Project overview
Sector: Hospitality
Client type: Premium wine merchant, hospitality and events business
Service: Cost Saving Opportunity Assessment (CSOA)
Focus areas: Cost optimisation, GNFR spend analysis, supplier rationalisation, procurement governance, commercial controls
Engagement length: 12 weeks
Key outcome: Identified a prioritised pipeline of initiatives capable of delivering more than £500k in potential savings, alongside a roadmap for stronger commercial governance and long-term cost optimisation.
The challenge:
A leading premium hospitality business was looking to improve visibility and control across its Goods Not For Resale (GNFR) expenditure, while maintaining the high standards of service and customer experience expected of a premium brand. With continued business growth and a hugely diverse operational footprint, supplier management and commercial activity had evolved across multiple functions, creating a fractured landscape with opportunities to improve consistency, governance, and long-term value.
The organisation was managing a substantial and complex supplier landscape, with GNFR expenditure exceeding £30m per annum across a broad range of categories including IT, marketing, temporary labour, logistics, events and hospitality, operations, packaging, and professional services.
Key commercial and operational challenges included:
- Limited central visibility across supplier contracts and commercial commitments
- A fragmented supplier base, duplication and growing tail spend
- Inconsistent contracting, pricing structures, and supplier performance management
- Small number of key gold tier vendors who were not performing to contract and therefore high risk.
- Limited standardisation of procurement processes and governance across business functions
- Increasing commercial and compliance risks associated with decentralised supplier management
Without a more structured approach to supplier governance and cost management, the organisation risked missing opportunities to optimise expenditure, strengthen commercial controls, and build a more sustainable framework for long-term value creation while protecting brand integrity and service quality.
What Mantis achieved:
Mantis delivered a structured Cost Saving Opportunity Assessment (CSOA) over a twelve-week discovery phase, combining spend analytics, market insight, and stakeholder engagement to identify sustainable savings opportunities and strengthen long-term commercial performance.
Key activities included:
- Spend analytics and segmentation across all GNFR categories
- Deep-dive workshops with functional and category stakeholders
- Supplier and contract reviews to assess value for money, duplication, and commercial risk
- Market benchmarking to identify pricing, sourcing, and commercial opportunities
- Development of prioritised initiatives with practical delivery plans and clear implementation pathways
Key success: The assessment created a fact-based savings blueprint, giving the organisation greater visibility across GNFR expenditure while aligning finance, procurement, and operational teams around a shared roadmap for sustainable cost optimisation. It also identified tangible immediate benefits to the bottom line.
Results and impact:
The Cost Saving Opportunity Assessment identified a prioritised pipeline of initiatives capable of delivering more than £500k in potential savings, alongside wider opportunities to strengthen commercial governance, supplier management, and operational control.
Key opportunities included supplier rationalisation, contract renegotiation, improved demand management, market benchmarking, and stronger commercial oversight across major GNFR categories including IT, marketing, temporary labour, logistics, events and hospitality, operations, packaging, and professional services.
Beyond direct cost savings, the engagement helped the organisation:
- Improve visibility and control across GNFR expenditure and supplier commitments
- Reduce supplier fragmentation and tail spend
- Strengthen commercial consistency and supplier performance management
- Identify commercial and compliance risks, including GDPR and IR35 considerations
- Establish stronger foundations for long-term procurement governance and cost optimisation
Mantis also developed a prioritised roadmap of short, medium, and longer-term initiatives, enabling the organisation to balance cost efficiency with premium service standards, brand integrity, and future growth ambitions.
Related services:
Commercial Opportunity Assessment
Supplier Relationship & Risk Management
Commercial Opportunity Assessment
Cost Optimisation
Supplier Relationship & Risk Management
Commercial Opportunity Assessment
Supplier Relationship & Risk Management
Supplier Relationship & Risk Management
Supplier Relationship & Risk Management