Everton FC

The Challenge

A founding member of the Football League, Everton FC has competed in the top division of English football for longer than any other club.

Together, its Goodison Park stadium and 55-acre Finch Farm training complex contributed to an annual energy bill large enough to buy your average left-back.  Everton could have launched into a major capital expenditure programme. Instead, it chose to partner with us, and we’ve now been helping to reduce its overheads and improve energy efficiency for over 20 years. 

Everton’s brief to us:

• Reduce energy consumption
• Reduce costs
• Help meet environmental standards

The Solution

What do you do when your player’s not performing? You substitute him. We took the same approach with the club’s energy procurement. Everton had been buying energy annually on fixed-price contracts, which meant it was never in a position to buy when prices were favourable. We introduced a flexible procurement methodology, ensuring that the club buys its energy when costs are at their lowest. And because it often buys on a month-by-month basis, there’s no tie-in to long, unrewarding contracts.

Knowing when to buy, and for how much, is key to any football club’s success. That means ensuring you have all the information you need so you can plan and buy more wisely. We’ve helped Everton develop an energy plan with targeted outcomes, so it’s easier to plan changes that meet the club’s needs. 

Working to reduce consumption and environmental impact across the business, we began with a report highlighting areas for improvement. Because it was fully costed, with payback periods included, the club could see exactly what benefits investment would yield and when. Since then our engineers have worked with the club to implement measures at both the stadium and training ground. 

Our bespoke online portal, Pulse, gives Everton live market and budget information so it can compare prices and remain confident that it’s on course. Additionally, regular benchmarking compares the club’s forays into the energy market with the prices it would have paid if it had stayed with its fixed price policy. That’s how Everton’s energy bosses know it’s saved 19% over the past 36 months.

The Benefits

The resulting savings of 1.5 Million kWhs per annum mean Everton has so far saved around a quarter of a million pounds by reducing its energy consumption. And it’s meeting its legislative requirements (such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment) too.