QuikSwitch™ Energy Procurement Strategy

Gladstone Marketplace partner, Darren Williams from QuikSwitch™ talks about their energy procurement strategy

It has been a tough 18 months for operators of facilities that heavily depend on electricity and gas to deliver their services to their target audiences. The issues were initially caused by a shortage in supply vs demand, long before any geo-political influences then resulted in the average bill rising by around 300%. As cost consultants, it was an extremely difficult period for us, too. We take a huge amount of pride in the services we offer and to start quoting the kind of increases the market produced felt like we were failing our clients.
 
Even during this period of turbulence, we were hard at work, trying to offer a solution to the problem. Whilst there was no immediate traction, the market just could not manage the risk, we put the wheels in motion for the strategy we are delivering now for our clients. Working in conjunction with the Independent Gym Owners and ukactive memberships, we started to collect usage data and contract end dates. Collecting notices of intent from over 200 sites (this number is doubling every fortnight) allowed us to aggregate this usage data and begin negotiating with generators and suppliers to produce our Basket Pricing Strategy.
 
In simple terms, the basket aggregates all the usage from the participating sites in order to leverage their collective buying power. Clearly, collaborating like this is a great story for the fitness sector as a whole who have been woefully under-supported through the energy crisis. The results, savings of between 4-6p on electricity and 3-5p on gas, vs open market prices. Here are a few live examples.
 
Electricity 
QuikSwitch Basket Price 25.23p/kwh
Rival Brokers Price 30p/kwh
 
QuikSwitch Basket Price 22.58p/kwh
Rival Brokers Price 29.55p/kwh
 
Gas
QuikSwitch Basket Price 5.67p/kwh
Open Market Price 8.9p/kwh

We are offering a common contract end date to all participants, which we have set for 30 September 2024. At this point, we will go out to market and leverage the usage of those that have joined the basket and realise even greater savings. The scheme utilises a supplier that has a 100% renewable offering, a UK-based call centre and a dedicated on-boarding team for the QuikSwitch™ basket members.
 
As a Gladstone customer, if your contract is due for renewal in the next 12 months, we would be happy to let you know how much you can save against open market pricing. If it is later than this, we can add your usage to the basket offering greater volume and even better savings to all. You too, can benefit from the collaborative work being undertaken throughout the fitness sector.

In July '23, Gladstone took advantage of the QuikSwitch service to not only save 15% on the Wallingford head office electricity contract but also made the switch to 100% renewable sources, significantly improving our carbon footprint by 43 metric tonnes of CO2e.

Gladstone customers will receive preferential rates by
contacting QuikSwitch here.

If you are interested in becoming a Gladstone Marketplace partner you can apply here.