ICT Rationalisation and
Commercial Improvement
Client Context
The London Boroughs of Newham and Havering sought to identify and deliver cashable savings while ensuring alignment with their wider strategic priorities, including digital transformation and service modernisation. With ambitious financial targets and an urgent need to reduce expenditure, the councils required a structured, evidence-based approach to realising savings without negatively impacting residents. Given the complexity of savings requirements across multiple service areas, the councils engaged Human Engine to provide targeted savings proposals, ensuring efficiencies were identified and delivered without duplication of existing initiatives.
Our Approach
The councils appointed us as their delivery partner to systematically identify and validate savings opportunities. Key elements of our approach included:
Detailed third-party spend analysis deep dive into procurement and contract spend to identify significant savings opportunities.
Undertaking benchmarking activities against statistical neighbours to identify areas of opportunity for exploration e.g. overspending or under-leveraging market efficiencies.
Engaging with service areas across both authorities to validate savings opportunities and ensure that these were realistic and deliverable.
Mapped savings opportunities across multiple service areas, focusing on areas where joint initiatives could maximise economies of scale and eliminate duplication.
Ensuring alignment with both authorities wider strategic priorities including digital transformation and service modernisation.
Outputs and Outcomes
Our work with Newham and Havering identified £3.75m in confirmed savings with a stretch target of £6.4m. Specific outcomes included:
£600k - £1.2m savings from rationalising applications estates, reducing direct IT spend and streamlining technical architecture.
£115k - £280k savings from reducing unused software licences.
£150k - £300k savings through digital post-room transformation, improving inbound and outbound mail handling.
£30k - £75k savings from eliminating internal paper-based processes and moving to modern digital workflows.
Beyond financial savings, our approach also supported the councils’ long-term digital transformation strategies, ensuring efficiency improvements were sustainable and embedded across departments.
About Us
Human Engine is a leading management consultancy with specialisms in strategy, transformation, digital, commercial, procurement and projects.
Founded in 2018, we have partnered with more than 50 local authorities, central government, NHS organisations and national charities to help transform their strategies, operations and cultures.
Our mission is to help individuals and organisations to do the best work of their lives. We do this by blending first-hand, practical experience of the problems we help our clients solve with award-winning consulting expertise and an approach based on trust, collaboration and partnership.