Last year we saved nearly $100m for a client in the leisure sector, with further benefits due this year.

We began the project late the year before and, with a small team, undertook analysis to establish the scale and nature of the opportunity. By early last year we had established joint client/Occleve teams in both the US and UK, to review three key areas: - Marketing; IT and Corporate spend. At the same time, we worked with the client to improve internal purchasing processes, to gain better information and control over purchasing spend, and to redefine the role of purchasing within the organisation. We also helped them specify requirements for a purchasing system.

The results delivered last year were significantly above those indicated by our initial analysis, and since then we have extended the work to more operational areas of the business.

“You have made a really important contribution to the business as you said you would. I am looking forward to another big year”

“I still can’t believe how much you guys get done”

“Simon is a great leader. He is driven, focuses on the right things with his team, and recognises people in meaningful ways. He is always about 20 steps ahead of everyone in his thinking and ensures that we get there with him”

“This is a new way of problem solving for both our teams but wow….... I really appreciate your being a good partner and coach, as well as fielding a great team.

We were asked by a global company to help reduce their travel costs. They already had a preferred travel provider and a company-wide travel policy.

Firstly, we looked at what was being spent on what by whom, and we discovered that hardly anyone was sticking to the travel policy, and in many countries people were booking their own flights via the internet or through other travel agents. The policy itself was fairly generous, (especially for senior executives), and had so many exceptions and loopholes that everyone could argue that they were travelling within it.

We did some benchmarking of travel policies within other Fortune 500/FTSE 100 global organisations, and used this to help the board agree to a less generous policy, and yes, we had to persuade the chairman that he didn’t always have to fly first class. We also identified what was really being spent on travel, which turned out to be a lot more than anyone realised, and we identified key routes and hotels where volume discounts could be negotiated.

We interviewed many travellers and budget holders about what they expected and needed from a travel provider, and then conducted a detailed tender process. The travel provider that won the contract was not the cheapest, but they had the most experienced staff, could supply very detailed management information, and provided the most comprehensive service in terms of 24-hour care and backup.

We managed the process of moving from the old to the new travel provider, setting up an intranet booking system, organising training for PA’s and travellers, and communicating the new travel policy. Crucially, reporting and compliance processes were tightened up, so that if people booked travel that was outside the policy, their line manager was notified, and if they booked through an alternative supplier, they risked not being reimbursed for the cost.

The result was a substantial saving in travel costs due to changes in the policy, better compliance and lower pricing. The biggest bonus though, was the increased level of service received from the travel provider. When airspace was closed down due to a volcanic ash cloud, the client was immediately able to see that over 40 members of staff were stranded around the world. The travel provider swung into action, contacting each one, ensuring that they were moved to more convenient locations, upgrading them to first class so that they were at the front of the queue when flights starting moving again, increasing credit card limits where people were running out of money, and even arranging to feed someone’s cat.

It had been a difficult decision and required considerable effort for the client to change travel provider, and although the cost savings were most welcome, it was the level of service from the new travel provider, which enabled the company to look after its stranded employees, that has been the biggest benefit.

Our client was an engineering company that was in the process of setting up a deal to supply a key component to a power boat manufacturer. It was a very large contract that would materially change the scale of our client's business. However, the tools required had to be specially built at great cost, and the boat manufacturer had proposed a contract where all the up-front cost and future stock risk resided with our client. A stalemate had been reached, and our client was reluctantly going to walk away from the deal.

The 'team' from Occleve consisted only of Simon Atkinson who worked with the client for a number of half days to develop a negotiation strategy and to coach the client through a series of supplier meetings. The foundation of the strategy was to understand the costs and benefits of each part of the operation, and to work out what it was our client was providing to the boat manufacturer which was unique.

The result was the successful negotiation of a contract in which the risk was shared more equitably between the two parties, and which our client felt was acceptable.

“I didn’t know that you could work out so much about someone else’s costs and business strategy from the outside – it meant the negotiation was based on facts and not emotion”

In 2008 we worked with a natural products healthcare company to review all their supplier contracts. The company had grown rapidly through acquisition, and had hundreds of suppliers and limited information about what was being spent with each. It also transpired that there were major business risks in some of the contracts with key suppliers and business partners.

We began by analysing spend and rationalising the supplier base to around one third of its size. This included resolving practical issues such as communicating the new approach to suppliers, and working out how to dispose of residual stock in the supply chain. Once complete, this reduced costs and greatly simplified the business.

We then helped the client renegotiate contracts with key suppliers in the UK, Italy and New Zealand, before reorganising the purchasing function and recruiting some key purchasing executives on a permanent basis.