Project overview
Sector: Professional Services
Client type: International accountancy and advisory firm - Tier 2
Service: Full Commercial Opportunity Assessment (COA)
Focus areas: Procurement maturity, supplier governance, spend visibility, cost optimisation, commercial controls
Engagement length: 3-4 months
Key outcome: Identified over £1.2m in achievable annualised savings opportunities and developed a roadmap for long-term commercial maturity
The challenge:
A growing international professional services firm was preparing for a significant period of organisational growth and transformation as it continued its acquisition journey and having recently listed as an IPO. As the business had expanded, procurement and commercial activities had become increasingly decentralised, with inconsistent supplier management practices, limited contract visibility, and fragmented commercial oversight across multiple business functions.
The organisation was managing a large and complex supplier landscape, with over 1,100 suppliers and significant third-party spend (c£40m+) spread across multiple service lines and categories including technology, recruitment, legal services, facilities management, marketing, and professional services.
Key commercial and operational challenges included:
- Limited visibility and control across supplier contracts and spend
- Inconsistent buying practices and duplicated supplier arrangements
- Missing, incomplete, or unsigned contracts creating compliance and commercial risk
- Weak procurement governance and limited strategic sourcing activity
- Poor quality spend data and manual financial reconciliation processes
- Siloed change initiatives operating without central commercial oversight
Without a more structured commercial and procurement capability, the organisation faced increasing operational risk, reduced commercial leverage, and growing difficulty managing supplier performance, costs, and future scalability.
What Mantis achieved:
Mantis delivered a structured Commercial Opportunity Assessment (COA) over a 3-4 month engagement, combining strategic commercial analysis with practical, delivery-focused recommendations designed to support long-term operational improvement and future growth.
Key activities included:
- Analysis of third-party spend data across 15+ business and legal / trading entities and multiple categories
- Review of over 280 supplier contracts and commercial agreements
- Stakeholder workshops with 20+ teams across Finance, IT, HR, Legal, ESG, Facilities, Marketing, and operational functions
- Deep-dive reviews across major spend categories including Technology, Recruitment, Legal Services, FM, Property, Marketing, and Professional Services
- Identification and validation of savings opportunities, governance gaps, supplier risks, and operational inefficiencies
Key success: The assessment created the organisation’s first consolidated view of supplier relationships, procurement activity, commercial commitments, and areas requiring stronger governance and control.
Key findings:
The assessment revealed a fragmented supplier landscape, with a significant proportion of spend sitting within lower-value or duplicated supplier arrangements. Contract management practices also varied significantly between departments, reducing commercial leverage, limiting oversight, and increasing supplier and compliance risk.
The review identified weaknesses in procurement controls, limited purchase-to-pay practices, and fragmented spend data across multiple systems. This made it harder to align procurement with budgets, track supplier performance, and prioritise strategic sourcing activity.
The assessment also highlighted the absence of a centralised commercial framework to support supplier governance, change initiatives, and long-term procurement planning across the organisation.
Results and impact:
The Commercial Opportunity Assessment identified over £1.24m in achievable annualised savings opportunities, alongside wider operational, governance, and supplier management improvements.
Key opportunities included supplier consolidation, contract renegotiation, licensing optimisation, improved procurement governance, and more structured commercial management across Technology, Legal Services, Recruitment, Facilities Management, and Professional Services.
Beyond direct cost savings, the engagement helped the organisation:
- Improve visibility and control across supplier contracts and third-party spend
- Identify commercial and compliance risks across the supplier landscape
- Reduce duplicated supplier arrangements and fragmented buying activity
- Strengthen governance and commercial decision-making processes
- Establish clearer foundations for long-term procurement maturity and scalability
Mantis also developed a structured roadmap for a future commercial stabilisation programme, designed to help the organisation transition towards a more mature, strategically led commercial operating model.
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Commercial Opportunity Assessment
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Commercial Opportunity Assessment
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