Scaling Procurement for Harbour Healthcare Group
The Context
Harbour Healthcare is a family-owned care home group providing residential, nursing and specialist dementia care across England and Wales. Following rapid expansion over two years, the scale and complexity of procurement across the organisation increased significantly.
Having worked with One Cost for seven years on food supplier sourcing, the group sought further support across non-food purchasing and cost-per-resident monitoring. The focus was on bringing greater control and cohesion to supply management as the organisation grew.
Our Approach
One Cost assumed oversight of the group’s existing food supply arrangements, renegotiating pricing and service provisions to reduce costs and strengthen the overall offering. Retrospective spend-based rebates and growth incentives were also agreed within supplier contracts. Additional suppliers were introduced where appropriate across both food and selected non-food categories.
Training was delivered in partnership with key suppliers. This included menu development days to assist with group-wide menu planning, alongside International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) training sessions attended by staff from across multiple sites. Allergen support was also provided through the supply chain as part of a wider compliance initiative.
Standardised supplier SLAs and KPIs were implemented to maintain consistent service levels across the group.
Internal spend-per-resident targets were introduced as the business expanded, supported by regional and site-level reporting to provide clear visibility of category and product spend.
Monthly purchase reviews were conducted to identify opportunities for improvement, such as convenience items that could be produced in-house. Cost objectives were issued to regional managers, and progress was tracked against these targets.
Online purchase management tools allowed regional teams to interrogate site-level purchasing, while non-food spend was reviewed to ensure orders were placed through the most appropriate supply chains.
The Ongoing Impact
Spend-per-resident targets are now a core performance metric across Harbour Healthcare. Supply chain management remains a priority, with the benefits of key supplier agreements now applied more consistently across the group.
This strengthens cost control while ensuring care standards and nutritional requirements remain central to operations, supporting a more cohesive procurement structure as the group continues to grow.
"The oversight we now receive from One Cost’s reporting is far more advanced than anything we had previously. Beyond providing detailed spend data, their ongoing insight and guidance enable them to make impactful recommendations to our senior leadership team and our chefs, which continues to add significant value as we grow."
How Our Team Can Support Yours
We possess the systems, data and expertise needed to embed structured procurement processes within your business. Whether the focus is improving gross profit, enhancing operational efficiency, or ensuring consistency across spend, we work with you to consistently deliver on your KPIs.
