Charities, associations and other not-for-profit (NFP) organisations pay up to 20% extra for hotels and meeting rooms, according to Conference Care Year End Benchmark statistics.

With the UK meeting and event market said to be worth in excess of £18 billion, such expenditure has come to the top of the agenda for corporate organisations as they look to consolidate spend and maximise their buying power.    

The analysis, reported by key areas of expenditure, reveals that NFPs have consistently paid more for their events when compared with organisations in other industry sectors. Most alarmingly, it is the only sector in which rates have grown year on year:

In 2005, NFPs paid, on average, £99.82 for a hotel bedroom. By 2007, this had increased by 12.7%, against a UK average increase of 6.24%, to an average rate of £112.48.      

With the corporate sector placing a heavy emphasis on procurement and consolidation of costs, it is clear that NFPS have some way to go.

“The NFP sector has clearly been left behind when it comes to buying their meetings and events,” said Conference Care director Andrew Deakin. “Each organisation needs to look at consolidating its expenditure and get a total grasp on how much money they are spending on accommodation, meetings and events. The structure of many NFPs may mean that they have offices across the UK with little or no centralised procurement department. Not understanding their buying power can mean they loose control of any negotiation.”