Rent or Lease Payments/ Utilities

Another huge weekly cost is rent/lease payments and utilities, however as these bills only come in potentially quarterly, then it is easy to lose track of these and not factor them into the day to day.

• Negotiate with you landlord/suppliers to have bills produced monthly so you can stay on top of your costs.
• Monitor energy usage, reduce and change business operating practices to reduce costs – light/heat conservation through menu planning, staff operating procedures – e.g. checklists when lights equipment and plant is switched off or put into energy saving mode. Every little helps.
• Speak to your team about energy cost saving ideas, and incentivise great ideas which are implemented. Only pay out an incentive if there are TANGIBLE savings – but share the good news and more ideas will be forthcoming from the team.
• This is possibly something already done post pandemic, but negotiate a rent reduction if you can. Leverage the rent arrears in any way your business can afford, and ensure that the landlord is aware of all the consequence and the challenges your business is facing.  Your landlord wishes you to be successful, and should support your ideas where possible if you are open and transparent about the challenges and your plans short/medium and longer term.
• If you are on a turnover rent, ensure that you returns are accurately representing the contract – often terms vary over years and sometimes the assumption is that rates, percentages etc do not change, and standing orders/direct debits happen at the wrong rates. Ensure you are on top of this in micro detail.