Finding the silver lining: inflation boosts demand for ERA’s cost optimisation service

Three successful ERA UK franchisees have secured a diverse range of new clients

As inflation and energy bills bite ever harder, a growing number of companies have accelerated their cost-cutting plans to ensure every pound of expenditure provides tangible value.

But it’s not just businesses that are feeling the impact; all types of organisations and commercial bodies are finding themselves in need of cost optimisation. The demand for this service has led to strong growth opportunities for the entire Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) franchise network.

Over the past three months, ERA cost consultancy business owners have collectively secured dozens of new clients – all of whom are in real need of the brand’s experience in uncovering hidden profits.

Adding value to the business

Franchisee David Ramm managed to attract to his stable of clients one of the UK’s leading independent stockists and distributors of power tools.

“The initial face-to-face was with the company’s MD,” explained David. “A follow-up meeting on Teams ensued, in which my fellow ERA franchisee, James Dawson, joined to talk the client through distribution options.

“Subsequent meetings with the directors also went very well. They completely understood the value we could add to their business, as they had reduced costs as far as they were able to themselves. So using ERA was a no-brainer for them.

“Initial categories we will be working with them on are distribution, card fees, packaging, marketing, and energy.”

A milestone to be celebrated

Stuart Hallam is another ERA franchisee who secured a successful acquisition – a prestigious boarding college.

“I managed to get a first call with the school’s COO in March 2022,” he explained. “It was a very positive first meeting and they ‘got’ the ERA offer very quickly. Several further calls confirmed the college had never looked at its spend in detail before, and they were keen to review everything.

“A site visit to meet colleagues and agree on priority areas to review took place in April. The spend for cleaning alone was £670,000 a year, so they were keen to make savings! I’m pleased to say eight projects – all with large budgets – have been signed, starting with cleaning and printing.”

Attracting a multimillion-pound supplier

Also benefiting from ERA’s wide range of cost optimisation services will be a large-scale fruit importer. Carlo and his fellow consultancy owner, Dan Howells, are excited to be advising the multimillion-pound supplier of fruit to the UK and Europe.

“A meeting was set up in mid-August, which was great timing as the business is facing some significant challenges due to price increases, especially for energy and fertiliser,” explained Carlo.

“We agreed to a follow-up meeting to discuss waste as a pilot project, as that has the fewest stakeholders involved. Other categories are more complex as they have to involve their customers, which in this case are supermarkets.

“After the proposal was sent, a second meeting took place to organise the project. For this I was joined by Dan Howells. He did a fantastic job in explaining how we would run a waste project and the benefits for the client in doing so. We received the signed contract via DocuSign the very next day!”