Utilities purchasing and efficiency

Purchase Direct is not only interested in reducing the price of your electricity and gas but also in helping to identify ways of reducing the volume of electricity and gas your business consumes.

Utility services provided by Purchase Direct:

• Annual renegotiation of utility contracts
• Implementation of new contracts
• Reactive and proactive resolution of customer service issues
• Reactive and proactive resolution of billing queries
• Analysis of current tariffs to identify potential cost savings
• Regular analysis of electricity profiles to identify possible reductions in consumption
• Implementation of utility consumption saving schemes
• Measurement and monitoring of the impact of utility consumption saving schemes
• Invoice checking where copy invoices are supplied.

Utility metering and energy audits

Purchase Direct are also able to arrange for and manage the metering of utility supplies. There are additional charges for this service but the savings available through the regular monitoring of consumption can be very significant.

A number of different consumption and cost reports can also be provided via the web portal. These compare consumption and cost day by day and month by month. The reports are prepared using the half hourly data collected from the new meter. Although the reports will be available to you, we will analyse the data and make recommendations to you as appropriate, with a view to reducing consumption/cost. Exception reports can also be provided to alert you to consumption which is over an agreed tolerance.

The half hourly data will also be used to analyse your current tariff structure. Should the analysis reveal that another tariff would be more appropriate, we will arrange for the change to occur at the time of your next procurement.

When we identify an anomalous spend at a site which cannot easily be explained, we would normally recommend a site survey. If you wish to have your site surveyed, then we arrange for an engineer to report on the site and give their recommendations.

Energy efficiency

With the increase in utility costs that the UK has experienced in the past few years, there is an increased emphasis on reducing the amount of electricity and gas consumed.

As part of our service, Purchase Direct is committed to identifying utility cost-reduction schemes that actually deliver real and sustainable reductions in the volume of utilities purchased.

A good example of this service is the work carried out to put energy management systems into many of the motor dealer groups we work with. The introduction of these systems has led to the reduction in heating costs of 20-40% in those dealerships where the systems are in use.

Where our customers take up services to reduce the consumption of utilities across their business, we deliver reporting in the first and subsequent years to confirm any saving is delivered and ensure it is maintained in subsequent years. This service is essential as the majority of energy management and efficiency schemes require significant investment: we need to ensure they remain effective long term.