Brandauer presses forward with utility cost savings

The boss of one of the UK’s leading presswork specialists is urging his fellow manufacturers to take a closer look at their utility costs after his firm saved £10,000 in just two months.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Birmingham-based Brandauer, believes it is a hidden cost that can quite easily be eradicated if the right expertise is sought and if companies aren’t afraid to ask questions.

His firm tapped into the expertise of Control Energy Costs (CEC), a specialist in utility management, procurement and support services, to explore the process and was amazed how quickly they were able to identify pricing issues, incorrect billing and opportunities for smarter energy management.

This led to over £10,000 of savings within a few months of the relationship starting, with the option to save thousands more when the supply contracts are up for renewal.

“We manufacture millions of components for the automotive, domestic goods, electronics, plumbing and renewable sectors every week so you can see how energy is a massive overhead for us…the fact costs are rising all the time can really impact on our ability to compete globally,” explained Rowan.

“There are some things we can’t do anything about, but there is a massive opportunity for us to look at our combined utility costs of electricity, gas and water to see if there are ways where savings can be made or supply issues that can be addressed. This is where CEC has been so important.”

He continued: “We knew each other through our membership of Made in the Midlands and were approached by Liam Conway of CEC to see if they could carry out an initial audit to prove the value they could provide over an energy broker. It seemed like a good idea so we agreed and we’re delighted with the £10,000 savings within two months of working together.”

CEC work with more than 450 manufacturers across the UK every year, providing companies with a full utility management, procurement and site works service covering electricity, gas, water and associated costs.

Its team of analysts provide an initial, no-obligation audit and then work with the customer to identify existing issues and opportunities to reduce bills or secure better supply contracts.

Unlike energy brokers, the company earns its fees by taking a share of the savings based on the results it achieves.

Mark Stephenson, Analyst for CEC, is leading on the Brandauer contract: “The nature of its business is energy intensive so there are lots of ways we can work with the management team so they are getting the most out of their utility costs.

“We’ve immediately secured a £5000 refund due to a wrong agreement and topped this off with a £4200 mid-contract saving. There will be even bigger reductions to come when we get to the renewal stage and we can look at securing the best supplier deals.”

He went on to add: “There was also a couple of billing issues we’ve put right and I’m going to be continually monitoring the relationships and charges…all of this will be done with very little input from Brandauer, ensuring staff stay focused on their day jobs.”

Rowan concluded: “If we’d have realised how easy the process was we’d have done it ages ago. Manufacturers are always moaning about rising costs, this is one way of negating some of them.

“The additional money will be spent on growing our motor lamination business and the launch of Elopin®, new technology we’ve developed that allows the solderless connection of terminal pins to a PCB.”