Case study
MacIntyre Academies recovered £35,364 in water refunds without switching supplier
Quest Academy was locked into its water contract until renewal. A no find no fee audit of its surface water drainage charges recovered £35,364 and cut £8,800 a year from the ongoing bill.
MacIntyre Academies at a glance
Quest Academy, part of the MacIntyre Academies trust, couldn’t switch supplier mid contract. So we audited the bills instead. The audit found historic overcharges, mostly in surface water drainage, and recovered £35,364 in refunds plus £8,800 a year in ongoing savings.
Client overview
Quest Academy is part of the MacIntyre Academies trust, an education provider running school sites in the UK. The trust asked us to take a fresh look at its water charges to check accuracy and value for money.
The first thing we found wasn’t a problem. It was a constraint. The academy was inside an existing contract and couldn’t switch retailer until renewal. That’s the point where most contract reviews stop.
The challenge
No switch available until renewal. With the contract locked, none of the usual procurement levers applied. Whatever we did had to work with the existing supplier, on the existing terms.
Charges that rest on old assumptions. Surface water drainage charges are based on assumptions about how rainwater leaves a site. On school estates those assumptions often haven’t been checked since the supply was first set up, and every year they go unchecked is another year of paying for them.
No budget for speculative work. A school trust can’t spend money finding out whether it’s owed money. The audit had to run on a no find no fee basis.
How we approached it
Whether you can switch supplier and whether your bills are correct are two different questions. The second one doesn’t wait for renewal. Refunds and rate corrections can be recovered from an existing supplier mid contract, so that’s where we pointed the work.
We ran the audit on a no find no fee basis. If the billing had turned out to be accurate, the trust would have gained the evidence that it was accurate. There was something to find.
What we did, step by step
Reviewed the historic invoice trail for each Quest Academy supply, line by line. Anomalies, double charges and tariff misalignments stand out once the bills are laid out side by side rather than read one at a time.
Verified surface water drainage on site. These charges assume rainwater leaves the site via the public sewer, so we physically checked where it actually goes. Soakaways, attenuation tanks, anywhere water drains that isn’t the sewer.
Pursued the supplier through to settlement. Once the discrepancies were documented, we worked the claims through the supplier’s billing system to refunds on the historic overcharges and rate adjustments going forward.
What changed
£35,364 refunded to the trust. Historic overcharges across the audited supplies were refunded in full. The trust didn’t have to switch supplier or wait for renewal to recover the money.
£8,800 a year in ongoing savings. Surface water drainage charges were corrected to reflect what’s actually on site. That saving recurs for the life of the supply, on top of the refund.
No switch, no disruption. The audit ran on a no find no fee basis, needed no contract change, and was completed alongside the trust’s normal operations.
“We were really pleased with the outcome of the audit. Even though we couldn’t switch providers, the team were still able to find substantial overcharges and recover a refund we didn’t expect. It’s given us confidence in our billing and helped reduce our ongoing costs.”
Business Manager, MacIntyre Academies
Key insight
Being locked into a contract doesn’t mean being locked into the bills. The audit question and the switching question are separate, and the audit one is available all year round. Surface water drainage is the line where school estates most often overpay, because the charge rests on a drainage assumption nobody has physically checked in years.
The £8,800 annual correction is arguably worth more than the refund. Refunds happen once. Rate corrections compound quietly for as long as the supply exists.
Does this look like your organisation?
If you run a school, academy trust or council estate with multiple supply points, pay surface water drainage charges, or simply haven’t had your water bills checked in a while, the same audit applies. It starts with a quick look at what you’re currently paying, on a no find no fee basis.
Industry terms used on this page
- Surface water drainage
- A charge covering the cost of rainwater leaving your site via the public sewer. If your rainwater actually drains to a soakaway or attenuation tank, you may be paying for a service you don’t use.
- Soakaway
- A drainage arrangement that lets rainwater soak into the ground on site instead of entering the public sewer. Common on school estates, and a frequent source of incorrect drainage charges.
- Attenuation tank
- A tank that holds rainwater on site and releases it slowly. Like a soakaway, its presence changes what a site should be paying for drainage.
- No find no fee
- An audit arrangement where the fee comes out of the money recovered.
- Mid contract audit
- A billing accuracy review carried out while a contract is still running. It doesn’t require the ability to switch supplier, because it targets errors rather than rates.
Common questions
Can a water audit run if you can’t switch retailer?
Yes. An audit checks whether your current bills are correct, which is a separate question from whether you can switch. Refunds and rate adjustments can be recovered from your existing supplier mid contract.
What is surface water drainage and why does it create overcharges?
The charge covers rainwater leaving your site via the public sewer. Many sites, especially school estates, have soakaways or attenuation tanks that keep rainwater out of the sewer entirely. If the charge assumes the sewer is being used, you’re paying for something that isn’t happening.
How long does a school water audit usually take?
A few weeks for the desk review of invoices, plus site visits per supply. Refunds take longer when they’re due, because they have to work through the supplier’s billing system.
Is there any cost or risk in running an audit?
The audit runs on a no find no fee basis. The fee comes out of what’s recovered rather than out of the school’s budget.
Could a similar audit work for our school or trust?
If you have multiple supply points, pay surface water drainage charges, or haven’t had your bills checked recently, it’s usually worth running. We’d start with a quick look at what you’re currently paying.
When did anyone last check your water bills?
Send us a recent bill. The audit runs on a no find no fee basis.