One supplier strategy across the group: how CitNOW Group saved £700K on SaaS

CitNOW Group is a UK-based automotive technology company dedicated to helping automotive retailers create memorable, measurable customer experiences that drive real commercial impact across Europe. Originally CitNOW, they expanded through the acquisition of 11 companies over 5 years to become a group with a large portfolio of customer engagement solutions for dealerships. Each business came with their own tools, vendors, and contracts to manage.

Rapid acquisitions, a growing SaaS stack, and the need for specialist support

When CitNOW grew to CitNOW Group following 11 acquisitions, the operational picture changed quickly. Each new entity brought its own set of SaaS tools, vendor contracts, and renewal timelines, and without a dedicated procurement function, managing it all sat on the shoulders of the Group IT Manager, alongside his existing IT responsibilities.

Negotiations were handled directly by him and his team, without specialist support or market benchmarking data to guide them. It was difficult to know whether pricing was competitive, where the biggest savings opportunities lay, or how hard to push in any given vendor discussion. And as the supplier base grew, so did the time required to manage it, time that competed directly with IT security, infrastructure projects, and the day-to-day demands of running IT across a the group.

What CitNOW Group recognised was that they needed more than bandwidth. They needed expertise, a Procurement partner who could bring structure, benchmarking, and negotiation know-how to a supplier base that had outgrown what an internal IT team could efficiently manage alone.

One delegated model, three problems solved: control, expertise, and bandwidth

CitNOW Group partnered with Najar looking for three things: better control over a rapidly expanding SaaS stack, access to Procurement expertise they didn't have internally, and a way to reduce the operational load on their IT team without adding headcount.

Through Najar's delegated model, they got all three. The Group IT Manager gained a dedicated IT buyer who acted as a seamless extension of his team, taking full ownership of vendor negotiations from scoping and benchmarking through to contract finalisation and renewal management. The process was designed to be low-friction: align on priorities, share a brief, and Najar handles the rest. Gary stayed informed through regular Slack and email updates, stepping in only when a specific decision needed his input.

Group-wide benchmarking that turned vendor conversations into measurable savings

With Najar's market intelligence applied across CitNOW Group's full supplier base, the impact was felt quickly. For the first time, CitNOW Group had clear visibility into what they should be paying, and a procurement partner with the expertise and vendor relationships to act on it.

Across major suppliers, Najar identified and leveraged optimisation opportunities that would have been difficult to surface without specialist knowledge. Contracts were renegotiated, renewals handled proactively, and the entire procurement process became more structured and consistent across the entire Group. The Group IT Manager, meanwhile, reclaimed 10 to 15 hours every month, time reinvested into the IT and security work that required his expertise.

£700K saved, 6x ROI, and a Procurement function ready for whatever comes next

In two years, CitNOW Group transformed their procurement function, without a single new hire. Najar delivered £700,000 in savings across 8 negotiations, more than tripling the initial £200K guarantee, with a 6x ROI and 10 to 15 hours reclaimed every month.

Beyond the numbers, the shift is structural. CitNOW Group now has a procurement process built for group-level complexity, one that brings consistency, benchmarking, and expert support to every vendor conversation, and is ready to absorb whatever any possible next acquisition may bring.