back to listings SME Profile: Utility Monitoring Services EU Limited

 

Utility Monitoring Services EU Limited

PO Box 2077
Thornbury
Bristol
BS35 9BH


Tel: +44 (0)1454 200027 / 07766 720 799
Fax: +44 (0)1454 200038

Email: Richard.welch@ums-eu.co.uk
Web: www.ums-eu.co.uk

Clarity on Utility Cost and Consumption

UMS specialises in working with organisations that have multiple sites as they are very susceptible to being overcharged on utility bills.  This is because they usually have limited time and resources to thoroughly check the large number of bills they receive. 
UMS brings clarity to the complex issues surrounding utility cost and consumption with a range of related services.  In today’s market anybody can negotiate prices, the hard bit is dealing with the day to day utility management issues and that’s what UMS is good at.

Efficient use of your utilities.
 
UMS has been involved with energy efficiency since the early nineties and we specialise in helping organisations in particular Housing Associations and Local Authorities, with their energy management. We bring a wealth of experience to our clients together with a tailored service.
Based near Bristol with Wyman Dillon (www.wymandillon.co.uk) who are one of the UKs leading market and social research organisations, we have the ability to offer our clients a comprehensive range of services.

UMS Services

Utility Bill Audit - The audit is designed to thoroughly examine all the utility bills that have already been paid on sites owned or managed by you, to assess their accuracy.  The audit shows exactly what has been used, what it cost, who was paid and at what rate.  The aim is to recover the inevitable overpayments on your behalf and as there are no upfront fees for the audit, there is absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Most importantly, any errors we correct mean savings for the future.

Utility Bill Validation - Outsourced utility bill processing far from being an overhead, delivers considerable savings.  Savings on processing costs that involve numerous people, savings on unnoticed errors and savings on additional charges. For about the same cost as one account clerk’s time, you can make all of your utility bill management problems quite literally disappear.

Voids, Decants and Recharging - Managing voids and decant properties is very time consuming as this can be a complex area of property management. UMS is able to take over this function as part of our invoice processing service saving you time and money with promptly suspended accounts. We can also produce cost reports for tenant recharging.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) - The new mandatory emissions trading scheme that aims to improve energy efficiency and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted in the UK. This is vital to achieving our overall targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by at least 80% compared to the 1990 baseline.  UMS uses the latest software application to manage client responsibilities.

Energy Purchasing – Working on your behalf means not getting a commission from suppliers for putting business their way.  UMS is not a brokerage, but we do offer clients independent advice on the best utility prices.  With the comprehensive site and tariff information we collect as a normal part or our work, we can help tender, select brokerage facilities or organise negotiations direct with suppliers.

Domestic Stock Profiling and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

UMS has been involved with Registered Social Landlords since 1995 and supply the market leading energy efficiency calculation software for domestic properties from Elmhurst Energy (www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk). The latest release of their system not only allows for the lodgement of EPCs, but also adds the data to the stock holders housing database for profile reporting on SAP ratings, cost, consumption and emissions.

Projects

Sanctuary Housing

Sanctuary Housing is one of the largest and most geographically diverse housing associations in the UK. Their asset portfolio includes standard domestic housing, care homes, student accommodation and sheltered accommodation. Utility Monitoring Services Ltd was given the job of auditing the historic utility expenditure on Sanctuary’s 5000 sites across the country, ranging from their head office to care homes to corridor lighting.

Keith Jackson, Sanctuary’s director of asset management, explained that monitoring utility usage and expenditure across this broad geographical and architectural spectrum had been difficult. ‘With fluctuating utility costs, a range of suppliers and sites not to mention new acquisitions, Sanctuary wanted to ensure that we not only pay for exactly what we use, but also that it is at an efficient minimum.’

UMS was initially appointed to audit all the historic billing to recover the inevitable overpayments that exist in all organisations, but particularly those who use both domestic and commercial. However, because the audit proved so successful, UMS was given the task of receiving, processing and validating all incoming utility bills.

Auditing its energy usage has also helped Sanctuary Housing Association to achieve Energy Efficiency Accreditation from the Carbon Trust on behalf of the National Energy Foundation.

The Brent Housing Partnership

BHP is one of the many housing organisation to recover money they have been overcharged by utility suppliers. With the help of UMS, it has proved to be a very straight forward process.

Utility companies usually get to keep the money because getting it back just doesn’t appear on the radar of senior executives. With staff usually pressed for time, it is very difficult to thoroughly scrutinize each bill which end up just being paid. It’s a crazy situation because this is bottom line money waiting to be collected and this is where UMS comes in. It’s probably true to say that there isn’t a single large housing stock holder in the UK who isn’t owed money by the utility companies. They just have to ask the right question which costs them nothing.

Fortunately there are people, as in BHP, who are aware of just how many billing errors are made by utility companies on a daily basis and have made the time to ask questions. In this case those questions have been handsomely rewarded.

Swansea City Council

‘UMS has been supporting Swansea City Council for a number of years in its efforts to provide comprehensive energy data for our large public housing stock. With a good working relationship, we have always

 

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