

Our team at Expense Reduction Analysts will provide

practical advice and methodologies to help you to optimise
costs and efficiencies within your organisation, evolving
your processes to embrace change instead of being
hindered by it. Additional funds made available can be
re-invested for the benefit of students.

No matter what tier of education you are operating

within, our experts deliver Value through Insight™ by
implementing efficiency within your infrastructure, which
enables you to unlock your potential and achieve your
long-term teaching and learning goals.

“I was pleasantly surprised with the savings which the ERA

team identified, as well as much improved management
information and ongoing monitoring. Indeed, all of the
projects undertaken by ERA have delivered savings, and these
have been achieved much more quickly than would have
been the case if we had conducted the analyses internally.”
BILL SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, RICHMOND UNIVERSITY

21
Why now?
With the Educational Financial Year mostly running from
August to August, our engagement can be beneficial at
any point as we can suggest ways of reducing the effects
of deficits being brought forward from previous years,
share ideas on how to stretch budgets over the coming
year or suggesting ways of reducing the effects
of overspends.
Ours in not just a ’money saving crusade’ but also a mission to embed a smarter spending
culture throughout for our educational clients and demonstrate that a pound saved elsewhere
really is a pound that can then be put to use in the classroom.

22
Process Model
Our process is simple. Our unparalleled network of cost and sector specialists, all with extensive
knowledge of their expert areas, use the skills acquired over impressive professional lifetimes
to help you negotiate a better deal in overhead spend. Whether you feel that you don’t have the
specific expertise in a certain area of business operations or just need a fresh pair of eyes to look
over your costs, our specialists are here to help. We’re so confident in our ability to improve your
processes and bottom line that we will pay for our fees during the engagement until the end of
the process. That’s right – there’s no up-front payment, and if we can’t save you anything or we
find you’re already doing the best you can, then we walk away without charging you a penny for
the validation exercise. Should you need us in the future, however, we would be more than happy
to assist again.

For more than 90% of our engagements, however, we find that organisations are overspending
unnecessarily. On occasion, we see that some of them are getting a bad deal from their suppliers;
alternatively, they are performing at satisfactory levels at the time but could do much better with
some guidance with a long-term plan.

Running your organisation through our ‘smarter-spending’ approach, we help you effectively
manage internal controls and external relationships to better effect. Our three-step process can
help you extract maximum value and continue to support you through regular reviews to ensure
you continue to receive best value.

The great thing is that you don’t need a budget to begin. Simply meet with us for a brief
exploratory discussion and we’ll show you why thousands of our clients have seen that with a little
bit of our help, their money can go a long way.

23
 TM

Sustainability and financial pressures are key

issues facing the education sector, with all tiers
experiencing challenging conditions.

Our consultants will look into every aspect of

your organisation, both present and future, to
deliver Value Through InsightTM.

expensereduction.com

24

Education Whitepaper V4 01.20