YMCA

Client Profile:

The YMCA Movement in England is one of the largest youth development organisations in the world. Founded in central London in 1844, the YMCA now has 148 autonomous associations throughout the UK, a presence in over 120 countries and a worldwide membership of 30 million.

Case Study:

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Left to right: Gill Gibbon, Auditel consultant; Paul Sargison, Head of Retail for YMCA Shops; Peter Mayhew, Auditel consultant

As a charity, the YMCA relies on public donations and sponsorship to fund their wide programme of services, supplemented by money raised through their network of 80 charity shops. Paul Sargison, Head of Retail for YMCA shops, is very aware
of the organisation’s duty to spend this money wisely so Auditel’s contingency fee based cost management programme was very appealing. In 2004, he appointed Auditel consultant Gillian Gibbon to carry out a comprehensive review of the essential services costs being incurred by YMCA shops.

Armed with the challenge to sort out landline phone service levels, regardless of savings, Gill enlisted the help of Auditel colleague, Peter Mayhew. By pooling their expertise and knowledge of the UK telecoms market, Gill and Peter consolidated landline expenditure across all the shops and moved it to a high quality provider with a proven track record for excellent customer service, realising savings of 37% against original expenditure.

They then moved their attention to mobile phone and electricity charges. By thoroughly analysing YMCA’s mobile phone bills to understand their call profile, Gill and Peter tendered the market for a more appropriate package. Consolidating mobile phones used by YMCA shops and YMCA England onto a new contract saved a further £10,350 or 34%. A similar consolidation and tendering process against renewal prices for electricity resulted in another a 14% saving against the incumbent supplier’s renewal prices; very impressive in a rising energy market. By joining forces with three more Auditel colleagues and other outsourced experts, Gill and Peter’s success on behalf of YMCA shops has been extended to ten of the individual associations. With savings for nine associations already implemented total savings for YMCA now stand at a staggering £135,000 p.a.

Savings Achieved:

£23,700 Savings for Fixed Telecoms
£10,350 Savings for Mobile Telecoms
£61,212 Savings for Electricity and Gas
£2,000 Savings for Waste
£37,750 Savings for other categories

Total Saving: £135,012

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