When a charity delivering an innovative new accommodation project found itself with a new electricity supply but no energy contract in place, Core Facility Services stepped in to take ownership of the process and get everything on the right footing.
The charity, which provides accommodation, practical support and life skills to help people experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives and move towards independent living, was introduced to Core by an existing client who has worked with us for many years.
The challenge
The charity had recently completed a major new-build accommodation development designed to provide people experiencing homelessness with somewhere safe to live alongside the support they need to move forward.
As a newly constructed site, the development required a new energy supply. However, once the supply had been established, there was no contracted energy arrangement in place.
For an organisation whose expertise and resources are quite rightly focused on supporting people rather than navigating the complexities of the energy market, resolving the situation could easily have become a time-consuming distraction.
Remaining out of contract can also leave an organisation exposed to less favourable energy rates, making it important to put an appropriate supply contract in place as quickly as possible.
How Core helped
Core’s Energy team took responsibility for the process, working with the charity to understand the new supply and establish exactly what was required.
We managed the energy procurement on the client’s behalf, liaising with the relevant parties, reviewing the available options and securing a suitable contract for the new development.
Rather than leaving the charity to deal with suppliers, terminology and procurement processes it was unfamiliar with, our team managed the issue through to completion.
This meant the client could concentrate on getting its new accommodation operational and supporting the people who would ultimately benefit from it, knowing that an essential element of the building’s infrastructure had been dealt with.
More than energy procurement
Although the immediate requirement was to secure an energy contract, the project demonstrates the wider role Core plays for its clients.
Energy procurement is rarely something organisations want to spend significant amounts of time managing themselves. New connections, changes of tenancy, out-of-contract supplies, renewals and supplier queries can all become complicated, particularly when energy management is only one small part of someone’s role.
Core provides the expertise and resource to take that responsibility away from the client. We don’t simply present a selection of tariffs; we help establish what needs to happen, manage the process and remain available when issues arise.
In this case, that support was particularly valuable to a charitable organisation where keeping costs under control and making the best use of internal resources are understandably important.
A recommendation built on trust
The relationship also began in one of the most meaningful ways for us: through a recommendation from an existing client. Having worked with that organisation for many years, they knew how Core operates and were confident introducing us to a charity that needed support. For us, that is an important measure of a successful client relationship.
