Words by Smiley Team
Nick Heath was one of the co-founders of Make it Cheaper, a price comparison website that helps small businesses make savings on their utility bills. It was whilst working in this industry, that Nick noticed how one particular customer base was being neglected.
“I wondered why no one was helping charities with trying to reduce their operating costs,” he says. “The utility and insurance companies tend to bundle up charities with small businesses, but there are certain differences between them when it comes to business rates. I felt a moral obligation to do something.”
So Nick set up Back of the Sofa, a social enterprise that seeks to help charities boost their income via information about tax relief and rebates they were perhaps unaware of, or by helping them to find cheaper energy deals. The service is completely free, with no obligations.
“There are one or two financial loopholes that aren’t that widely known about,” says Nick. “A treasurer for a small charity is usually doing it for love rather than money, and some of them might be in the dark about these things.”
From reducing VAT on energy bills by 15%, to making the best use of savings, there are a number of ways that charities can make the pounds and pennies go further. But it’s not always just ignorance that is a stumbling block.
“There can be some scepticism,” Nick explains. “If people are not tuned into their bills, they can be quite reluctant to let an outsider get involved.”
But taking a simple – and confidential – ‘finance health check’ on the Back of the Sofa website, or directly getting in contact with Nick, can be the start of a process that sees a charity save a sum of money. Indeed, some of Nick’s customers have been pleasantly surprised by the end results.
“The best one so far has been saving about £10,000 for a hospice,” he says. “Caring for terminally ill people, their heating bill was high. For them to get that money back was pretty significant. It gives me great satisfaction turning around to a charity and saying, ‘We’ve just found all this money down the back of the sofa.’”
You can find more information, including the ‘finance health check’, at www.backofthesofa.com, or by contacting Nick on 07720 297972 / @BOTSHQ
By Theo Hooper
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