We’re pleased to announce that our Facilities Services Director, Howard Ward, has been re-elected to the Council of the Utilities Intermediaries Association (UIA), as one of two representatives for Small Businesses. Howard was a founder member of the UIA Council back in 2006, when the Association was established in response to growing concern among legitimate third party intermediaries about sharp practices being used by some in the industry (a ‘third party intermediary’, or TPI, being anybody who facilitates energy purchasing contracts between consumers and suppliers, for example a consultant, broker or agent).

Since then 23 TPIs have been awarded Full Membership by demonstrating compliance with the Association’s code of practice and are entitled to carry the UIA approval logo, while all the major energy suppliers, Energywatch and the industry regulator, Ofgem, have pledged their support.

According to the results of a survey carried out the Carbon Trust to launch it’s new Best Advice campaign, the UK’s finance professionals are more worried about energy prices and possible tax riases than a change in government or environmental compliance.

With Ofgem estimating that energy prices may spike by 60% over the next seven year, it’s not hard to see why this is such a concern, nor why Auditel consultants are in such high demand to help FD’s and UK organisations manage both their energy purchasing and usage policies.

If you’re looking for a fresh challenge or a new direction in your career and want to explore the possibility of self-employment then the National Franchise Exhibition will be well worth a visit. Being held at the NEC on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October with over 100 BFA accredited franchisors it’s an ideal opportunity to explore the many opportunities franchising offers to start your own business.

The Auditel recruitment team will be on Stand F190 and would welcome the chance to meet with anybody interested in developing a home-based professional business as a member of the UK’s leading network of cost and purchase management consultants. In addition, our Business Development Manager, Ed Brewer, will be presenting a seminar called “In Business for yourself not by yourself - how to choose your perfect franchise” at 12:15pm on both days, while one of our consultants, Denis Brennan, will be on the whichfranchise.com Franchisee panel on Friday 2nd.

For more information about the exhibition or to register for a free ticket, contact Tara Martin on 01962 863915.

Our new series of Discovery Seminars has been going extremely well so we’ve added some more dates for May. Seminars are held at our head office training suite in Winchester and start at either 10am or 1.30pm. As well as presentations and Q&A sessions about the Auditel cost management consultancy opportunity, you will have the chance to meet members of the Support Team and, if there is a training session in progress, perhaps also with existing franchisees.

A survey carried out by Manpower and published on Tuesday shows that UK businesses are more reluctant to take on new staff than at any time since 1994. The credit crunch and economic slowdown has hit the construction sector, high street retailers and finance and business services companies particularly hard. (more…)

According to research published by the business information organisation Creditsafe earlier this month, one in ten UK SMEs have seen their costs rise by 25% in the last year. A quarter of UK small businesses have seen costs rise by 10%.

Simon Camilleri, managing director of Creditsafe UK, said:

“If the business inflation continues to rise we may see thousands of businesses forced to lay off workers, put a brake on expansion plans and even struggle to survive.”

Given these fears, it’s little wonder our consultants are telling us they’re so busy as more and more companies take steps to manage their overheads and mitigate business inflation.

A survey carried out by the accountants Baker Tilly shows that a growing number of British businesses are considering cutting their costs to compensate for an anticipated dip in earnings as the UK economy slows. Finance directors of more than 100 listed and owner-managed companies in the turnover range £20m to £25m were surveyed in February and again in early April and the results illustrate growing concern about the UK’s short-term economic future. In February cost cutting was an immediate consideration for around 26% of the FDs surveyed but this had shot up to 45% by the end of March. (more…)

Another year, another “Black Monday”. Doom and gloom on the world’s stock markets have hit the headlines this week bringing every financial pundit out of the woodwork to warn us about the increasingly real prospect of an uncomfortable economic slow-down, if not a full-on recession. While it might – just – be possible to dismiss this as so much hot air and self-fulfilling panic among a handful of seven-figure bonus-junkies in the City, there is more, tangible, evidence that is harder to pooh-pooh. Marks and Spencer’s recent results were markedly lower than expected while other high street retailers had a similarly slow Christmas trading period as shoppers watched their pennies. At the same time, PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ 11^th annual survey of 1,100 global CEOs shows confidence among the movers and shakers at the top end of the western economy is shaky too. All in all, it looks as though belts will have to be tightened in 2008 as businesses look to cut costs to maintain profitability. As 55% of the UK CEOs questioned by PriceWaterhouseCoopers are already worried about rising energy costs, the pressure will be on to manage expenditure effectively and make good purchasing decisions. In other words, 2008 looks as though it’s going to be a year of opportunity for Auditel consultants who specialise in providing just this service to UK businesses.