Scottish golf clubs have made significant savings in just eight months through the Scottish Golf Buying Group, according to new end-of-year figures released today. Clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf have saved more than £100,000 in utilities, electricity, gas and water alone since March, with the wider buying group’s total savings across all Scottish golf clubs using the new service now topping £180,000.
The Scottish Golf Buying Group is a newly formed service which help clubs across Scotland more efficiently manage their costs. With 188 golf clubs now registered in Scotland and actively engaged with the buying group through Scottish Golf’s partnership with Golf Management Group (GMG), the Scottish Golf Buying Group continues to gain stronger deals as part of their united approach.
Launched as part of Scottish Golf’s commitment to supporting clubs in response to a growing demand for the procurement service, the buying group enables clubs to save on key expenditure and are in line with competitive national rates.
Ross Duncan, Scottish Golf Development Director, said: “Launching the Scottish Golf Buying Group in partnership with GMG earlier this year has proved to be a fantastic success with credit due to all of the clubs who have committed to the service.
“Many of those clubs have reaped significant rewards and saved a valuable amount of money, time and resource. We look forward to developing this relationship further in the New Year and encourage more clubs to consider joining.”
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.
Other achievements so far:
- More than 50 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. The exclusive SGBG national price file means that Scottish clubs are enjoying the most competitive waste management rates. SGBG in many cases transfers the club to lower waste management pricing without any change to the provider of the service.
- 27 golf clubs are engaged with the Scottish Golf Buying Group’s preferred telecoms provider and are now enjoying savings of up to 57% against previous costs.
- 19 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
- 12 clubs are currently changing over their Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplier, with potential savings of up to £4,000 per annum, simply by moving on to the SGBG price file.
- Specialised food procurement services is a huge growth area and has saved several clubs more than £5,000 per annum – an area that has tremendous scope for clubs to take advantage of.
The Scottish Golf Buying Group, which utilises the collective purchasing power of Scottish golf clubs to leverage significant discounts across a range of service categories, is free to access for all clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf. Some of the top performing categories include utilities, insurance and waste management, as well as food, telecoms and scorecards.
Colin Reid, club manager at Dundas Parks Golf Club, said: “We have benefited in a number of areas since joining the Scottish Golf Buying Group and I would recommend more clubs use it if you want to make savings without compromising service.
“Our electricity, telephone and internet costs have all reduced significantly since we joined, by more than 50% in regards to telephone landline costs. On waste disposal the savings have been smaller but the buying group now manage this contract on our behalf. I have found the team to be very easy to deal with and very responsive.”
Campsie Golf Club saved more than £1,400 in three years across telecoms, gas, electricity and water – James Kerr, club secretary at Campsie Golf Club, added: “We would not hesitate in encouraging all golf clubs who have not joined to do so and hope our savings assist in showing the team’s tremendous efforts are reaping rewards for us.”
Ian Howieson, GMG Scotland & North East National Manager, commented: “We’re overwhelmed by the response we’ve had from partnering with Scottish Golf to join forces on our buying group. It’s been a great start to our first year with over £180,000 made in savings for clubs across Scotland. We look to work even closer with Scottish Golf in the New Year in the hope of reaching out to even more clubs and capitalising on these savings.”
With more and more clubs reaping the rewards, Scottish Golf members are being encouraged to consider signing up and those already members are looking at other cost areas of their business.
For further information on the Scottish Golf Buying Group, including how to sign up, visit https://www.scottishgolf.org/club-services/buying-group/