NHS Walsall

The Challenge

Prior to partnering with Trident, NHS Walsall had found its experience of energy procurement to be challenging. The process seemed unnecessarily complex, overly bureaucratic, and inflexible.

In 2011, the Trust made a pivotal decision to shift to the private sector to find a more adaptable and responsive energy management solution that could help it:

• Maintain budget certainty and pay less for energy procurement.
• Capitalise on shifting market trends.
• Avoid excessive pricing during periods of volatility.

After conducting thorough research and consulting with various brokers, NHS Walsall appointed us as its preferred partner.

The Solution

From the outset we provided NHS Walsall with consistent daily reporting, delivering market data and insights that empowered the Trust to develop a more strategic approach to energy management and gain a deeper understanding of the ever-changing energy market.

Over the following years this approach has paid off on multiple levels. For example, by ensuring that NHS Walsall had the insight and adaptability to respond quickly to the market volatility of recent years. 

In 2021, the Trust faced the critical decision of whether to lock in prices for the forthcoming winter. After careful consideration, it chose to hedge 50% of the energy volume, while utilising shorter-term markets to hedge the remaining 50%. For the winter period, the UK government introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), where discounts were applied to energy usage initially between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023, for eligible non-domestic consumers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This government-supported price was set at £211 per megawatt hour for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas.

The strategy adopted by the Trust led to a saving of over £1m against the government support level.

The Benefits

In addition to significant cost savings, partnering with Trident has enabled NHS Walsall to secure enough budget certainty to satisfy its finance departments while still capitalising on market forces.

The Trust effectively uses the information we provide to establish a comprehensive long-term budgeting process, sharing data with its finance department in regular meetings where they analyse insights and explore available options. This collaboration ensures that the budget is always aligned with the Trust’s strategic goals, allowing it to react appropriately to market shifts without too much exposure to risk.