The Company
A hospitality group operating across Europe offers catering services to diverse sectors, including businesses, public spaces, and both state and private education. Their operations range from small coffee bars to large full-service restaurants, as well as catering in airport lounges and on transport ships. With annual revenues of circa $2 billion across multiple countries, the group managing over 15 different brands. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, 195,000 unique SKU items were processed through their business with rebates attached to the majority of them.
The Supply Chain Commercial Director is responsible for overseeing all finance, systems, and data across the supply chain. This includes managing around 4,500 suppliers across the organization and its various entities. The role encompasses the commercial aspects, as well as the systems and data used to support the business operations and product supply. The Head of Commercial Finance is responsible for managing the commercial aspects, including analytics, rebate collection, invoicing, and related tasks.
Rebates Account For Over $100m
The Head of Commercial Finance explains, "We have standard uplifts, which account for most of our income. We also work with direct agreements with suppliers on a case-by-case basis." These agreements include "direct product rebates" and "indirect product rebates." In addition, the business utilizes "marketing funds" and targeted rebates as well, they note, which are based on purchasing thresholds, such as buying a certain quantity of product or spending a set amount within the company.
He continues, "We also deal with ad hoc rebates, like marketing funds. In terms of the number of suppliers, we probably have about 750 active deal suppliers now, which is a lot. Our deal spending is over $750 million so, it's not a small amount of spend."
Keeping Things at a Supplier Level
The organization has rebates on certain items, and manufacturer deals in place for retail products. But fundamentally, they have a deal in place with each supplier, and everything they supply comes in at a percentage or similar terms.
The Commercial teams role is to mitigate the risks associated with this decentralized model. "Our job is to try and minimize those downside risks by creating a rebate program or strategy that doesn’t expose us to too many of these massive fluctuations or shocks that could happen through supply choice."
They continue, "We try to de-risk the devolved operating model by keeping things at the supplier level. The inability to micromanage where you're buying from is a massive challenge. It compromises our ability to really optimize and maximize our rebate position." However, The Supply Chain Commercial Director notes, "It’s a fundamental tenet of the business, and the unique selling point of the business is that the front end gets to choose where it buys from."
Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships
The Head of Commercial Finance comments, "We don’t see our suppliers as transactional partners—it’s not just about business with them. When I joined in early 2012, the group’s revenue was around $600 million. Today, it’s approaching $2billion, and we’re continuing to look for growth opportunities. Some of our suppliers have been with us since we were at $100 million, and as we’ve grown, they’ve grown with us. Many have thrived, creating better opportunities for their teams and businesses because they’ve bought into our partnership approach.
He continues, “We rarely change key suppliers because it’s not about squeezing margins or pushing costs down; it’s about sustainable & healthy relationships that support everyone involved. Our approach to food service is not ‘buy where it’s cheapest’. It’s about building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that balance quality, price & social responsibilities. We believe that’s what sets us apart."
The Challenges
Mitigating Risk on Collecting Rebates
The Head of Commercial Finance reflects on the current rebate collection process: "We have a very good structure for collecting and reporting rebates, something we've spent a long time developing. But there’s a risk involved in how well we manage it." They note that the timing and accuracy of collections are key concerns: "The time to collect is a risk, as well as how much we're actually collecting. It's not rigid enough for me; I want to be 100% accurate all the time."
They continue, "You can speak to the supplier and ask, 'How much do you think you owe us?' and they'll come back and tell you, only then do we collect it. However, with the implementation of Enable, the hope is that we will be far more rigid with our income collection, and hopefully, with claims coming in, we'll be much quicker at collecting than before."
Moving Deals Out of Mailboxes, Drives and Folders
The goal for the organization is moving deals out of inboxes, shared drives, and personal folders, and consolidating everything into one central location within Enable. This way, even if a deal hasn't been signed yet, at least they know it's in progress. “We can now approach the right people with targeted requests. Before, deals might have sat in someone’s inbox for months without us knowing, but now we can be more efficient and credible in our follow-ups. When we chase, it’s based on solid data, not assumptions. This transparency fosters better relationships and allows us to bring commercial rigor to the table, making it easier to manage behaviors and get people to complete the tasks they might not want to do.”
Key Person Dependency
When the Head of Commercial Finance joined under 12 years ago, the process for tracking supplier spend was quite basic, relying on simple calculations based on total spend multiplied by a factor. Since then, the system has significantly advanced, incorporating tools like Power BI, dashboards, and more sophisticated reporting capabilities.
However, despite these improvements, the Head of Commercial Finance highlights an ongoing risk: "While our reporting is now far more robust and visually insightful, there’s still a major vulnerability. If key individuals were to leave or face disruptions, we could lose crucial knowledge and capabilities. Only three people in the business are fully aware of the income coming in and where it’s coming from, which creates a significant dependency on those individuals."
Low Data Quality
The Supply Chain Commercial Director acknowledges that data quality is at the heart of the challenge. "The better the quality of our data, the more integrated our systems are, and the more consistent we are across the board, the better we can mitigate risks," they explain. "But will it eliminate the risk entirely? No, it won’t. It’s something we’ll always have to manage. However, we can reduce the frequency and scale of errors over time."
Despite improvements over the last 15 years, the process is far from complete. "We still find control failings, still find things we need to address," they note. "We're constantly evolving, always reviewing, and adjusting based on root cause analyses." The business is always changing, and the finance team is continually working to keep pace. "We're always playing catch-up, making sure we stay aligned with the evolving business needs while not creating problems—and at the same time, maximizing opportunities." The journey is ongoing, and while there’s progress, there’s still much to be done.
High Volume of Suppliers
The real challenge lies in managing the vast number of suppliers and the high turnover rate among them, as well as the inconsistency in the quality and frequency of the data they provide. With around 4,000 to 4,500 suppliers, and about 1,000 changing each year, it’s difficult to keep track. Some suppliers even reappear after going into administration under a different name, causing further complexity.
The Head of Commercial Finance says, “This constant churn, along with the large number of products and fluctuating supply sources, amplifies the problem. For example, if a supplier suddenly stops providing a product, it can disrupt the entire supply chain, and if there’s no formal structure in place to track where the product is coming from, it risks wiping out potential income. Relying on spreadsheets for this level of detail is no longer viable, as it’s too complex to manage without a structured, data-driven system.”
Under Accruals
The Head of Commercial Finance emphasizes the risk of under-accruals, noting that these aren't small amounts. "Even a 0.1% variance is still significant," they explain. "If we haven’t collected a $150K rebate, decisions might be made based on inaccurate financials. We risk making the wrong business decisions because the financial data is skewed."
Particularly when operating across multiple countries, the risk becomes more pronounced. While the UK business, with its larger volume, allows for more flexibility in balancing accruals, smaller regional businesses don't have that same scale. "If we make an error in a small country and it goes unnoticed for 12 months or more, that becomes a much larger issue for the local P&L and could have a significant impact," they explain. "In these smaller businesses, financial stability is crucial. A mistake can affect their ability to operate, and even if we can manage it across the group, it’s a problem in that specific business.”
The Software
Why Enable?
The Supply Chain Commercial Director shares, “I think we engaged very well with Enable. They made a real effort to understand our business, even during the challenges of Covid, when everything was remote, people made a genuine effort to get in front of us. The Enable team has been incredibly supportive and responsive. They've allowed us to influence our business model, even when we’ve pushed boundaries. It means we haven’t had to completely re-engineer what we do. Their adaptability has been crucial.”
They conclude, “At the end of the day, we’re a people business. It’s about relationships and customer engagement. And the relationship we’ve built with Enable, across all levels and functions, is a big part of why we decided to renew our partnership. The people relationships have been a very, very big reason for our decision.”
The Head of Commercial Finance also reflects on their partnership with Enable, saying, “We’ve bought into the Enable vision. You can trust that what they’re saying is going to happen. We went through a really rigorous selection process, and while I don’t want to underestimate the importance of the relationship piece, it was clear that the Enable team took the time to truly understand our business. We had discussions with other suppliers where we felt like they weren’t on the same page, saying things that didn’t align with what we needed. In addition, our Customer Success Manager has been absolutely amazing throughout this journey.”
Transparency and Visibility
The Head of Commercial Finance says, "Any system that brings clarity is critical. The Enable journey and business case is all about transparency—improving visibility of what's going on and tracking it." With Enable, they can now manage deals more effectively: "We can sit there and say, 'Okay, we’ve got whatever it is, a thousand rebate deals, and some of them have expired—how are we going to handle those?' And here’s a load of things we didn’t even know we had, so now we can ask the right questions."
This transparency has made a significant difference for the business: "It’s starting to bring visibility and make it easier for us to do targeted work by exception, rather than forcing everyone to come back and give us the truth. We can validate it now, rather than just taking people's word for it."
Deal Structure Improvements
The Supply Chain Commercial Director reflects on the challenges of deal consistency, noting that with so many deals and different people structuring them in their own way, achieving a uniform format for reporting becomes nearly impossible. "When you have this many deals and this many people submitting them in whatever structure they prefer, you're never going to have a consistent format for reporting," they explain. This variability makes it difficult to ensure clarity and accuracy across all deals.
"You could look at some paperwork or a deal structure and notice that different people structure deals in different ways. Some are more robust and reliable than others. Simpler, unsigned deals probably fall into that group, while more complicated ones tend to come from others. They emphasize that every detail matters.”
Despite the variability, systems like Enable are starting to provide greater clarity: "It’s starting to give us better visibility of how people structure their deals, so they can be more consistent, more uniform, which simplifies some things, maybe complicates a few others, but at least gives us that visibility. It has given us the ability to better manage those behaviors and keep them on track."
Better Data Management
With Enable, the goal is to achieve data consistency at around 80% quality and maintain that standard. The Supply Chain Commercial Director reflects, "Are we there yet? No, not yet. Are we getting closer? Yes. Do we have a long way to go? Absolutely." Implementing these systems is pushing the business to address these challenges directly. It provides us with the leverage needed to say, "No, we can’t do that," and to point out why certain approaches won’t work in this environment. As the Director puts it, "It gives us a bigger value as a result."
They add, “We are making progress, but it requires a shift in how we collaborate with suppliers and operate within the business—ultimately for the better. It’s streamlining our processes, and people are beginning to recognize the value of this change. The real prize, however, is AI, and now everyone wants to be part of that journey. It’s an ongoing process—one that will never be perfect, but we’re dedicated to continuously improving. Enable is helping us move forward and make this progress, and we’re evolving the way we work to ensure we can get there.”
Intuitive Reporting
The Head of Commercial Finance highlights the improvements in reporting, noting, "It’s about understanding the KPIs/ SLAs we’ve set for ourselves, and whether we are actually achieving them. It’s about understanding where the challenges and risks are. For example, how many contracts are going to expire in the next three months? We never really knew that before. We had a spreadsheet for reporting, but you could never confidently say, 'This will cost us X if we don’t get it signed.' Now, that’s far better with Enable."
Unlocking 2X ROI
The Head of Commercial Finance tells us, “I would say Enable has likely helped us achieve at least a twofold return on investment (ROI) over the past couple of years. In terms of discoveries and insights, we’ve identified or been made aware of opportunities that have had a significant impact on our business, effectively doubling the value we've gained from this initiative. The improvements we've seen in efficiency, decision-making, and uncovering hidden opportunities have more than justified our investment.”
Bringing Confidence to the Numbers
The Supply Chain Commercial Director says, "Enable instills a high level of confidence in our numbers. Every month, we sit down with our chairman and group CFO to review performance, and they fully trust the figures we present. This trust comes from the detailed data we have at our fingertips, allowing us to confidently project what we can deliver. We’re responsible for substantial figures that significantly impact the business's success—if things go wrong, we’re accountable; if they go well, it's often attributed to favorable buying. But they trust us because we deliver on our commitments. When we say a target will be met, it’s met. When we anticipate challenges, they can rely on that insight too. Enable’s robust data is crucial, empowering us to make informed decisions and instill confidence across the business."
Finding $1.5 Million In Missing Rebate Income
The Head of Commercial Finance tells us, "Enable has undeniably uncovered unclaimed revenue, identifying over $1.5 million in missing income. For us, that’s the real win: it’s brought confidence, credibility, and trust. I had always suspected this was an issue, and now we have the data to prove it, with facts and figures that show it’s a problem needing attention.”
He continues, “Enable has been instrumental in helping us recover that income. We now have clear visibility—where each agreement is, proof it was signed, and all the necessary documentation for those suppliers. This changes our negotiations entirely. We can walk in with signed agreements and say, ‘This is value we’re owed.’ It leaves no room for dispute. Previously, we’d have to rely on verbal agreements or vague commitments from someone who may no longer even be with the company, and without solid paperwork, it’s hard to hold anyone accountable. Enable has provided the transparency we need to confidently collect what's due."
Better Claims Management
The Head of Commercial Finance tells us, "I have high hopes for claims management. For instance, with that $1.5 million—did we know it existed? Yes, but we didn’t know the exact amount. With this claims system, we can now see the full scope of outstanding income we haven’t collected and still need to negotiate on. Now that we’ve implemented it, I’m completely sold. I believe it’s going to be invaluable for improving visibility, cash flow, and ensuring we meet the right payment schedules. It removes the guesswork from the process, and that’s a game-changer for us."
Having Robust Agreements in Place
The Supply Chain Commercial Director says, "In our negotiations, you can quickly find yourself settling for 50%—and that’s assuming the other side is even willing to move. Some of the people we work with are absolutely relentless. It’s a low-margin world in supply chain, especially in sectors like farming, and these are tough, hard-nosed negotiators. They won’t give up a cent if they don’t have to. For them, a negotiation might mean offering just 5% of what we’re seeking.”
He continues, “That’s why having solid, robust documentation is essential. We’ve lost money simply because of missing paperwork, just as we’ve recovered funds thanks to having everything in place. The stronger our documentation, the better our chances in these negotiations."
Optimize Without Sacrificing Value
The Head of Commercial Finance says, "We make commercial deals at the front end, often giving away a lot of rebates—which then impacts our numbers. It feels unfair because, on one hand, we’re doing a great job, but on the other, a lot of the value gets given away. So, what does Enable do for us? How does it support us as we push our data strategy forward? As we highlighted previously pointed out, the potential of Enable’s spend analytics is massive. It’s the only system we have that can tell us the true cost of a product. And that’s important—not just to know the exact cost, but to identify the cheapest option for, say, an egg, a piece of bacon, or any product we handle. This visibility allows us to be strategic, knowing where we can optimize without sacrificing value."
The Supply Chain Commercial Director adds, “Catering operates on razor-thin margins, and inflation has hit us hard. We work hard to optimize the supply chain side without compromising quality or value. We could theoretically cut costs by reducing our supplier base from 4,500 to 300, but we’d lose our unique appeal. Our customers value the choice and quality we offer, like sourcing from local fishermen and butchers. So, we have to be strategic, using data to drive value and find those marginal gains, which collectively add up to significant savings.”
They continue, “Enable is key to this strategy because it provides the analytics and insights we need to optimize while preserving choice. Enable has a head start on this, giving us access to data none of our other software providers can match. This data helps us guide our front-line teams in the right direction, ensuring the best value without sacrificing the freedom to choose quality suppliers."
Takeaways
The company faces significant challenges in rebate collection and managing over 4,000 suppliers across multiple countries. They emphasize the importance of structured, transparent systems like Enable to improve data visibility and accuracy, which has led to a more efficient collection process and even uncovered over $1.5 million in unclaimed rebate income.
The company prioritizes long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers over pushing for the lowest prices. By collaborating closely with suppliers, the company has grown significantly and retained key suppliers who have supported their expansion.
The company uses data-driven strategies to balance supplier choice, quality, and cost optimization. With tools like Enable, they are able to access detailed product cost data, helping them to strategically make decisions without sacrificing value, even in a challenging, low-margin environment.