Which? Appoints from Benchmark Data

Just a few days before Christmas, Which?'s cleaning contractor requested a 24% uplift in contract value within 30 days, or they would serve notice to terminate their contract.  "Our incumbents service level was not where we needed it to be and with their request for a significant increase, it forced our hand to procure a new supplier. But with just 6 weeks to resolve it, a full tender process was not an option."  Darren Garnon, Head of Facilities Management, Which? Consumers' Association.  

SOLUTION 

On recommendation, Which? approached i-Clean to understand how best to procure a new contract with a better service at a similar budget, in a way that demonstrates good governance within a 6 week timeframe review.  Using their independent datasets, i-Clean were able to provide Which? with a speedier, evidence-based, alternative procurement process which used benchmark data as a way of shortlisting and selecting contractors based on actual performance.  "Not only did i-Clean have the performance benchmark information we needed, they had also tendered recent contracts on similar sites so knew market rates from recent bids."  

RESULT  

"Whilst we wouldn't usually look to turn a contract around in 6 weeks we did it with confidence, demonstrating good governance and a clear audit trail. Standards of cleaning have improved and our budget remained the same, which allowed us to add the cost of living increase.  i-Clean will continue to support us under their Site Certification module, to reassure that our supplier is performing to the agreed service levels and to help us drive further improvement."  

ABOUT Which?  

Which? is a not-for-profit social enterprise and the largest independent consumer body in the UK, with more than a million members and supporters. It exists to make individuals as powerful as the organisations they deal with in their daily lives. Which? drives change by providing information and advice; by campaigning for change; and by developing products and services that put customers' needs first.