Member Article

Pelican delivers procurement expertise to The Clink Restaurants

Pelican, the procurement and supply chain management specialist, has today announced it is providing purchasing and procurement services to The Clink Restaurants, which operates fine dining establishments in prisons in Sutton, Cardiff and now in Brixton, London. The Clink has partnered with Pelican to generate financial savings and operational efficiencies across its organisation, which will help towards its overall goal of opening 10 training facilities and projects by 2017.

By partnering with Pelican, The Clink has undertaken a full audit of its suppliers and has managed a process to identify suppliers that are able to fully support The Clink’s brand ethos, which includes buying seasonal British food from local suppliers, with sustainable sourcing wherever possible.

The Clink is also taking advantage of Pelican’s Central Billing service, which consolidates all supplier invoices into one centralised invoice. This means that only one payment is required each month, removing the associated administration of having to deal with hundreds of supplier invoices. This enables The Clink to reinvest money that would have been spent on accounts staff back into the core focus of the organisation, which is to reduce reoffending through training.

Chris Moore, Chief Executive of The Clink Charity said: “I was looking for a purchasing partner and Pelican was recommended to me. I was very impressed not only with their approach to our charity, but also of their understanding of what we do. With the aim of having 10 sites by 2017, any money we are able to save can be reinvested into our growth plans and so working with Pelican supports this.”

Adds Chris Moore: “There are multiple benefits of working with Pelican; they look at our best interests, audit suppliers, offer purchasing recommendations, and centrally manage our entire supplier invoicing process. A key challenge of growing the business is that I don’t want a huge head-office accounts function, as I would prefer to invest money into frontline training staff who can change people’s lives and give prisoners the skills they need to readjust back into society. Working with Pelican means my supplier invoicing is centrally managed, saving a great deal of operational time, effort and budget.”

In addition to the centralised invoice management, Pelican also supports The Clink in managing its supply chain, plus provides a cloud-based portal – Pelican Pi – that delivers complete purchasing visibility and budget control to The Clink’s management team.

Shabaz Mohammed, Managing Director of Pelican Procurement Services said: “Transparency is vitally important to The Clink. As a charity, it’s important that it controls its costs and has complete visibility of where its money is being spent. Our partnership enables them to not only take greater control of their supplier relationships, but delivers the simplicity and transparency needed in managing its purchasing expenditure. This ultimately enables them to concentrate on their core activity, which is to reduce re-offending rates of ex-offenders by training and placing graduates upon their release into the hospitality industry. We are proud to be supporting this organisation.”

For more information regarding Pelican’s range of procurement services, telephone 01252 705 222 or visit pelicanbuying.co.uk. For more details regarding The Clink Restaurants and charity, visit www.theclinkcharity.org.

A video interview with Chris Moore from The Clink Charity can also be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlxPNh3N2A4.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Pelican .