Silver Springs Soft Drinks is the third largest independent soft drinks manufacturer in the UK, based in Kent. With a workforce of around 140, they produce a number of branded drinks including household names Perfectly Clear, 1870 Mixes, Pulsar Isotonic, Fruit Squeeze and Stripes Cola, as well as many own brand drinks for major supermarkets.

Derek Chisnall, Auditel; Trevor Conway, Silver Springs; Peter Lawrence & Jeremy Bailey, Auditel.

Silver Springs Soft Drinks is the third largest, independent soft drinks manufacturer in the UK, based in Kent. With a workforce of around 140, they produce a number of branded drinks including such household names as Perfectly Clear, 1870 Mixes, Pulsar Isotonic, Fruit Squeeze and Stripes Cola, as well as many own brand drinks for major supermarkets.

Formerly, Silver Spring Mineral Water Company, a fourth generation family business, it was bought out of administration in September 2009 and a new management team installed.

With over 200 specialists covering the country, Auditel can deliver its fully independent cost and purchase management services to clients in well over 100 areas of business costs. They were initially engaged by CEO Gary West at the time of the purchase to ensure continuity of the electricity supply for the new company.

“Faced with an extremely precarious situation, including the threat of disconnection, a significant increase in security deposit and uncompetitive terms, we were pleased to call upon Auditel’s expertise. Their team worked with us to ensure a successful outcome. In the process they re-wrote the rule book with a major energy provider, establishing a way forward.”

Due to the success of the electricity project, Auditel were engaged to assess Silver Spring’s spend over a basket of 14 additional areas. The five-member team was augmented by other Auditel consultants who contributed their specialist knowledge.

Auditel also recommended two of their highly respected strategic partners with suitable professional and statutory qualifications to assist with insurance and business rates. The insurance renewal cost significantly less with improved and additional cover. A substantial reduction was obtained on business rates with guaranteed refunds in the future.

In the first 10 months, savings on these two areas and others, including electricity, mobiles, landline calls, pallets and stationery have exceeded £266,000 and are increasing substantially month by months. Further cost reductions will be realised as other projects are implemented.

Gary West sums up: “In order to make Silver Spring profitable again, one of my key objectives was to ensure that the non-core business assets were streamlined and kept under control. Auditel have not only made us more profitable, but have also become a sounding board and a valuable extension to our management and procurement teams.”

Established in 1994, Auditel is the premier cost and purchase management consultancy in the UK with over 3,500 clients ranging from small businesses to global brands such as Pizza Express, YMCA and Oxford University.

Their services include a free Business Health Check which consists of an examination of all expenditures associated with making effective cost management decisions. This free service coupled with their performance-driven contingency fee model, means the service is totally self-funding. There are no up-front fees, no hidden charges and no extras.