Operating cost reduction in commercial property fails when it is treated as a procurement exercise alone. Cutting a cleaning contract by fifteen per cent is easy; explaining the state of the washrooms to a tenant at renewal is not.
Start with the contracts that are genuinely mispriced rather than merely expensive. Benchmark, then retender the two or three that are materially out of line, with specifications written around what tenants actually notice.
Energy and planned maintenance usually offer the largest defensible savings. Reactive repairs, out-of-hours callouts and unmanaged plant consume budget without producing anything a tenant values.
Finally, be transparent with occupiers. Service charge changes explained in advance, with the reasoning, generate far less friction than the same numbers discovered in a reconciliation.