Independent procurement advisory. Croydon, London

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Six sectors, known from the inside

Category knowledge is only useful when it comes with an understanding of how your business actually runs. These are the sectors where our people have spent their careers, on both sides of the table.

What things should cost

UK, 2025, excluding VAT

CategorySectorMarketOur clients
Table linenper coverHospitality18p to 26p14p to 17p
Parcel deliveryper parcel, under 2kgRetail£3.10 to £4.20£2.50 to £3.00
Hand sanitiserper 5 litresHealthcare£14 to £22£9 to £12
Van contract hireper vehicle, per monthLogistics£560 to £690£500 to £560
Pallet storageper pallet, per weekLogistics£3.20 to £4.60£2.40 to £2.90

Illustrative ranges. Our clients’ range is what they pay after renegotiation.

Exhibit D · Market benchmarks · page 1 of 1

Folded white table linen on a woven tray

Hospitality and leisure

Thin margins, long supply chains, no room for error

We have negotiated food, drink, facilities and energy contracts for restaurant groups, hotels, leisure operators and contract caterers, and we understand what a change on the menu or in a guest room means for cost.

What we see

  • Food and drink inflation running ahead of menu prices
  • Labour shortages pushing up every service contract
  • Estates built by acquisition, with different suppliers at every site
  • Guests and landlords expecting visible sustainability

Where we help

  • Food and beverage
  • Facilities, cleaning and maintenance
  • Energy and utilities
  • Linen, laundry and waste
  • Kitchen equipment and technology
£1.8mRelated result, hospitalityA year, for a 60‑site restaurant group, with eleven distributors cut to two
A plain cardboard box on a wooden table

Retail

Protect margin on both sides of the shelf

We work on goods for resale, where margin is won and lost, and on goods not for resale, where costs quietly build up across stores, depots and head office. Our teams move quickly and keep stores trading while contracts change.

What we see

  • Distribution costs rising faster than sales
  • Fragmented maintenance contracts across the estate
  • Packaging under pressure from EPR and plastic tax
  • Marketing and print spend with little measurement

Where we help

  • Logistics and carriers
  • Store fit-out and capital projects
  • Packaging and consumables
  • Facilities and maintenance
  • Marketing, print and point of sale
£760kRelated result, retailA year, 14% lower distribution costs for a national retailer, on nine carriers cut to three
An unbranded white five-litre container on a dark table

Healthcare

Savings that never touch the quality of care

Care homes, private hospitals, clinics and healthcare suppliers share the same tension: rising costs on one side, uncompromising standards of care on the other. We respect the compliance requirements that come with every clinical category.

What we see

  • Agency staffing costs that are hard to control
  • Consumables bought through many routes at many prices
  • Strict regulatory requirements on every supplier
  • Ageing estates that need maintenance investment

Where we help

  • Medical and clinical consumables
  • Food and catering
  • Facilities, cleaning and clinical waste
  • Agency and temporary staffing
  • Equipment maintenance and utilities
10 daysRelated result, healthcareTo place an interim category team with a care home operator, then £900k a year on renewals
Wooden pallets stacked in a warehouse

Logistics

A cost base that moves every week

Fuel, fleet, drivers and warehouse space. We help operators and fleet owners buy better, lock in protection where the market allows it, and build supply chains that hold up under pressure.

What we see

  • Fuel price swings that wipe out contract margins
  • Driver shortages and agency premiums
  • Fleet decisions made under time pressure
  • Customers asking for lower-emission transport

Where we help

  • Fuel cards and bulk fuel
  • Vehicle leasing, tyres and maintenance
  • Warehouse equipment
  • Fleet insurance and telematics
  • Agency labour
£1.1mRelated result, logisticsA year out of fleet running costs for a 400‑vehicle logistics provider
Layers of corrugated board, close up

Consumer goods

Change the contract without changing the product

Many of our team built their careers buying for consumer brands. We know how ingredients, packaging and co-manufacturing contracts really work, and how to change them without putting quality or launch dates at risk.

What we see

  • Volatile commodity and ingredient prices
  • Packaging redesign driven by regulation
  • Co-manufacturer terms that have drifted
  • Indirect spend that nobody owns

Where we help

  • Ingredients and raw materials
  • Primary and secondary packaging
  • Co-manufacturing and co-packing
  • Logistics and warehousing
  • Marketing services and indirects
22%Related result, consumer goodsLess virgin plastic and 8% lower packaging costs for a food manufacturer
A black ring binder, open

Private equity

Value creation, to the timetable a deal demands

We work with private equity firms and their portfolio companies from the first look at a target through to exit. Our job is to make the cost base a source of value at every stage.

What we see

  • Deal timetables with little room for supply-side work
  • New acquisitions with no procurement function
  • Portfolio companies buying the same things separately
  • Pressure to show EBITDA improvement before exit

Where we help

  • Pre-deal supply-side due diligence
  • 100-day savings plans
  • Portfolio-wide group buying
  • Interim procurement leadership
  • Exit readiness reviews
£4.2mRelated result, private equityA year of savings identified in a target’s cost base, inside three weeks

Your sector not listed? Talk to us anyway

We also work with facilities management, education, charities, professional services and manufacturing. The principles hold in every market: know the cost, test the market, prove the saving.

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