In a heavily regulated, public-facing sector a global energy and utilities group needed the right partners across 40+ markets and an unimpeachable process to choose and pay them. Contracts had drifted, audit clauses were weak or absent, and a long incumbent relationship had never been market-tested — exposing the group on both cost and probity.
VA ran structured, independent multi-market competitions and replaced opaque arrangements with a finance-grade, audit-ready remuneration framework — audit, transparency and exit clauses embedded as standard and governed continuously.
Head of Marketing Procurement, Head of Communication, CFO
The strategic problem
In a heavily regulated, public-facing sector the group needed the right partners across over 40 markets and an unimpeachable, transparent process to choose and pay them. Contracts had drifted, audit clauses were weak or absent, and a long incumbent relationship had never been market-tested — leaving the group exposed on both cost and probity, with no clear evidence of fair remuneration.
Diagnose & Design
VA opened with a marketing & production ecosystem audit focused on contract quality, conducting a spend mapping & cost baseline analysis clause by clause across all incumbent agreements; market benchmarking established where terms had drifted from competitive norms; and a governance design exercise defined a selection and contracting process — clarified objectives, RACI, KPI framework, audit triggers — that would be defensible to a regulator and unattackable under external review.
Ecosystem & Remuneration
Incumbent partner challenge and pitch & tender management delivered structured, independent multi-market competitions, run as orchestrated selections rather than ad-hoc reviews; remuneration model design with fee benchmarking & validation replaced opaque arrangements with a transparent, finance-grade remuneration framework that could be shown to be fair; scoping & SOW design (AURA/Strategic Mapping Expectation, AURA/FRC (Fulltime Ratecard Calculator)) produced contractual documentation with audit, transparency and exit clauses embedded as standard; contracting & onboarding formalised every appointment to the new standard.
Rollout & relationship management
Handover, rollout & commitment tracking managed market-by-market transitions without service disruption; AURA/Planner back-planned each appointment to the regulatory timeline; relationship management maintained constructive working relationships with both outgoing and incoming partners throughout, feeding the continuous-improvement cadence built into the governance model.
Execution Oversight
Bid governance (triple-award process) ensured every selection met the group’s probity standard; production cost validation & budget control confirmed commercial terms against benchmark before signature; usage rights and licensing management tightened contractual provisions that had previously been absent or weak; wrap & final reconciliation closed each market appointment with a clean audit trail.
Performance Measurement
KPIs from governance design tracked via partner performance evaluation on a 90/180/360 cadence; cost saving of 12% on renegotiated terms and cost avoidance of 13% through stronger contracts and competitive bidding reported separately; 40% of contracts remediated to finance-grade standards [illustrative, to be confirmed]; today AURA delivers closure reports — full performance measurement as a continuous platform is on the roadmap.
Why VA
In regulated sectors defensibility is itself a form of value; VA delivers both cost reduction and a remuneration process the CFO, the regulator and internal audit can all stand behind — demonstrably fair, governed continuously rather than fixed once and left to drift.
Common questions
What is finance-grade, audit-ready agency remuneration?
It is a remuneration framework transparent enough to withstand regulatory and internal-audit scrutiny — benchmarked rates, itemised costs and audit, transparency and exit clauses in every contract as standard — so fair payment can be demonstrated, not just asserted.
Why market-test a long-standing incumbent?
Because an untested incumbent relationship leaves the group exposed on both cost and probity; a structured, independent competition establishes whether terms are genuinely competitive and gives the CFO, the regulator and internal audit evidence they can stand behind.
How is defensibility maintained after the selection?
Contracts carry audit and transparency clauses as standard and partner performance is reviewed on a 90/180/360 cadence — so the process stays governed continuously rather than being fixed once and left to drift.