From Chaos to Control → Catering Group Masters Event-Based Procurement
Type
Catering Services Collective
Locations
United Kingdom (serving nationwide)
Monthly Spend
£180,000 across all events
Investment
£401.50/month
From Procurement Chaos to Data-Driven Control
Across the United Kingdom, the Nationwide Caterers Association (NCA) caters to everything from intimate corporate lunches to 5,000-person festivals. But behind the scenes of these high-profile events was a procurement nightmare — a chaotic process that was costly, inefficient, and unsustainable.
The Challenge
Managing procurement for 200+ annual events of varying scales came with enormous pressure:
Event variability → From 50-person lunches to 5,000-person festivals
Last-minute changes → 30% of events had modifications just a day before
Cost blindness → No visibility into per-event profitability
Food waste → £50,000+ lost annually due to over-ordering
For a business built on precision and timing, this level of unpredictability was threatening both profits and reputation.
The Turning Point
The association decided to transform its procurement process with ProcurementExpress.
Within 6 weeks, they rebuilt their operations from the ground up:
Event-specific procurement templates → Standardized ordering for recurring event types
Real-time cost tracking → Live visibility into profitability during planning
Automated supplier allocation → Smartly matched suppliers based on location & capacity
Predictive ordering → AI-driven recommendations based on event size & type
Suddenly, what once felt like chaos became a controlled, data-driven system.
The Transformation
Financial Wins
32% boost in overall event profitability
£126,000 saved annually by reducing food waste
20% better supplier pricing via volume-based commitments
£78,000 recovered through early payment discount capture
Operational Excellence
60% faster event planning time
Same-day modifications handled in 15 minutes instead of 2 hours
Supplier payment processing reduced from 5 days → 4 hours monthly
Zero event failures due to procurement issues — for the entire year
Growth & Competitive Advantage
Scaled from 200 → 350 events annually without hiring extra procurement staff
Expanded service coverage by 40% through smarter supplier allocation
Client satisfaction scores climbed from 4.2 → 4.8 stars
Won £2.3M in new contracts — clients loved the procurement transparency
The Voice of Success
“ProcurementExpress transformed us from a reactive operation to a proactive, data-driven business. We now confidently bid on larger events, knowing exactly our costs and margins. It's not just software — it's our competitive advantage.”
The Takeaway
With ProcurementExpress, The Nationwide Caterers Association turned procurement chaos into a scalable, efficient, and transparent system — boosting profits, saving time, and unlocking growth.
Event-based businesses can achieve dramatic efficiency gains and scale operations without adding more staff — if they have the right technology.
