“Having identified historic billing errors, Kevin went on to negotiate a five figure savings for us. Without his knowledge and tenacity we would not have achieved anything near this on our own.”
- Head of Finance, RADA Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
“On each occasion, Kevin has saved us significant amounts of money on what might be considered minor items.”
- Finance Director, Carluccio’s
“Thanks very much for all your hard work on this and the other overhead areas; it’s going to save us a lot of time and money.”
- Office Manager, Childline

With difficult times continuing, many businesses and charities find themselves at a pivotal juncture. There remains a pressing need to confront operational overhead costs with pragmatic and proactive management to regain control of overweight budgets.

Many Finance Directors face a perplexing challenge: How to gain clarity on rising supplier tariffs and understand their true cost?

Are you receiving best value pricing for the overhead products and services you purchase or are you needlessly wasting money without realising it?

Our clients use us to identify cost reduction opportunities on general overheads to deliver measurable and sustainable savings to their cost of operation.

What our clients have to say.

We have a proud 99% savings success record over our 30 year history and have saved millions of pounds helping numerous businesses and charity clients of all sizes with sustainable and relevant, service-led pricing solutions.

Click the logos below to find out what our clients have to say.

To date WLA have been extremely successful in reducing our costs across a number of key categories. Their approach was extremely professional and at all times they were mindful of maintaining the level of quality and service from the suppliers as well asFinance Director, Bauer Media reducing costs.

Finance Director, Bauer Media

We have used Watermill Lane Associates twice in the last few years. On each occasion Kevin has saved us significant amounts of money upon reviewing our purchasing of what might ordinarily be considered minor items. The reason that we have used Watermill Lane is because Kevin always delivers and is really pleasant to work with.

Chief Financial Officer, Carluccio’s

Watermill Lane Associates worked very hard on the Trust’s behalf with the suppliers and produced some worthwhile savings. I would not hesitate in recommending Watermill Lane and in particular Kevin Fallows for cost reduction work.

Director of Finance and Administration, Terrence Higgins Trust

When you first offered your services to me I was sceptical about what you could achieve. Having looked through our overheads you have achieved excellent cost savings beyond my expectations and confirmed in other areas that we are buying competitively. Importantly your recommendations were within brief, relevant and ensured continuity of service and product quality.

Finance Director, Landor

Kevin’s approach is methodical and his attention to detail and knowledge of invoice line items across all categories is excellent and he has identified overcharges that we would not have done without his assistance. I would not hesitate to recommend WLA to other organisations looking to achieve immediate and ongoing savings and efficiencies.

Head of Procurement, Royal College of Physicians

I am pleased to confirm that we are delighted with the cost savings. We have found your approach to be both professional and determined and are pleased with your continued involvement in attempting to deliver further savings in these challenging times

Regional Director, Lambert Smith Hampton

Having identified historic billing errors on our electricity invoicing, Kevin went on to negotiate a significant five-figure savings for us in a very aggressive market. Without his knowledge and tenacity we would not have achieved anything near this on our own.

Interim Head of Finance, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

I thought we ran a very tight ship and I was initially skeptical of your ability to squeeze anything much out of our overheads. A year on and I am delighted to have been able to show my board an impressive table of savings made to date. I am now quite convinced that without your specialist expertise and dogged negotiating skills we would be poorer today.

Finance Director, Consolidated PR

Your way of working has been very hands-on and you not only provided us with extremely detailed analysis of our expenditure but have also taken time to understand our processes, requirements and aspirations. Your experience and professionalism has enabled RFIB to improve the quality of their operations as well as save money.

Operations Director, RFIB
More client references here

The Process.

THE BRIEF

We discuss and agree your objectives for our independent cost review and discuss any priorities, challenges or internal process issues there may be. It is vital in the review process that we identify and understand the quality of products and service you expect and receive from your suppliers and the relationship you have with them. This will only take an hour or so of staff time.

Analysis

Savings and efficiencies can come from many different places. We take time to analyse your supplier management reports and invoices to identify buying patterns trends, anomalies, wastage, errors, price creep and off-contract purchasing. Our factual, pragmatic reviews will uncover genuine savings opportunities. We work off-site so as not to disturb your staff.

Negotiate​

Having presented the savings opportunities to you, we negotiate positively and respectfully with your suppliers on your behalf. We negotiate for best value, not the cheapest price. Many supplier relationships are long-established and valued, yet it is still possible to achieve additional savings with a collaborative approach. We also secure refunds for billing errors.

Implement​

When the negotiated tariffs are agreed with the suppliers, we help implement them and monitor them over the engagement period to check that the suppliers retain the new pricing and bill correctly. This saves significant staff time and resources moving forward and ensures low benchmark pricing for future supplier negotiations and future supplier relationships.

LISTEN

I listen to your objectives for an independent overhead cost review and discuss any priorities or challenges. Understanding why and how your purchasing staff use your suppliers and identifying the quality of service and product you expect from your suppliers is vital to our review process. This should only take an hour or so of staff time.

Analyse​

Savings generally come from a number of different places and it’s my job to analyse your invoices and supplier management reports to establish true purchasing costs. I look for trends, anomalies, wastage, errors and off-contract purchasing. My factual, in-depth reviews will uncover multiple savings opportunities. I work off-site so as not to disturb you.

Negotiate​

My role here is to make savings on your behalf by working positively and respectfully with your existing suppliers. Many supplier relationships are long-established and valuable in many ways, yet it’s still possible to make significant savings in this area. I will also look for errors and unused services where I can make very significant cost reductions too.

Implement​

Once you have approved the savings negotiated, I help implement them and monitor them over the engagement period to ensure that suppliers retain their prices and bill correctly. This will save significant staff time and resources moving forward, and ensure low benchmark pricing for negotiations in the future.

About.

Watermill Lane Associates was founded by Kevin Fallows in 1992.

I have over 30 years of experience along with a proven track record in advising clients on overhead cost reductions, as well as extensive experience in indirect cost analysis, purchasing efficiencies and overcharge auditing.

I negotiate independently and positively with existing suppliers to achieve sustainable, fair and relevant pricing reductions for my clients.

Profit from my experience.

This is a collaborative process. I listen to what you’re happy to change and things you’d rather leave alone. This collaboration allows me to understand how you buy and what kind of product and service quality you expect from your suppliers.

I then carry out an off-site analysis of your overhead purchasing, negotiate independently with both existing suppliers and competitive benchmarking suppliers and report back with relevant and detailed price and service information.

This enables you to make an informed decision on how to achieve sustainable savings along with consistent service. This significantly saves staff time, effort and resources.

I am truly independent and completely supplier agnostic.

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