This article is provided by BRC Associate Member Optimised.

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Oak Furnitureland is a British furniture retailer specialising in fully assembled hardwood cabinet and dining furniture, and sofa ranges, with a large portfolio of 78 stores across the UK.

Challenge

Oak Furnitureland Group faced significant utility management challenges, including a lack of clarity on data granularity and forecasting of costs which was complicating their financial planning and forecasting processes. Concerns arose over the accuracy of pricing within the supply contract offers presented, based on a poor experience with a previous energy consultant involving missed overcharges and incorrect calculation of non-commodity costs. Optimised were engaged to complete a Cost Recovery service on the full UK portfolio, which revealed a number of historic billing errors highlighting gaps in oversight and the need for more robust verification processes.

The situation highlighted a weakness in the UK retail market in invoicing accuracy of large multisite portfolios and highlighted the importance of validating bulk load invoices with experienced skillset and sophisticated bureau software.

Solution

Optimised provide comprehensive utility management solutions to Oak Furnitureland Group, improving the process and data quality within their procurement and energy management processes. By revising the procurement process, Optimised ensured that information was presented clearly, and concisely, offering a holistic overview of expected energy spend. A Cost Recovery (CR) exercise of the client’s historical invoices identified additional charges that had previously been missed by previous validation processes, leading to substantial refunds for the client and correction in invoicing infrastructure for future billing. This exercise also highlighted several areas of consideration to achieve ongoing savings, by assisting Oak Furnitureland Group with broader energy and demand management strategies, ensuring more efficient use of resources.

Optimised’s approach has given Oak Furnitureland Group confidence that, following the identification of past errors, all invoices are now accurately aligned with the agreed terms. The data gathered through Optimised’s software has been instrumental in supporting wider reporting needs, enabling better decision-making and financial planning. This solution not only rectified past discrepancies but also laid the groundwork for ongoing cost efficiencies and more effective energy management, providing long-term value and transparency to Oak Furnitureland Group.

Results

The Cost Recovery exercise reviewed Oak Furnitureland Group’s utility invoices over a six-year period, from 2018 – 2024, with a view of recovering overcharges and generating potential cost savings.

This resulted in incorrect Data Collector & Data Aggregator charges as well a Capacity Amendments being identified, the former identifying refunds of approximately £37K, while the latter created a saving of over £50K, both across multiple sites.

These savings have since been maintained by our Bureau team, to ensure the client’s invoices are correct and budgeted for, in alignment with the longer-term procurement strategy.

The Journey

Optimised identified a wide variety of errors and inconsistencies in the Client’s billing, including incorrectly applied standing charges.

• Cost Recovery
• Utility Procurement
• Utility Bureau
  
  

Hear from the client

Simply – I was looking for an Energy Broker that understood the needs of our business, who could move swiftly when required, be versatile and open to new ideas, aware of energy saving initiatives, however firmly in touch with reality and constraints for retail businesses through the post COVID years. With Optimised - and Jack specifically - this is what we got and are still experiencing now. Communication is clear, when we need the support it is available, in the background we are safe in the knowledge that Jack is working to keep Oak Furnitureland Group in the best health possible, with transparency on both sides key to this incredibly strong chosen partner relationship.

I highly recommend Optimised & the team.

Roger Sherman
Retail – Property FM