It would be somewhat of an understatement to say COVID-19 has had a huge impact on businesses. In troubling times such as these it is only natural to direct your attention to aspects of your business that you deem the most important, such as your workforce, customer base and front-facing business operations.
In the midst of the madness, it is easy to forget about some of those “less glamorous” aspects of the firm and in the following piece we’ll be discussing one of those areas, your business waste.
What processes do you need in place if your premises are closed? What if you are open still but working at a limited capacity? When is the best time to renew or switch your contracts? We will cover all this below.
My office is closed, what should I do?
Simply put, ask for a suspension of your services.
For many, lockdown has meant that businesses had to close but still pay for contracted services including business waste and recycling services. Many waste service providers have generously allowed their customers to suspend their service, even though their waste contract forbids stop-starting of collections.
Each waste service provider makes their own commercial decision on whether or not to allow this, but the vast majority have accepted suspensions in order to retain the customer in the long term, so if you haven’t already, make that call today.
We are still open for business, should I just carry on as normal?
If your premises are still open but operating at a limited capacity or a severely reduced workforce, you may still have need for your waste collection services, but you can always save money by investigating how frequently you need collection pickups.
When you originally negotiated your waste contracts, you would have (hopefully) done so on the accurate understanding of how much waste you would be generating and how many pickups you would need. If the amount of waste you are generating has halved, then it is time to consider reducing the amount of the pickups you receive. Consider how much you could save by rescheduling your weekly pickups to fortnightly, or if you have three or four collections per week could be reduced to just two or three collections instead, producing instant savings for your business.
Take note, if you reduce the amount of pickups then please be fair to waste service providers, don’t have a four foot waste mountain sprouting from the top of the bin and bending back your bin lid so it will not close as your provider would be within their rights to refuse to take it away!
Am I overpaying on my waste contracts? And when should I start shopping around for better deals?
For the lucky ones that have suspended waste services, they may have ignored that fact that they could still be overpaying on their waste contracts and not be aware of the savings that could be made by switching provider.
Apathy, no available independent waste comparison service, and a fragmented market make it easy to just do nothing. Let us say that you have been with the same waste service provider for several years. In that time, the population of your town or city has grown, the number of active businesses has grown, the number of waste service providers and available waste collection streams has grown. With more people, more businesses, and more competition, it is only right to assume that other waste service competitors will have found ways to offer lower prices, better service, and sustainability options. In addition, with many years of Landfill tax escalators, waste costs will have risen significantly, and other waste service competitors want to offer you better deals – you just need to find them.
If your business is currently closed and you have not previously looked at your business waste utility costs, now is the ideal time to do so. If you are fortunate enough to be still trading in the current restricted conditions, it is also a good time to check out your business waste costs ahead of April, which is historically the time when most waste service providers increase their prices.
COVID-19 Business Support Hub
If you are concerned about the current economic climate and its’ effects on your business, visit our COVID-19 Business Support Hub to learn how Great Annual Savings (GAS) can help you control your business running costs.
Click here to find out more about GAS’ cost-saving waste services.