Auditel extends services into carbon management with BSI partnership

Auditel has expanded to help organisations achieve net zero in their operations, balancing the emissions produced through their businesses with those taken out of the atmosphere.

The UK-based procurement consultancy plans to help businesses support the transition to net zero especially through cost savings and procurement expertise. 

As part of the move, Auditel has partnered with the certification body the British Standards Institution (BSI) to independently verify that an organisation has met its carbon neutral credentials, through its PAS2060 verification framework. Auditel carbon specialists now hold the title of BSI Associate Consultant.

BSI works with a significant number of automotive OEMs and suppliers on quality and sustainability standards.

Auditel was founded in 1994, to primarily serve the cost and procurement needs of SMEs in utilities and energy spend. Over the years, it has expanded its services and expertise across multiple indirect spend categories and market sectors, including manufacturing and logistics, including automotive clients. 

Auditel’s managing director, Chris Aston said: “Our move into providing carbon solutions for organisations, including automotive manufacturing and logistics, has been a natural evolution for us, reflective of the changing landscape and one that ties our investment in sustainability expertise with our heritage in cost management and procurement. 

Aston said the company would provide end-to-end solutions providing expert guidance and resources so clients could achieve a BSI-recognised specification for carbon neutrality at the earliest opportunity. It also aims to support those business on a longer-term net zero journey.

“Given the current challenges in the automotive supply chain, our procurement expertise can potentially help clients self-fund their net zero journey or even make it more profitable through cost removal and cost transformation,” added Aston.

Auditel has advised manufacturers on mitigating disruption in logistics and supply chain, including high container shipping rates, through procurement reviews that could lead to bringing key aspects of supply chain and manufacturing in-house or onshore. 

Cost of carbon reduction 
A recent British chamber of commerce survey revealed that just 11% of SMEs measure their carbon footprint. Perhaps more significantly, cost is considered the biggest barrier with 30% claiming lack of finance is holding them back. 

Aston said that it was a statistic his company recognised from its own research and client discussions.

“In effect, we provide businesses through the automotive supply chain with a blend of cost, procurement and carbon solutions, identifying savings and reducing costs in an organisation to offset or part-fund the cost of getting to a verified carbon neutral status,” he said. “And we’ve partnered with the BSI because we believe that an independently verified framework that certifies carbon reduction is the only viable option to establish integrity in the process.” 

Auditel’s extended proposition includes a four-step process to get organisations to net zero: Measure; Reduce, Offset and Verify. The company said it is already working with both existing and new clients in its portfolio, finding solutions to reduce carbon emissions as well as fund them.

Full disclosure: Automotive Logistics and Ultima Media’s current managing director, Gavin Miller, is now working with Auditel, and will work further with the company in cost and procurement consulting after leaving Ultima Media at the end of 2021.