Case Study: Fully Managed Energy Support for a Global Printing Business
Value delivered.
Over £3 million in cost savings over three years & a 90% reduction in admin time spent as a business on energy.
Client Overview
A multinational printing and packaging company with manufacturing operations across the UK and Europe. The business faced rising energy costs, inconsistent supplier management across sites, and a lack of central visibility over usage and billing.
Annual energy spend = circa £1.5m
The Challenge
With significant energy spend spread across multiple locations, the client was spending too much internal time managing contracts, resolving supplier queries, and validating complex bills. There was also no unified system for tracking consumption or identifying inefficiencies resulting in missed opportunities to cut costs and reduce waste.
Our Solution
We stepped in as their outsourced energy department, delivering our fully managed energy service across all UK and European sites. This included:
Strategic energy procurement, consolidating contracts into a fully fixed arrangement, protecting the business against huge swings in wholesale energy costs
Comprehensive bill validation to catch errors and ensure accurate charges
Full supplier query management, freeing up the client’s internal resources
Cloud-based usage tracking, giving real-time visibility across all sites and meters
Implementation of targeted energy reduction strategies, aligned with operational goals - this includes;
Solar Energy Project - as part of our ongoing fully managed service, we provided renewable energy consultancy to support the client’s long-term sustainability goals. After a detailed review, we identified a solar PV project at one of their largest manufacturing sites, projected to offset 20% of annual energy consumption, reducing both costs and carbon emissions.
KVA Analysis - Through ongoing monitoring, we analysed KVA demand levels across several sites and uncovered opportunities to optimise capacity. By right-sizing their supply agreements, we helped the client unlock a further £20,000 in annual savings - with no capital expenditure and without any operational disruption.
The Results
Over £3 million in delivered cost savings in the first 3 years of working with the client through procurement and bill corrections
90% reduction in time spent internally on energy admin and supplier issues
20% reduction in energy consumption at a key manufacturing site
Centralised reporting that supports better operational and financial decision-making
Improved visibility and control across their entire energy portfolio
Client Quote
"Outsourced Utilities have become an extension of our team. Their expertise, responsiveness, and ability to simplify a complex part of our business has delivered real value - both financially and operationally." Executive Director.
We continue to work closely with the client, using live data and strategic insights to identify new opportunities for efficiency, ensure procurement remains competitive, and drive ongoing savings year after year.
