Since April 2017, commercial customers in England have been able to choose their own retailer for their water and waste water needs, regardless of where their premises are located. Prior to this, these services could only be obtained from a single regional provider.

As well as generating cost-saving benefits, deregulation has made it easier for multi-site companies to deal with just one supplier rather than several. In Scotland, where deregulation has been in force since 2008, businesses have been able to cut £180m from their water bills according to Business Stream, the arm of Scottish Water that deals with business and public sector customers.

Small customers have not found life to be easier, often having separate suppliers for water and waste water. Dr Cost has negotiated contracts from multi-sites covering care homes, retail stores and hotels chains to large single factories and manufacturing.  Billing can be monthly, have variable payment terms and more flexibility within this sector leading to ease of account management, in addition to a reduction in costs.

We specialise in other areas of reductions, such as meter exchanges for limited use water from unmetered – charged by rateable value – to actual use, soakaways, corrections to over-estimated charges by suppliers and leakage allowances. As with energy costs, we look holistically at the full picture, not just pure cost.

As a natural progression to energy savings through contracting and metering, Dr Cost has a strategic alliance with the UK’s largest lighting importer to deliver efficiency savings for our clients.

The scope to implement efficiency ranges from lighting to electrical engineering demand site response and BMS systems to ensure full multi-site or large premises have their energy distributed and managed in the most efficient manner.

The options range from up-front purchase cost to supply and fit with a maintenance contract to ongoing capital expenditure payback schemes.

EV drivers are always looking out for opportunities to top up as they are continually aware of how much charge their vehicles have. Your customers will be mindful of available EV charging facilities when planning their visits. If embarking on a long journey or nights away, your visitors will be looking for ways to charge up overnight. EV charging facilities could mean the difference between a visitor choosing your business over a competitor’s whilst your business profits from an additional revenue stream by offering charging facilities.

Due to the increased sales of electric cars more sites are requesting EV charging points and EV charging is becoming much more affordable as a result of advances in battery technology. Cost per kWh declined by over 70% from £640 in 2011 to just £180 in 2016 and is estimated to decrease to £80 per kWh by 2030. With a variety of plug-in vehicles available, motorists can enjoy a range of choice, as well as better performance and savings of around £1,000 a year in fuel costs.

We can provide ahassle-free and competitive installation service from expert engineers to get your business fully charged and can energise your E V charging points with a supply of electricity tailored to your specific requirements. Your sustainability strategy can be stepped up by opting for a 100% renewable electricity plan featuring excellent after-sales care with 24-hour support and a 36-month warranty.

We can help you manage your data by providing insight and recommendations into areas such as your energy usage, tariff-setting advice and customised pricing.

As part of the utility management during void periods for both gas and electricity we can, in the majority of cases, implement zero daily charges for the utilities or can reduce the daily charges, even on zero consumption, significantly. In addition, we have partnered with a rate mitigation scheme to gain back the majority of rates charged during this void period.

We can implement quick SMART meter installations for any sized residential developments and ensure that our engineers will stay on site until completing the installation. Traditionally, residential metering is installed by engineers who have a limit on the number of meters they can fit in one day, will not necessarily install the newer SMART enabled meters and require mounds of paperwork before proceeding. In addition, the supplier will then send monthly paper bills for each and every meter with daily charges, even on zero consumption, and then take their time when they are advised of the new liability.

We at Dr Cost have agreements with a number of residential metering providers who can implement: –

• free SMART meters which can be controlled at meter, online or via phone and can keep track of live usage, patterns and cost;
• remote switching to prepayment meters (and no physical bills) or standard credit meters within one hour;
• vacated units to have balances reset and liability switched to the landlord and to a new tenant with just email instruction;
• zero daily charges ensuring void periods are non-chargeable + £5 credit per meter when reset to cover interim safety checks.

Dr Cost will coordinate the full switch and meter appointments to ensure all is set up correctly and provide a dedicated account manager at the utility supplier for all future account switches or queries.

Both the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) and Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) legislation will apply to your business if it is a quoted UK based company or unquoted and:

• is a private sector organisation with more than 250 employees; OR
• has a turnover of at least €50m and a balance sheet of €43m.

ESOS compliance completed phase 2 in December 2019 and the next two deadlines are in December 2023 and December 2027. ESOS was set up by the UK Government Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in response to an EU requirement to implement Article 8 of the Energy Efficiency Directive (Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament).

Measures undertaken under guidelines meet the standards set and required as part of the Carbon Reduction Commitments, the scheme which closed on 31st March 2019.

You would need to:

1. measure total energy consumption (including transport) of the business;
2. conduct energy audits at sites and determine cost effective energy reduction recommendations;
3. report compliance to the Environment Agency every four years.

There are severe financial implications if you do not comply with these regulations.

Dr Cost can implement the following through ESOS lead assessors, including noting any exemptions and multi-site analysis to determine how many sites need to be audited. Dr Cost can also review current energy information which could be relevant and contribute towards ESOS.

SECR comes into effect from any company’s end of financial year commencing after 1st April 2019 and is essentially a way to monitor your carbon usage. This is more for accurate reporting on carbon usage, as opposed to ESOS which is a way to save. Ultimately the government has made commitments to reduce carbon significantly over the next 30 years and through accurate reporting can establish the heaviest carbon spend and implement ways to lower this accordingly.

This report would be either part of your annual accounts filed with Companies House or included in your Directors’ Report or in an equivalent report such as an Energy and Carbon Report. Failure to comply will see your report rejected, which will then incur a late filing penalty under section 453 of the Companies Act 2006.

As much of the information required for compliance of both SECR and ESOS is similar or is likely to be stored in similar locations, doing both at the same time allows you to maximise your efforts. Our qualified lead assessors help to gather all your data, maintaining consistency and accuracy, in order to audit, analyse and ensure your compliance for both SECR and ESOS.

Dr Cost has negotiated and partnered with a card payment firm that has demonstrated the best value for our clients. We have delivered savings for our clients of over £35m on their previous terms and are pleased to offer this as part of a savings package.

As one of the largest electronic payment providers worldwide, our partner’s payment solutions have been operational since 1996 and they currently process £1.5 billion of credit card transactions in the UK and £25 billion globally.

They will find a tailor-made solution for your business needs and provide outstanding customer service and support for your business, whether large or small. Contact Dr Cost for a bespoke recommendation.

As another fixed site cost, Dr Cost are pleased to offer waste management and brokerage covering some 80% of mainland UK. As more councils and local authorities strip out waste services or the frequency thereof this service is proving more necessary than ever before.

Whilst there are numerous waste collection companies, some local and national, many do not perform as requested and frequently fail in weekly or scheduled collections, leading to severe repercussions.

At Dr Cost we have collaborated with a national waste provider whose collections, cost per lift and support is unparalleled. Get in touch with Dr Cost to compare your costings with what can be offered.

As a premier partner of BT Openreach, Vodafone and O2, the partner Dr Cost have chosen to work with a unique growing brand who have the reach and infrastructure to deliver to our clients.

In a crowded marketplace [?]our partner company stands out in encompassing installation, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connectivity, broadband, mobiles and general pricing. Dr Cost has co-ordinated an agreement with one of the fastest-growing UK brands in telecoms and connectivity.

Established in 2000, our partner company has bespoke packages including leased line packages, point-to-point and anything telecoms-related to deliver the most competitive option for your consideration.