Case study
How BCOP saved £161,000 a year on gas across its care estate
Like for like.Gas alone.Written down.
The account
A charitable care provider running nursing homes and affordable housing in Birmingham, already working through an incumbent broker. Care sites run continuously, so heat and hot water are not discretionary and the gas position carries most of the cost risk.
- Client
- Broadening Choices for Older People
- Sector
- Care homes and residential estates
- Sites
- Nursing homes and affordable housing, Birmingham
The result
Each figure is shown with what it is measured against, the document it is taken from and the date that document carries.
EV-02 / Procurement
£161,000 a year saved on gas, about £483,000 across a three-year term
Measured against the incumbent broker position on gas alone. Network and policy charges reset each April for every supplier alike, so those sector-wide movements are separated out and the comparison is like for like.
Client value summary, BCOP
27 August 2026
EV-05 / Consumption
Half-hourly waste analysis and full agreed-capacity audit completed
Consumption data turned into a costed picture of where energy is used unnecessarily, with reserved capacity right-sized across the estate. An on-site generation feasibility study was completed alongside it.
Client value summary, BCOP
27 August 2026
To save nearly half a million pounds over the next few years on our gas bill alone is amazing. It gives us that sure footing to reinvest in our people and their home.
What we examined
The work starts with the records the client already holds. Nothing is estimated where a document exists.
- The incumbent broker position on gas, contract by contract.
- Invoices for each supply, with the commodity element separated from network and policy charges.
- Half-hourly data for the metered sites, read against how each home is actually run.
- The agreed capacity held at each site.
What the reading showed
- The gas position had not been tested against the wider market on a like-for-like basis.
- April charge resets were being read as price rises rather than as sector-wide movements that apply to every supplier alike.
- Consumption outside required hours had not been turned into a costed picture.
- Reserved capacity had not been right-sized across the estate.
What was done
Each step was recommended in writing and agreed before it was carried out.
01
Gas was tendered and the position compared against the incumbent broker arrangement, with the commodity element isolated so the comparison held.
02
A half-hourly waste analysis was completed, turning consumption data into a costed picture of energy used unnecessarily.
03
A full agreed-capacity audit was carried out and reserved capacity was right-sized across the estate.
04
An on-site generation feasibility study was completed alongside the cost work.
How to read the figure
The £161,000 a year is measured against the incumbent broker position on gas alone, and about £483,000 is that annual figure across a three-year term. Network and policy charges reset each April for every supplier alike, so those sector-wide movements are separated out and the comparison is like for like. Nothing from the consumption or capacity work is added into the procurement figure.
The source document is named above and released on request with the account holder's permission. Reviewed 18 September 2026.
The work behind it
The services this account used, and the sheets that explain the detail.
- Business energy procurement
- Business energy monitoring
- Agreed capacity reviews
- Care home energy management