Everton Look To Cut Costs With Optimum

Everton have signed a new partnership designed to reduce costs and improve efficiency, agreeing a deal with Optimum Procurement that will run to the end of 2015.

The partnership will see Optimum support Everton’s staff in non-playing related procurement activity as the club looks to cut costs and improve efficiency. Last summer, the club were obliged to sell Mikel Arteta to Arsenal, and earlier this month manager David Moyes advocated an across-the-board pay cut of 20% for the Premier League to ‘put football finances back on an even keel.’

Everton personnel will work closely with Optimum, relying on their procurement expertise and dedicated fleet team to reduce costs, improve sourcing efficiency and update internal processes.

Robert Elstone, chief executive of Everton, said: ‘Everton’s history shows that we are often first to implement new ideas and thinking both on and off the pitch. This co-sourcing initiative with Optimum Procurement reinforces our determination to continue that trend and enhance our procurement capability and supply market leverage with a leading procurement service provider.

‘We are committed to making Everton a benchmark football club and this means that we are continuously looking at ways to improve our efficiency by challenging what we buy and where we buy it from. Optimum is a cost reduction specialist, operating across a wide range of categories and we are looking forward to working closely with them to help free up key resources.’

Optimum’s focus will be to add significant and sustainable commercial value to Everton in a number of ways. Peter Rushton, the company’s chief executive, added: ‘We are delighted to be working with one of biggest names in the history of the game. Everton’s core values determine that only the highest standards are acceptable and this includes their vision for how they want to procure their goods and services.

‘We are providing Everton with professionally qualified procurement resources which will ensure savings are maximised and supplier risk is minimised. Our continued success in the sports sector, supporting Lancashire in cricket, Bradley Smith Racing in MotoGP and our existing relationship with Manchester City in football means we are confident we can make a real difference at Everton.’