Attention! Top PAs & Office Managers

PR Log (Press Release) – Oct 01, 2009 – You haven’t a clue where to start and, as always, time is against you. But you instinctively know that it’s not going to be as straightforward as your boss has made out! You’ve heard of the `horror stories’ where others before you have unwittingly employed `cowboys’ to carry out such work although they’ve appeared perfectly reliable at first meeting. Also, of escalating costs that went way over the original budget although everybody believed that a `fixed price’ had been agreed!

Well enough of the nightmare scenarios!

With more than 35 years experience as an ex-contractor himself, working with many `Blue Chip’ companies such as BT, esure, Heineken, Marks & Spencer and Sothebys, as well as a host of SMEs of all shapes and sizes along the way, Alan Whitehead has now launched `Whitehead Francis Associates’ - an independent consultancy specialising in helping PAs and Office Managers through the `minefields’ of dealing with contractors and suppliers - not to mention the myriad regulations and `red tape’ surrounding the industry - when charged with the task of arranging an office relocation, fit out or refurbishment.

WFA principal, Alan Whitehead, says that one of the major benefits to the client of choosing a totally independent specialist consultant to act on their behalf is that because they have no particular `axe to grind’ when it comes to sourcing suitable contractors or suppliers they can provide totally objective advice to ensure that all costs are as competitive as possible and that all projects undertaken are finished within budget and on time.  

Whitehead goes on to say that “Another major benefit of using the services of an independent specialist such as WFA is the total peace of mind it brings. For example, we've just completed negotiations on behalf of a client facing a £360,000.00p `dilapidations’ claim from their Landlord when they wanted to move out of their leased premises. We were able to advise the client that this claim could be reduced to less than £100k for carrying out all of the work themselves so enabling this client to challenge the claim and put themselves in a far stronger `bargaining’ position as a result.

Because we’ve spent so many years working `at the sharp end’ as ex-contractors ourselves, our `insider knowledge’ also enables us to de-mystify the jargon inherent in the industry on behalf of our clients giving them the opportunity to properly compare `apples-with-apples’ when looking at several competing contractor or supplier’s prices.

Another invaluable advantage uniquely available to us in helping to reduce costs even further is our total grasp of just HOW a contractor marks up his base materials and labour costs and, just as importantly, WHY he does it. Also, how many people outside the industry – or even within it for that matter – truly know the difference between a `quotation’ and an `estimate’ and what are the financial implications of both?

Alan comments further “There are always going to be objections to using a specialist independent consultant such as WFA from the small minority of decision makers who just don’t `get it’ on the grounds that they `represent just another layer of management - and therefore added costs - which could be better spent elsewhere within the project’. Nothing could be further from the truth! We maintain that just by sitting us down at the table early, the earlier the better, we can save our clients anywhere from 20%, 30%, 40%, or more, on `normal’ market prices. How can we truthfully claim this?

Well, for a start, because we are doing this for a living, day-in day-out, we don’t need to spend days, even weeks, of our clients’ time and money carrying out unnecessary and often time consuming `research’ to source the most suitable, credible and trustworthy suppliers and contractors. We just know from `Day One’ which ones are right for a particular project and, just as importantly, who’s not!

And we’re far from finished yet! There are also the hidden, `holistic’ across-the-board savings to consider when employing a specialist consultant, such as: not diverting valuable executive and managerial time away from their core responsibilities of making profits for their own business; keeping a lid on potential escalation of costs by pro-actively and tightly managing each project on a day-to-day basis to prevent problems which can otherwise arise due to `mis-communication’ and `mis-understandings’ between contractors and client; plus a whole host of others too numerous to mention here.”

So, for all you busy PAs and Office Managers out there wishing to sleep easier at night - as well as reducing your paracetemol bill - the next time your boss asks you -  
“Can you just ……?”  you might want to reach for the `phone and call in that specialist advisor without further delay.