The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove (pictured), has publicly praised an academy status primary school after it managed to cut costs using BCR Associates’ cost management service.


Speaking at the National College for School Leadership earlier this month, Gove drew attention to the achievements of Broadclyst Academy Primary School in Exeter, which thanks to a partnership with BCR Associates has successfully cut essential costs by 50 per cent. BCR Associates saved Broadclyst £25,000 on their annual gas and electricity contracts, enabling the school to improve its profitability and significantly plough money back into teaching.

Commenting on the school’s financial performance, Henry Massey, The Chair of the Governors, said: “Naturally one of the key benefits of our school enjoying academy status is the freedom that it brings in terms of taking complete control of our operating budget. As with any commercial enterprise, the profitability and ultimately success of the school will be greatly affected by the level of overheads. Any initiative which can reduce essential running costs will have an immediate positive impact on the school’s finances. BCR Associates helped Broadclyst by identifying and negotiating the best possible deals on the market, at absolutely no cost to the school.

“There are currently 704 academies in the UK and a further 814 schools have applied to become an academy and I would urge every one of them to follow Broadclyst’s lead on this money saving initiative. Work with a business cost reduction agency and use their specialist knowledge and experience to help improve your school’s financial performance. BCR Associates not only saved us a substantial amount of money, the process incurred no fees and caused minimal disruption to our schedule. If a school is to achieve the optimum financial results, this kind of decision makes perfect business sense.”


Phil Gaffer, BCR Associates Franchise Recruitment Manager, said: “It is hugely rewarding for our franchise owners to witness at first hand the positive impact the BCR Associates service can have on a business. This not only adds to an overall sense of job satisfaction, it also provides the impetus to spread the message within the business community regarding the commercial benefits of working with BCR Associates.”

Published: 21 July 2011

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