So this means you should have a bit of time to consider if your Trust is getting Value For Money (VFM), and what you can do to make sure you are.
Staff salary costs are usually the biggest expense of the Trust, and are usually well managed due to staff grades and appraisals. However, there are other costs incurred by the Trust that can be looked at to see if savings could be made, or whether the Trust is getting the best out of their suppliers.
I would suggest that you review the different categories of expenditure, and start with the highest ones as any changes you suggest are likely to have a bigger effect on the Trust. Having identified these ‘big ticket’ items, I would look at the costs going through. Are they multiple costs for the same thing? If there are is there a possibility of bulk ordering, or reaching an agreement with a supplier for a call off order maximising any discounts.
If you are a MAT are you ordering centrally, or is each different school ordering similar things from different suppliers? It might be worth seeing if you can consolidate these purchases to get discounts for volume, or even by centralising you may reduce the time spent dealing with different suppliers and reconciling supplier accounts. VFM is not just about cost, it can also be about time it takes to deal with things, and how much support/guidance your suppliers are giving you.
If you have used a supplier for a number of years, have you checked recently that you are still getting VFM? You could go out to tender, or even do a review of the market to ensure that you are getting the right price for the services you are after. You could also re-review the contract you have in place to make sure that the supplier is doing everything they agreed, and that if there are KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) within the contract that they are being met. If they are not you should contact them to see what your next steps should be - you might even be able to negotiate a reduced price.
Small changes can make a big difference, so it is definitely worth looking at your expenditure to see if you can make small changes in a number of areas that could then add up into some decent savings.
The next step
If this is something you are interested in, but want some help and guidance, please feel free to contact me or your local UHY contact.
