Procurement

Procurement Strategy

When to buy and when not to buy? Our consulting approach means we can confidently advise in-house purchasing and operations teams, helping to define and deliver the most effective buying strategies for a business and its changing requirements. This can range from advising on the timing of purchase for fixed procurement and ensuring all contracts are accepted and countersigned at the right time, to strategic and tactical flex buying as part of a wider approach to utility management and costs. Our experts proactively track wholesale markets to advise on the right time to purchase different aspects of utility and energy requirements, profiting from beneficial changes while minimising risk.

Consultus Buying Club – Let us handle your energy costs

Energy prices are increasing; with commodity and non-commodity costs combining to bring 20-30% rises year on year for many customers. And with this trend looking set to continue, is it time to look at an alternative approach?

What is the Consultus Buying Club?

The Consultus Buying Club (CBC) first founded in 2010 was created to provide flexible energy procurement to smaller mid-market companies. It works by aggregating the volume of a group of companies with similar approaches to energy purchasing under one portfolio, allowing CBC Members to benefit from:

• economies of scale
• ongoing market changes & flexible pricing
• more agile purchasing and lower costs with no cross-subsidy
• access to bespoke risk strategies
• optimised energy procurement by an industry leader

Why join CBC?

As an award-winning energy consultancy with over 24 years of operations, Consultus has a proven track record of outperforming the market minimums over the past decade. Based on our long standing relationships with suppliers and transparent, “open book” approach to clients, we are able to negotiate the best terms available and provide unbiased and transparent recommendations. CBC key benefits include:

• Avoid being tied to inflexible and potentially costly fixed-price energy contracts
• Designed specifically for mid-market energy users who want to save money and inconvenience via a group portfolio approach to energy buying
• An approach based on robust risk management strategies supported by up-to-the-minute market intelligence
• CBC Members have access to transaction reports, daily market updates and monthly position reports via our bespoke myEnergy client portal
• Bill Validation included at no added cost to ensure CBC Members are always being charged accurately by the supplier
• Enjoy a consistent billed rate for your energy throughout the year, followed by an annual reconciliation based on market performance

How do we provide consistency in your energy costs?

CBC Members have a choice of purchasing approach, dependant on their need for budget certainty and risk appetite. This gives CBC Members total control of their energy purchasing:

Budget Guard

Provides price certainty while enabling the client to take advantage of any downward market movement. Budget Guard sets a maximum commodity price at the outset of trading, above which the price will never exceed*, providing budget certainty and peace of mind.

*subject to market volatility

Market Tracker

Our best performing strategy versus the market minimum, Market Tracker covers a CBC member’s energy needs in a rising market, protecting them from further rises. As and when the market falls, Market Tracker seeks to take full advantage of price falls by allowing the client to re-enter the market. Based on the last decade performance this strategy provides 10%-13% savings on annual energy spend vs the market minimum and is ideally suited to clients looking to take full advantage of market volatility.

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Fixed Term Contracts: stability and budget certainty

Simplifying complexity and protecting clients from market volatility, our fixed price energy options bring total certainty throughout the lifespan of an energy contract: organisations can better understand and control budgets with more accurate forecasting of expenditure. Contracts can be fully fixed for up to five years ahead and reviewed up to 12 months in advance of the contract end date – giving absolute certainty over costs for the agreement’s duration.

Flexible Procurement: fully managed buying

If organisations want more freedom and choice in their buying, our flexible procurement options are a way to take advantage of changing market conditions and fluctuating prices while spreading the risks associated with buying over multiple purchase points. Our expert negotiating team takes care of the complexity while our clients retain complete control over more flexible purchasing, capitalising on upward and downward market trends to optimise and reduce costs.

Basket Contracts: pooling the bulk buying power of groups

Our fully managed approach to consortium and group purchasing, for non-financially linked companies, means that every organisation can now benefit from economies of scale and optimised pricing in business electricity, gas & water – driving more flexible purchasing, reduced risk and lower costs. Aggregating volumes and guaranteeing no cross-subsidies, our approach delivers measurable financial benefits year after year, saving our clients the time, effort and resources required to seek out the right contracts.

Price & Product Analysis

Our market intelligence, procurement and risk teams constantly monitor and track utility markets, prices and products. We have a deep understanding of market trends and direction of travel at all times, in terms of both the risks and the opportunities presented. This means we can advise clients on the best course of action to meet their specific demands. These insights are particularly useful for organisations that require a fully managed service and do not have specialised buying expertise in-house but nevertheless want to access the best value support contracts.

Transparency

We are proud to set the benchmark for an open, ethical and transparent approach to procuring business electricity, gas & water. While many Third Party Intermediaries are trustworthy, bad practices such as fee stacking, re-quoting and ‘double dipping’ are reported regularly, and not all suppliers audit the brokers they partner with. A pioneer in deregulated utility markets, we have built a reputation in the industry for openness, honesty, trusted market intelligence and ethical working practices – an approach that has resulted in client retention levels of more than 97 percent. Suppliers regularly say our fees are among the lowest they see, our charges are transparent, and our hedging performance is market-leading.

Consultus Code of Practice

Willing to go further than most providers, we have formalised a Code of Practice that gives current and prospective clients assurances around our working practices, systems, staff and training. Taken in conjunction with our values, processes and operating model, the code confirms:

• We are not an agent of any supplier but a wholly independent company that works with all major suppliers on behalf of our clients and prospects
• We operate an open book policy as a core ethos: a fully transparent pricing and payment arrangement between our clients and suppliers
• We ensure consistent interactions with all suppliers across the board: we do not have ‘favourites’, we do not have preferred suppliers or operate any preferential terms
• We do not operate any private commercial arrangements with any suppliers and always encourage our clients and prospects to contact suppliers should they wish to confirm this policy or clarify that fees are as stated
• We do not enter into any confidentiality agreements with any suppliers – such agreements between brokers and suppliers should flag a concern
• We apply the same rules and fees to all, providing client and prospects with a balanced and realistic assessment of costs.

We believe that our approaches and the Code of Practice should be adopted industry-wide.