A North East cost saving business is celebrating after making waves in the deregulated water market.
Great Annual Savings Group (GAS) added business water procurement to its roster of 13 B2B cost reduction services in 2017/18 and has now reached £250,000 of savings for customers.
GAS helps businesses reduce outgoing costs through effective management and procurement and has advised its 11,500 customers to take advantage of the deregulated English water market for the last three years.
It was fitting that GAS’ Spectrum Business Park neighbour Castle Eden Brewery was the customer which pushed total savings to this milestone.
The brewery consumes a large amount of water through its processes and engaged GAS to investigate where they could improve efficiencies.
After an audit, GAS negotiated an improved water procurement contract and completed a leak detection project at the brewery’s premises, saving the firm a total of £7,100.
Dave Travers, Director at Castle Eden Brewery, said: “Working with GAS has been a straightforward process which has saved us time and a lot of back and forth.
“It is valuable to have people who engage with these suppliers on a daily basis and can quickly move through the process of switching.
“We are working collaboratively on historic billing to further enhance our water saving figure, but we are pleased with what we have achieved to date and hope GAS can find further opportunities elsewhere in our outgoings.”
Ofwat’s 2020 Non Household Customer Insight Survey [appendix A.] found that only 58 per cent of eligible businesses are aware that they can switch the company which provides their water or renegotiate their deal.
Craig Shields, Operations Director at GAS, said: “It has always been important for businesses to have firm control over their costs, but even more so in the challenging trading environment we’re in.
“Water is not an area many consider, as Ofwat’s ongoing research suggests, but there are some accessible savings in this market. We regularly save our customers 30 per cent or more in this area and can also achieve rebates for historic overpayments.
“Reviewing expenditure holistically can generate valuable savings across the board and is an exercise we’d urge all business owners to carry out.”
GAS helps businesses save money in markets such as energy, water, insurance, telecoms, merchant services and more.
The firm was recently named as the North East’s second fastest growing business in the 2021 Ward Hadaway “Fastest 50” list.