Case Histories

Major Law Firm & Business Advisors

Background
Well known legal enterprise with offices home and abroad. In excess of 400 staff and 8,000 clients worldwide.

Our client is a major user of office stationery and bespoke print (annual spend £780,000). The client was satisfied that it was obtaining value for money from its vendor, having conducted a market testing exercise the year before. We tested the rigour of the exercise and sensed that major savings were likely. Upon our audit, we discovered:

• Onerous contractual terms
• Poor contract management by the client
• No understanding of material specifications, nor the changes that will lead to reduced pricing
• Lack of performance measurement data

CBS Action taken
A three-pronged approach was implemented:  

• Internal discussions to explore specification changes
• A market testing exercise was carried out, to reduce costs.
• A Request to tender from several of our known suppliers was made plus the incumbent.

Outcome
The current vendor was retained and severe pricing competition and specification changes (without loss of quality or service) led to an overall cost saving of 38% pa. Contractual terms were greatly improved, including new performance measures and the provision of detailed on-line management information.

What the Client had to say about us:
‘….internal pricing and monitoring systems are now further enhanced due to CBS involvement. We are satisfied with the result of their audit and continue to use their services.
Manager- Procurement Division

Reductions achieved:

• Next
• Previous