16The overall saving per night delivered to DAC Beachcroft by booking travellers into serviced apartments rather than hotel rooms

Leading international legal business reduces accommodation cost by 16% introducing a consolidated serviced apartment and hotel programme

Overview Leading international legal business DAC Beachcroft had been using a variety of methods and providers to book and manage its accommodation. The company became increasingly concerned about escalating accommodation costs as the business continued to grow and decided to focus on reducing business travel costs.

In 2009, the business launched a “serviced apartment first option” approach to run alongside its existing hotel programme using SACO serviced apartments. This proved highly successful and reduced costs, without compromising the quality of accommodation or service.

Following initial satisfaction with its apartment service, DAC Beachcroft appointed SACO as sole supplier, to book and manage all their serviced apartments and hotel rooms.

This extended service has enabled the business to reduce demand on its internal resources, have a concise and accurate overview of cost, as well as reducing the average spend on accommodation costs by 16% per night.

SACO is a delight to work with, they are pro-active in finding solutions for us, they understand our requirements and their service delivery has been exceptional.

Patrick Firebrace, Finance Director, DAC Beachcroft

Objectives & Results

To drive down average spend on accommodation costs per night without compromising on quality.

Average cost per night reduced by 16% when booking serviced apartments over hotel rooms

1

To receive good or excellent customer service at all touch points – from booking, to stay – through to invoicing and account management.

Feedback from bookers and travellers either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’

4

casestudy

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Reduce use of internal resources required to book accommodation and work towards a single supplier.

Headcount reduced from two to one

2

To have a consolidated and concise overview of spend and related management information to track trends and introduce further improvements.

One view of all accommodation spend and management information produced monthly

3

How much did we save DAC Beachcroft in London alone?See inside

Approach

Having spent time understanding the business’s key drivers and objectives, SACO developed an apartment programme across twelve key business locations in the UK.

This programme incorporated the same SACO delivery process that has worked successfully with other major clients and is as follows:

Challenges

1. Understanding serviced apartments

A key challenge for SACO was helping travellers to understand what a serviced apartment is and the benefits of staying in one. Most travellers were used to staying in hotels and had no understanding of serviced apartments.

Overcoming the challenge

This challenge was overcome via consistent and clear communication across DAC Beachcroft to explain the benefits of serviced apartments and why this programme had been adopted and by undertaking training and awareness sessions with key bookers in the business.

This was consistently endorsed by senior management in the business and SACO was able to assist by providing detailed information and images of the apartments to be included in all communications.

The Serviced Apartment Experience -

Serviced apartments offer business travellers a real home from home experience, allowing them to work more effectively when travelling away from home.

The benefits of a serviced apartment include more space than a typical hotel room, full kitchen and laundry facilities, separate sleeping to living areas, internet connectivity, TV, radio and iPod docking stations.

2. Traveller Reluctance

Initially there was some reluctance from travellers to use serviced apartments.

Overcoming the challenge

This was overcome by senior managers leading by example and endorsing the new programme by staying in the apartments.

3. Management Information

Before amalgamating its procurement, DAC Beachcroft had accurate management information from SACO on its serviced apartment spend but was not getting the same standard of quality reporting and detail on their hotel spend. This made it difficult for the business to understand fully their total accommodation use and spend.

Overcoming the challenge

By appointing SACO as sole provider for their total accommodation requirements, DAC Beachcroft is able to have a concise overview of costs in a single report, to an agreed standard of quality and detailed management information.

AgreementFinal sign off (terms,

service levels and plans)

IncubationMonitor the progress of the

programme as it goes live e.g. daily reviews with key stakeholders

Business as usual Programme running as planned

Review Meet to review the programme,

identify trends and possible changes

SACO are outsourcing at its very best. In my opinion, very much a ‘can do’ attitude, even when there’s a problem that needs sorting out.Donna Mayall, Secretary, DAC Beachcroft

Implementation / change

Roll out the programme for both the client and supplier

Results

1. Overall the average nightly cost per person has been reduced by 16% every time a person has been booked into a serviced apartment instead of a hotel room.

2. 92% of DAC Beachcroft travellers have rated their overall experience as either good or excellent (data extracted from SACO guest feedback surveys in 2011/12)

3. A smooth implementation was achieved by taking a phased approach:

a. Introducing serviced apartments into the accommodation mix

b. Consolidation of accommodation bookings through one supplier

4. Spending time with key bookers at DAC Beachcroft to educate and give them confidence in using the programme and providing supporting material to help position and explain the benefits of serviced apartments and the programme.

5. Appointing dedicated staff within SACO to manage and handle the account ensured DAC Beachcroft could reduce headcount.

6 Production of detailed management information on a monthly basis enabled DAC Beachcroft to understand their accommodation spend and use.

Average savings per person when booking serviced apartments over hotel rooms

Average nightly cost per person in the U.K

Average nightly cost comparison

London hotel per person

London SACO per apartment

Regional hotel per person

Regional SACO per apartment

£27 (26%)

£14 (10%)

Regional

London

Regional

Average

£ per night £ difference % difference

Average nightly cost per person (serviced apartment) £132

Average nightly cost per person (hotel) £146

Average nightly cost per person (serviced apartment) £77

Average nightly cost per person (hotel) £104

Average nightly cost per person (serviced apartment) £105

Average nightly cost per person (hotel) £125

£14 10%

£27 26%

£20 16%

London

£200

£150

£100

£50

£0London Regional

I have found SACO apartments to be far preferable to hotel rooms. Not only is there a significant reduction in cost but they are comfortable, well equipped, well situated and very private. The booking system is easy to use and the relationship between my firm and SACO works very well.

Conclusions

By introducing serviced apartments as an accommodation option it is possible to reduce costs, without compromising on quality or service as this case study clearly demonstrates.

With cost savings high on any company’s agenda in these tough economic conditions, serious consideration should be given to the implementation of this type of programme. However, to ensure success it is vital that both the client and the supplier spend time understanding and agreeing objectives and time must be taken to plan and implement - ideally in a phased approach.

About DAC Beachcroft

DAC Beachcroft is a leading international legal business with more than 2,000 employees, 230 partners and coverage across the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America.

DAC Beachcroft provides a full-service claims, commerical risk, advisory and transactional capability. The business works with clients in a select range of industry sectors and is a market leader in health insurance and real estate.

UK offices: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport and Winchester.

International offices: Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand.

About SACO

SACO is one of the UK’s leading serviced apartment companies, with more than 150 employees, providing accommodation solutions for global, national and regional companies across many industry sectors. These include finance, retail, engineering, legal and aeronautical.

UK offices: Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Farnborough, Jersey, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Reading.

International office: USA

To discuss this programme further please contact the SACO Business Development Team on:

UK tel: 0117 970 7163 International tel: +44 117 970 7163

Reservations: UK tel: 0845 122 0405 International tel: +44 117 970 6999

Head office:7 Whiteladies Road Clifton Bristol BS8 1NN

David Esam, Consultant, DAC Beachcroft