Cutting Business Costs with Temporary Accommodation-00-3007

Phillip Green has found that the government wastes billions every year; in particular, he says that the government throws away money by failing to negotiate the best contracts for phones, IT equipment and rent. If it were a business, he suggests, the government would fail.

Green's suggestions will be familiar to the numerous major corporations who have had to tighten expenses over recent years as a response to the economic downturn. It has become particularly important to monitor business travel expenses; Green's report shows that large amounts of money can be wasted on unnecessary temporary accommodation costs. However, for many corporations, national and international travel is vital to keep their business going.

One of the clearest problems highlighted by Green's report was that complex payment systems within the businesses themselves and within the service providers they work with - can lead to excess waste. For busy companies organising temporary accommodation for their employees, it is easy to miss hidden extra charges; many businesses, for example, will process their nightly costs in one department and all extra costs in another.

Unfortunately, more and more hotels are unbundling their prices, meaning that budget hotels might not be as cost-effective as they seem. Following on from the budget airline model, budget hotels have become increasingly popular thanks to the economic downturn and, meanwhile, other hotels are often forced to follow suit in order to remain competitive. This means that on top of a cheap nightly rate, guests can be charged for laundry, broadband, room service and other services. Hotels offering unbundled rates are a good option for guests staying in temporary accommodation for just a few days, but most business travellers will stay for long enough to require, at the very least, laundry and broadband, meaning costs soon add up.

There are other options for businesses looking for temporary accommodation. While budget hotels are unbundling costs, serviced apartments are offering much more transparent pricing structures. In fact, the majority of serviced apartment rates include the two most common additional services: laundry and broadband.

Furthermore, serviced apartments often provide their own washing machines or communal laundry rooms, as well as their own kitchens, meaning that guests can enjoy a self-sufficiency not possible in most hotels. Guests can do their own cooking or head to a restaurant when they feel like it and never have to order room service; they can also do their own laundry. This means that fewer extra costs are incurred and makes this particular type of temporary accommodation much more cost-effective for businesses, as well as more convenient for the guests and the corporations they work for.