Swire Hotels UK benefits from 28% saving on food items and 17% on non-food items
Surrey, UK: Following its appointment by Swire Hotels UK to simplify and manage the centralised procurement for a number of essential food and non-food products, Pelican has enabled the hotel group to realise financial savings, in less than six months. On comparing like-for-like purchases between the former suppliers and the new centralised way of working, Swire Hotels UK has saved 28% on food-related purchases and 17% on non-food items.
Swire Hotels is renowned for its luxury accommodation in the Far East, in addition to four prestigious hotels here in the UK. Two operate under the Chapter Hotels brand, which includes The Magdalen Chapter in Exeter and the Montpellier Chapter in Cheltenham. The remaining hotels operate independently alongside Chapter, and are the Avon Gorge Hotel in Bristol and the Hotel Seattle in Brighton Marina.
In a bid to review ways in which the procurement for the hotels could be simplified, Swire Hotel UK’s operations director Jonathan Dawson started talking to Pelican to see what might be possible. After undertaking analysis across the group, it was clear that there were a number of ‘common’ products that could be purchased centrally, which would create savings for the business.
Jonathan Dawson explains: “From a management perspective it was clear that by working smarter we would be able to make both cost and efficiency savings and so I started to look into our options. There are a number of advantages of working with Pelican. For me, it’s the knowledge that we are getting the best price we possibly can, with high levels of account management support, backed-up by the centralised reporting. They have a ‘big picture view’ of what we are trying to achieve as a business, and are helping us reach this.”
A tender process was put into place by Pelican, and within a 12-week period, Pelican managed the entire tender process on behalf of Swire Hotels UK, gathering the required information from the suppliers. The completed documentation was then analysed, answers to questions obtained and a report of recommendations was collated and presented back to Jonathan Dawson for consideration.
Confirms Stuart Chapman, procurement manager at Pelican: “When we present our recommendations back to clients, we include a thorough analysis of pricing, how the supplier will service the client, and ultimately how the supplier can support the client’s business in the future. We break the information down to the customer and make it easier for them to digest and form a basis of their decision-making process.”
Following the tender process, new suppliers were selected and now, via Pelican, regular reports are presented to the operations and accounts teams so they can keep track on what each hotel is ordering, from a compliance point of view.
Adds Stuart Chapman: “The advantage of this is that for Swire Hotel UK’s accounts team, it provides a centralised approach. This means they now only have to organise one single payment, rather than each individual hotel being invoiced separately, which is considered an invaluable benefit.”
When reflecting on the overall benefits Swire Hotels UK has received, Jonathan Dawson concludes: “Overall, working with Pelican makes my life easier. They remove a lot of ‘leg work’ off our small central support team and bring to the table a wealth of purchasing knowledge and influence. We are making savings across all hotels, yet without restricting our chefs’ creative needs. Everything has followed the purchasing guidelines and has been very professional.”
For further information, telephone +44 (0) 1252 705 222 or visit www.pelicanbuying.co.uk
For more information regarding Swire Hotels UK, visit www.swirehotels.com
