Manor Arms

"The biggest saving is £10k off the electricity. We'd have to take £60,000 over the bar to make that kind of money in profit, so we're thrilled."

• Location: London
• Sector: Hospitality
  
• Energy Saving: £15k
  

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Established in 2007, 'Who Cares Wins' was set up by two ex-senior operations managers from the Capital Pub Company: Richard Coltart & Alex Hughes. The pair have recently bought The Manor Arms, a large popular pub in a prominent position in Streatham, south west London. Having undergone a major re-fit, the new owners are using their experience to look at ways of running the pub in an efficient manner, without losing quality of service. Negotiating terms with food and drink suppliers is obviously a top priority but also on the busy list whilst the builders are working on the refurbishment are energy, insurance banking and telecoms.

Energy

Long opening hours with a kitchen full of gas burning equipment and a cellar wall-to-wall with chillers will mean high gas and electricity and consumption. Being new to the premises means they face paying out-of-contract rates for both gas and electricity. The supplier inherited from the previous owner is currently charging Who Care Wins an eye-watering out-of-contract rate of 22p/kwh for electricity and 7p/kWh for gas. Coltart, through the Make It Cheaper business price comparison service (www.makeitcheaper.com) has had a quote of 7p/kWh for electricity and 2.2p/kWh for gas. Based on the predicted consumption, this will save the business over £10,000 on electricity and £5,000 on gas over the course of a year.

Annual Saving: £15,000

Insurance. Having always used their bank's preferred insurer in the past, Who Cares Wins asked them to quote for the new premises. The policy needed to cover public liability, employee liability, building & contents as well as stock. That came in at £10,200 per year but, by shopping around, Coltart & Hughes have managed to reduce the premium to £7,875 with an alternative provider - a saving of almost £2,500.

Annual Saving: £2,425

Banking. Although the business has been toying with the idea of switching banks for cost benefits, Who Care Wins has decided to remain with the same one but switch the type of account it holds. This is so it can be more flexible about which services it uses and combine it with a contract from a separate cash-handling company. Cash will be collected three times a week, rather than rely on a manager having to pay it in to a local branch in person - which can be both time-consuming and costly to insurance premiums (insurance companies require two members of staff to deposit amounts over £10k). This collection service costs approximately £1,000 per year but, because will also count and deposit the money, Who Cares Wins will avoid significant bank charges as well as savings in staff wages.

Annual Saving: £2,000

Telecoms. You might not associate a pub with a massive phone bill but there is more to the telcoms infrastructure than at first meets the eye. Credit card machines, for instance, often require a dedicated phone line - as does the 'Red Care' hotline to the local Police station. Whilst The Manor Arms reincarnation is not aiming to be particularly high-tech, it will do away with the need for phone lines by using handheld credit card machines with in-built SIM cards and a VoIP phone system that caters for all calls (including some from mobile phones) and faxes virtually free-of-charge. Hughes also points out that by not requiring fixed line cables, the refurbishment costs associated with wiring have been significantly reduced too.

Annual Saving: £430

TOTAL SAVING:  £19,855 (or 30,000 pints*)

* The equivalent number of pints The Manor Arms would have to sell to put this figure on its bottom line is 30,000. Another way of looking at it is that this pays a full-time manager's salary for six months.