Short term :
Creative solution for international bank beats target 15% saving:
A major US banking institution in
London had a continuous flow of staff from their international offices on a mixture of short- and longer-term assignments. We were asked to reduce their overall housing costs by a minimum of 15% .
Following analysis of demand, we identified that there was continuous demand for 92% of the year for 30 apartments including a mixture of one and two bedroom properties.
Following a pilot scheme, we leased an entire building of 24 fully furnished one and two bedroom apartments close to client Head Office, from an institutional landlord on flexible terms. We added a bespoke range of services according to occupier profiles, with junior staff sharing two bedroom, two bathroom properties and more senior or accompanied staff having their own apartments.
We achieved an overall cost saving of well in excess of 20% and achieved guest satisfaction of 98.3%.
Medium and long term:
Fortune 500 Company saves 30%:
A Fortune 500 Company wanted us to rationalise their corporate housing in the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe, for staff from India, China and the US. For the long term stays (6 months and over) we leased apartments in several locations, and used
Serviced Apartments for the shorter stays and as holding accommodation while waiting for longer term leased apartments to become available.
Single occupancy was provided for senior staff, with multi-occupancy for less senior staff. Some of the long-term leased accommodation was also used to rotate short-term stays. Overall, costs have been cut by at least 30%, and up to 140 properties are leased at any one time.
Long term:
The client had traditionally provided their overseas assignees working in the UK with a cash housing allowance. This policy had resulted in some worrying CSR issues and a high volume of administrative problems. It often resulted in assignees staying in poor quality accommodation, in dangerous areas and entering into long-term and inflexible tenancy agreements. It also meant that assignees and their line managers spent a great deal of time sourcing accommodation and managing issues related to their accommodation, leaving them with less time to focus on their jobs.
After appointing Go Native as their corporate housing supplier in 2008, the client commissioned Go Native to carry out a complete review of assignee housing. Of the properties reviewed, a significant number were deemed unsuitable. These were terminated while those that were retained had their leases and utility contracts transferred into the name of Go Native. A number of streamline processes were also implemented.
The result - reduced spend, harmonised quality, operating efficiencies and CSR issues addressed. Eight months on and all of the client’s international assignees are now being housed by Go Native in a mixture of short term Serviced Apartments and longer term Leased Apartments. The program has also been extended to UK-based assignees working on projects away from their home location and graduates on the client’s graduate training programme.
Graduates or Interns:
30 MBA Interns housed in London for BT:
In summer 2009, BT brought 30 MBA interns to London to work at the BT Centre for 10-12 weeks. During their stay in London, the interns required low cost, good quality short-term accommodation.
In previous years, BT had given their interns advice on where to stay and a cash allowance to cover the costs of accommodation. Not only did this system require a considerable amount of admin time from BT, but interns were finding it hard to locate suitable short-term accommodation of a decent standard. BT tasked Go Native, their accommodation supplier since 2007, with finding financially viable, short-term accommodation in London which struck a good balance between cost and comfort.
In response to growing demand from clients for lower cost housing solutions, Go Native had conducted extensive research on the short-term accommodation market throughout 2008 and established relationships with a number of new innovative suppliers. One of these suppliers operated accommodation in Central London that met all the criteria.
The Result - £36 per head per night in Zone 1! Go Native delivered a solution for a fully inclusive rate of just £36 per head per night in Zone 1, Central London, with which
all the interns have been delighted. In addition to achieving a low budget and well received accommodation solution, Candy Jenkins, MBA Recruitment Manager at BT also commented that the Go Native team had entirely removed the administrative burden.
For a review of possible housing solutions for your graduate or intern programs, please contact Mark Hunter on
0845 601 2028.
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