If you regularly reassure yourself that ‘the service is working fine’, you’re not alone.
In fact, it’s one of the most common assumptions made across schools, Multi-Academy Trusts and workplace environments when it comes to essential support services such as catering, cleaning, and soft-FM.
The challenge is that a service can appear stable for years while small, but significant, changes are happening beneath the surface. Costs gradually increase. Service standards slowly drift. Contracts move away from market value. User satisfaction declines. Yet because these changes happen incrementally, they often go unnoticed.
The real question leaders should be asking isn’t: ‘Is the service working?’
It’s: ‘How do we know?’
Familiarity can create blind spots
Usually, support services evolve gradually over time.
A contract is renewed because it has always been renewed. A specification remains unchanged because there hasn’t been time to review it. A supplier relationship becomes familiar and trusted. Operationally, everything appears to be running smoothly.
However, familiarity can sometimes create blind spots. When services haven’t been objectively reviewed for several years, it becomes difficult to know whether they’re still delivering the best possible value, performance and efficiency.
Moving from assumptions to evidence
Without an external point of comparison, organisations are dealing with hidden inefficiencies. Without reliable evidence, leaders can’t be completely confident that services are performing as effectively as they could be.
This is where benchmarking provides real value.
Rather than relying on historical arrangements or gut feel, benchmarking introduces objective market data and independent insight. It helps schools, trusts and organisations answer:
- Are we paying a competitive rate for the services we receive?
- How does our service model compare with similar organisations?
- Are our contracts structured efficiently?
- Is service performance aligned with sector standards?
- Where are the opportunities to improve value without compromising quality?
The result is a clearer understanding of whether a service is genuinely performing well, rather than simply appearing to perform well because it’s always operated in the same way.
Benchmarking brings clarity
With budgets under pressure and expectations continuing to rise, leaders need clarity and visibility.
Effective financial management is no longer simply about controlling costs – it’s about ensuring every service is delivering the maximum possible value for the organisation and the people it serves.
Benchmarking provides the evidence-based insight needed, enabling organisations to make informed decisions about future investment, procurement and contract management.
We help schools, trusts and workplace organisations move away from the ‘we’ve always done it this way’ trap and gain a clearer understanding of how their support services compare with the wider market.
If you’d like to understand how your services compare against others in the market, read more here about our benchmarking services and get in touch with the team.
The Litmus team
