July 2017
A recent survey of over 250 convenience retailers has shown that energy costs are a threat to the future of their business. 46% of those retailers believe that they have an ‘unfair’ or ‘very unfair’ deal from their energy supplier. Complaints included – crippling rates, inflexible payment terms and long, extended contracts.
Smartsavings has successfully saved retailers £thousands over the years on their electricity contracts. Get in touch and see what we can do.
Of those stores surveyed, 84% have no written age verification policy; 47% have no warning signage and 79% have no documented training in place.
Smartsavings works with a national provider of compliance checking services. Get in touch to find out more. It could save your business or at the very least help you to avoid a punitive fine.
June 20
June 2017
TPR issued over 5700 fines of £400 or more during the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 50% vs the previous quarter.
Are you compliant? Smartsavings works with AEclipse to provide competitive solutions for workplace pensions. Get in touch and see how inexpensive it can be. Don’t risk being fined.
May 2017
Rising inflation is only one of the factors driving up convenience retailers costs. Smartsavings can save you money on the everyday costs of doing business.
April 2017
ATMs are proven to increase footfall, drive profitability and save the retailer money.
Smartsavings works with YourCash, one of the largest ATM providers in Europe. If you are one of the 46% without an ATM, contact Smartsavings about installing an ATM at no cost to you.
March 2017
This includes £131m of theft by customers and staff. That equates to £5475 per store. Are you taking all the measures you should to protect your business against people stealing from you?
Smartsavings has some of the solutions you need, from alarms, cctv, cash safes, insurance and cash collection services.
February 2017
According to analysis by the Retail Economics / Retail Week cost base index, operational costs rose by 4% in Q4 2016, the biggest increase since 2014. The biggest contributor is increased Labour costs. With inflation forecast to hit 3% during the year, the outlook on costs is very challenging for retailers in 2017.
Smartsavings is a proven means of reducing costs through its 22 pre-negotiated deals for key operational services.
January 2017
In the 3rd quarter of 2016, the Pension Regulator issued 15,000 non-compliance notices to small businesses. This compares with 11,000 issued in the previous 3.5 years.
The regulator also imposed more than 3 times the number of fines of up to £10,000 per day on businesses, than it had done in the previous 3.5 years.
In 2017 over 700,000 small employers (0-30 employees) will have to start offering a workplace pension. Don’t risk your business by not complying. At Smartsavings we have a great, cost-effective solution for you.
December 2016
Congratulations to Midshire, our supplier of copiers, on winning this award.
Since the introduction of the NLW earlier this year, retailers have been successfully using Smartsavings to reduce their business costs and in so doing, to mitigate the cost impact of the NLW.
Make sure you are using Smartsavings to reduce your costs as the cost to you of paying the NLW increases in 2017.
November 2016
Read the great testimonials on our ‘Customer Reviews’ page from retailers who are savings £000’s pa on their electricity costs by switching from fluorescent to LED lighting. Smartsavings’ LED lights come with a 5 year warranty and are UK manufactured.
Your investment will pay back in around 9 months, after which it is just pure savings. What are you waiting for?
Our supplier Cashtec can help you to ensure that your cash counting/weighing equipment is able to deal with the new coin. Remember that there will be an overlap period of 6 months when you will have to accept both the current and new £1 coin.
This website provides lots of information about the new coin.
http://www.thenewpoundcoin.com
October 2016
Research shows that when you have a cash machine in store, users spend a larger proportion of this cash in store than other shoppers. Make sure you cash in by getting yourself a ‘free to use’ cash machine from YourCash through Smartsavings.
The falling £ and the rising oil price mean that the cost of electricity is increasing. But did you know that the cost of electricity makes up less than half of the price you pay on your bill? The fastest rising element of cost are the government’s ‘Green Levies’ and these will increase each year.
Make sure you use the free Smartsavings’ expert energy contract renewal service to ensure that you get the best deal available.
According to analysis of the Pension Regulator’s data, around 55,000 small businesses have only a limited understanding of their duty to provide staff with a pension and are at risk of being fined for non-compliance.
Avoid the risk by using Smartsavings’ pension expert to put your workplace pension in place.
The Polymer Fiver is now out. Are you ready?
A new polymer £10 note will be issued in summer 2017
– Check the see through window and the portrait of the Queen
– Check the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) is gold on the front of the note and silver on the back
– Check the foil patch below the see through window changes from ‘Five’ to ‘ Pounds’ when note is tilted
– Check the coronation crown appears 3D
– Check the ultra violet feature (forgery detector pens will not work)
– Check the circular green foil patch on the back of note which contains the word ‘BLENHEIM’
All Cashtec counting machines supplied through Smartsavings are new polymer and £1 coin ready.
We also offer a wide range of UV forgery detection equipment
September 2016
To help you select the most effective services for your business, use our guide to show you what the benefits could be. Find it here
smartsavings-benefits-guide-sept2016
Use Twitter to keep up with the latest news from Smartsavings and our suppliers. Find us @smartsavings1.
It couldn’t be easier to follow us using your smartphone and keep up to date with the different ways to make savings using Smartsavings.
August 2016
We have a new deal launching soon which offers a hassle free solution to Auto Enrolment.
June 2016
Smartsavings LED lighting solutions are providing retailers with excellent savings on energy bills and improving store lighting.
March/April 2016
The team attended a major symbol group’s roadshows promoting Smartsavings as a way to mitigate some of the costs of the National Living Wage – significant uptake resulting in great savings for retailers.
December 2015
Working with Loomis, the UK’s premier cash management specialist to supply the best and safest cash transit solutions.
November 2015
We’re now working with Yourcash to provide retailers with quality ATMs and fast, reliable service.
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The Smartsavings team are here to help, just give us a call if you need any information.
The new Food Information Regulation comes into force on 13th December and will affect every Food Business Operator (FBO) preparing their own food products for resale.
The main purpose of the act is to protect allergy sufferers from eating products harmful to them. There are also some potentially serious consequences for retailers not complying with the Act.
If you are affected by this then please read the attached advisory bulletin for more information.
If you have any further queries please contact the Smartsavings Team directly on 07541 654025. Posted 10/11/2014
Since the launch of Smartsavings to Bargain Booze stores back in March we have received significant interest from stores requesting more information on our deals. A good number of stores have already signed-up to some of those deals and are now benefitting from reduced costs and great service from our suppliers. If you are interested in seeing how your store can benefit contact us on 07541 654025. Posted 18/08/2014
The presence of a CCTV camera is a strong visual sign to would-be intruders that your property is being watched and acts as a great first-line deterrent.
Our new deal with UK Security Company will help stores to plan and put together a CCTV system that covers the whole of their property at a highly competitive rate.
To help make sure that your property is safe visit the deals page today for more information, or contact the Smartsavings Team directly on 07541 654025. Posted 17/07/2014
We have recently launched 3 fantastic new Smartsavings deals for Spar stores:
1) HR Support – Our new partners, HR Inc, offer a wide range of HR support and services including basic telephone consultations, contracts, managing performance or disciplinary issues, pensions support and annual audits and reviews.
2) Energy Savings – Fusion of Power can supply and install a range of voltage optimisation units which can save you on average 12% on your business and/or home energy costs. Guaranteed savings are available with certain units.
3) Cash Handling Equipment – Cashtec offer a wide range of cash handling and security equipment at very competitive prices. From detector pens to safes, Cashtec have a solution for your cash handling needs.
For more information on all of these great new offers, check out the deals page on the Spar Smartsavings website. Posted 10/02/2014
Welcome to the new look Smartsavings website and what an improvement it is! What started out as a quick refresh has led to a complete overhaul both visually and in terms of content.
We originally set ourselves two goals; simplifying the way the website operates and improving communication of the deals to new and returning customers. We’re confident that the new site delivers both , but do tell us what you think by either using the contact us page, emailing us at enquiries@smartsavings.co.uk or simply pick up the phone 01275 390511. Posted 16/01/2014
In a recent article in the Independent Retail News publication “The Guide: 14 for 2014”, the Smartsavings scheme is used as a positive example to illustrate how Spar provides help to their members on managing their energy costs. Paul Wilson of Smartsavings, asked to provide a comment for the article, said:
“One of the challenges for retailers is that if they miss or ignore the incumbent supplier’s renewal notifications, they risk automatic rollover onto a new contract, often at uncompetitive rates. Smartsavings is able to diarise contract end dates and will make contact with the retailer as their current contract approaches renewal, ensuring the retailer does not miss the opportunity to review the market and find the best possible deal every time”
If your energy contract is up for renewal, make sure you contact us now for a quote, you could save a significant amount. Posted 14/01/2014
The Smartsavings team were delighted to attend the Blakemore Tradeshow at the NEC last week. It was a fantastic opportunity to get some face-to-face time with retailers and to gain a real understanding of the cost challenges facing stores in the current climate. We were really encouraged to see how many Blakemore stores are already using the Smartsavings service and picked up lots of new enquiries and some great feedback from the retailers we spoke to. Posted 01/10/2013
We were given the opportunity to attend the Londis Region 2 Sales Team meeting in September and to present to the team about what Smartsavings could offer their stores. The meeting was a real success and we were extremely pleased with the level of engagement that the team displayed. We received some valuable feedback about ways to help encourage stores to see the value of the service and will be putting some of these ideas into place over the coming weeks and months. Posted 01/10/2013
A fantastic article about the introduction of Smartsavings to the Musgrave business was printed in last months issues of the Budgens and Londis magazines. The article has been put together by Finance Director Julie Wirth and includes quotes from Kash Jaffar of Budgens and from our very own Managing Director, Richard Beale. There is a detailed summary of the services available and how to access them along with some great commentary on why Musgrave have decided to introduce the scheme and how their stores can benefit. Posted 11/04/13
We are very pleased to launch our new business mobile deal in partnership with Alliance Communications. Alliance can provide you with independent advice on all your business mobile needs and have arrangements with all the major networks. They also offer a full range of handsets and accessories at competitive prices. Check out the details now on the Spar deals page and click on ‘get the deal’ for someone to contact you directly to discuss your needs. Posted 04/04/13
Follow the link below for another great article about the Musgrave and Smartsavings partnership. The article, featured in The Grocer, includes a quote from Julie Wirth and from a prominent Musgraves retailer:
Posted 21/03/13
The Smartsavings team are delighted to have been invited to attend the Budgens conference in St Andrews on the 21st March and are busy preparing for the day and hoping that the snow is not going to be too deep! We are looking forward to some great interaction with the retailers on the day and hope to see you there so we can demonstrate what Smartsavings can do for you. Posted 18/03/13
There has been some great press around about the partnership between Musgrave and Smartsavings. Check out the following link to see an article in The Retail Bulletin by Julie Wirth, finance director of Budgens and Londis:
Posted 13/03/13
Since the launch of Smartsavings to Londis stores back in February we have received lots of telephone and email enquiries from stores requesting more information on our deals. A number of stores have already signed-up to some of those deals and are now benefitting from reduced costs and great service from our suppliers. Check back here for some feedback from stores about their experience with Smartsavings – coming soon! Posted 20/2/13
We were invited to attend the Londis retailers’ conference at the Hilton Heathrow Terminal 5 on the 7th February where we launched Smartsavings to the 350 retailers who attended. It was a great day and our demonstrations of the website and chats with retailers were well received and generated lots of interest in the scheme. Smartsavings was also promoted directly to the assembled retailers during their conference presentations by Sales Director Paul Courtney and Arjan Mehr, Chairman of the NRC as a fantastic opportunity for stores to help control their costs and save time and money. Thanks to both for getting behind Smartsavings. Posted 14/2/13
We are currently in talks with providers within the education sector about launching a tailor-made Smartsavings scheme for them. More and more schools are now faced with the responsibility of procuring their own goods and services independently and we believe that Smartsavings could be the answer. Watch this space! Posted 11/2/13
Our tips and links section has now gone live for our clients. If you are looking for help and advice on clever ways to save money or advice on where to go for further information then take a look. We welcome any feedback or suggestions for any specific areas you would like to see covered here. Just drop us a line with your thoughts. Posted 13/2/13
The Smartsavings team are always working hard to ensure that we not only have the best current deals, but that we are also constantly reviewing what our clients want and launching new and exciting deals for our stores to take advantage of. In the coming weeks we will be launching deals for car leasing, car/tyre servicing, hotels, mobile broadband, stationary and more. Make sure you keep on checking back to see what’s new so that you can take advantage straight away. Posted 15/2/13
We are very pleased to announce the launch of our fantastic new Smartsavings website. Along with a new look we have included some features that we hope will make visiting the site a quicker, easier and more interactive experience. Please take the time to have a look and drop us a line if you have any suggestions. Keep checking back as we will be adding lots more content and new deals over the coming weeks. Posted 7/2/13
A very warm welcome to The Musgrave Group who have now joined Smartsavings. As our newest Smartsavings client, Musgrave’s will be bringing 191 Budgens stores and just under 2,000 Londis stores to the scheme. This is an extremely exciting time in the continuing development of Smartsavings and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Musgrave team and their Budgens and Londis retail colleagues. Posted 7/2/13
With the launch of The Musgrave Group, Smartsavings has now reached the 4,000 store mark giving us just under 10% coverage of all convenience retail stores across mainland Britain. This means that over 4,000 stores now have direct access to our deals and services via the scheme. This is fantastic news and gives us even more buying power to ensure that we continue to leverage the best deals for our clients and help to save them even more money and time. Posted 7/2/13
The total spend through Smartsavings has now exceeded £7.5m per annum. We are delighted that we have been able to directly influence such a significant amount of spend and that the scheme continues to grow all the time. With more and more money going through Smartsavings we are able to negotiate better and better deals giving everyone with access to the scheme fantastic savings and service. Posted 7/2/13
Telephone: 07541 654025 Email: enquiries@smartsavings.co.uk
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