The Scottish Golf Buying Group, a newly formed service to help clubs across Scotland more efficiently manage their costs, is celebrating a significant contribution to clubs’ savings in its first three months.
Through 15 of Scottish Golf’s affiliated golf clubs saving £27,000 in utilities, electricity, gas and water alone, the wider buying group’s total savings across all Scottish golf clubs using the service has now topped £100,000.
With more than 160 golf clubs in Scotland actively engaged with the buying group, and as part of Scottish Golf’s new partnership with Golf Management Group (GMG), the Scottish Golf Buying Group was launched as part of the governing body’s commitment to supporting clubs in response to a growing demand for the procurement service.
Ross Duncan, Scottish Golf Development Director, said: “We’re really encouraged by the uptake of Scottish Golf member clubs, the positive results and significant savings generated so far. We’ve listened to our members and delivered a service that will help clubs across the country collectively enjoy the best possible and most efficient opportunities from the buying group. Signing up to this service is something all our clubs should seriously consider.”
With all the small gains adding up, clubs across the length and breadth of the country have enjoyed impressive savings which are invaluable to their business. One club has collectively saved over £8000 in the last three months by moving to the Scottish Golf Buying Group’s suppliers.
Other achievements so far:
- Many golf clubs have transferred to the group’s exclusive new rate for waste management services and are making savings of between 11% to 30%. Furthermore, a number of clubs are in the process of moving their waste management contract which will result in average savings of £750 per club
- Seven golf clubs are engaged with the Scottish Golf Buying Group’s preferred telecoms provider and are now enjoying approximately 20% in savings.
- One club which was paying BT 45p per minute to mobile phones are now paying 4.5p per minute
- 12 clubs are in the process of moving over to the group’s washroom services, which will eventually lead to an average saving of £800 per club
- 10 clubs are currently changing over their Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplier, with one club saving over £3000 in the last week
- Specialised food procurement services have saved one club £6000 – an area that has huge opportunity for clubs to take advantage of
As part of the procurement service, Scottish Golf’s affiliated golf clubs gain free access to the dedicated buying group and can utilise the collective purchasing power of Scottish golf clubs to leverage significant discounts across a range of service categories. Some of the top performing categories include utilities, insurance and waste management as well as food, telecoms and golf course equipment.
Ian Howieson, GMG Scotland & North East National Manager, commented: “There is nothing better for me to see than golf clubs of all sizes in Scotland benefitting from the economy of scale, bringing together the collective purchasing of all the golf clubs in Scotland to drive down their supplier costs.”
Scottish golf clubs also have free access to GMG’s Contracts Manager which is a simple, secure online tool which helps you keep track of the day-to-day service and utility contracts, as well as ensuring clubs meet their pay dates and don’t run into expensive extended terms.
With more and more clubs reaping the rewards, Scottish Golf members are being encouraged to consider signing-up.
Ross Duncan added: “The more you trade, the more you save – it’s as simple as that. We’ve worked closely with GMG for some time to ensure our clubs get the best possible deals, including waiving the annual fee, so I would encourage all clubs to take advantage of this opportunity.”
For further information on the Scottish Golf Buying Group, including how to sign up, visit https://www.scottishgolf.org/club-services/buying-group/