How The Landmark Collection is controlling cost

It's easy to spot the big bills in a hotel. Energy, wages, food. They're the usual suspects when margins come under pressure. But what about the money quietly disappearing through hundreds of everyday purchasing decisions? The suppliers nobody has reviewed for years, the prices that have crept up unnoticed, the same products being bought at wildly different prices. There's a lot of money hiding in the detail.

Think about everything a hotel buys, from food and drink to linen, cleaning products, stationery and maintenance supplies. Multiply that across hundreds of suppliers, thousands of invoices and several departments, and keeping track of what you're spending becomes a sizeable challenge. Even the smallest inefficiencies can soon add up. And when costs are rising and margins are tight, inefficiencies are a luxury few hotels can afford.

The problem is that procurement can be difficult to get a handle on. It's not unusual for different departments to have their own suppliers and ways of doing things. Before long, nobody has quite the same picture of what's being bought, what it's costing, and whether those prices are competitive. Without accurate, accessible data, it's difficult to know whether you're getting a good deal, spot unnecessary spending, or plan for the next price increase.

For hotels looking to protect their margins, bringing some order to that complexity is becoming increasingly important. At The Landmark Collection, it was a challenge that Group Director of Purchasing David Harrison was keen to tackle once and for all.

The unsung heroes of hospitality

“Procurement really are the unsung heroes of our industry,” said Natallie Cobden, Commercial Director, UK and Europe at PurchasePlus.

When a guest orders a meal or settles down for a drink in the bar, they're unlikely to think about the work that went into sourcing the ingredients, negotiating prices, and making sure everything arrived on time. But those decisions have a direct bearing on both the guest experience and the hotel's bottom line.

Procurement isn't simply about finding the cheapest option. “Maybe sometimes it’s cheaper, but it's not always the best one,” Natallie explained. “It's about finding the right product at the right time from the right supplier.”

Balancing price, quality and availability takes more than a quick comparison of supplier quotes. It requires a clear understanding of what the business is buying, how much it's paying, and whether it could be getting better value elsewhere.

Getting a grip on the numbers

For David, that became increasingly important as The Landmark Collection grew. The group operates three hotels – The Landmark, Royal Lancaster, and K West – alongside two sets of serviced apartments, all in London. But with different procurement systems operating across the properties, getting a consistent view of spending was becoming difficult.

“We were looking for a solution that we could roll out across the board,” he explained. “And also, if we grow in the future, something that could tag along and grow with us.”

The group consolidated its purchasing processes through PurchasePlus, bringing information into one central system. Staff can now look up current and historic prices, while David can see purchasing patterns across the business and use that information to negotiate better deals.

“With the press of a couple of buttons, we can see how much of a particular item we've bought over the last 12 or 18 months,” he said. “We can then forecast how much we will spend on that.”

That visibility is particularly valuable when supplier prices are moving. A system can't prevent increases, but it can help hotels understand where they're happening, anticipate their impact, and plan accordingly. “Being able to forecast and plan because of those increases makes a big difference,” David said.

Stop drowning in paperwork

It's not just the price of products that can eat into margins. The administrative work involved in buying them can be surprisingly expensive, too.

Hotels have to manage purchase orders, approvals, deliveries and invoices, often across hundreds of suppliers. When those processes rely on paperwork and manual data entry, valuable staff time dissolves into administration.

Moving those processes online has streamlined approvals and automated purchase orders. Invoices can also be matched against orders, with discrepancies flagged if a hotel is being charged incorrectly or invoiced for something it hasn't received. These benefits go beyond convenience. Automating invoice processing reduces manual data entry, while statement reconciliation helps make sure nothing has been missed.

Don't get caught out by the next change

There's another reason to get procurement processes in order: compliance.

With financial regulation evolving, hotels need systems that can keep pace. The move towards electronic invoicing in 2029 under the Peppol framework is one change businesses should be preparing for now, rather than leaving it until the deadline approaches.

Find the money hiding in plain sight

Hotels are good at celebrating the big moments: a spectacular refurbishment, a restaurant relaunch, or a bumper month of bookings. The quieter business of buying, sourcing and managing suppliers rarely gets the same fanfare.

Yet every order, invoice and supplier quote tells a story. The trick is knowing where to look, and what to do with what you find. Get a better handle on those everyday decisions, and the savings can start adding up rather nicely.

There's no magic fix for rising costs. But challenging old habits, keeping suppliers on their toes, and getting a clearer picture of what's being spent can all help protect those hard-won margins.

After all, the money is already leaving the building. The question is how much of it could actually be staying in the business.