East North East Homes Leeds (ENEHL) has developed a new subcontractor work allocation payments system (Swaps) in conjunction with Leeds City Council and Barclaycard. The new system makes it easier for the housing provider to allocate jobs to its roster of subcontractors and speed up the necessary payment processes.
Swaps comprises two components. The first holds data on all ENEHL’s subcontractors so that the right jobs are allocated transparently to the correct subcontractors, purely based on price and past performance. The second is the use of just one purchase card (p-card) for all transactions so that ENEHL not only has complete visibility of its spending on subcontractors but also can reduce its payment processes from 28 days to just four days. ENEHL reported that it has made a 20 per cent saving on void works within six weeks of the p-card’s introduction.
Adam Standerline, assistant quantity surveyor, East North East Homes Leeds, said, “Our old system involved a long paper trail that resulted in orders going astray and people not being paid on time. The new system provides clear benefits such as smarter working, less paper and more efficient processing. What’s more, we remain in complete control of the work and payment process so that we get the best value for money.”
Tony Butler, director of technical services, said, “Purchasing work through our subcontractors using the p-card lowers the transaction cost of each purchase and reduces the number of paper invoices. And with only one p-card, we have a complete picture of who is spending what, where and when, and our subcontractors have the peace of mind of knowing that they will be paid within just four days for the work they’ve done.”
