Industry: Energy Consultants
Location: Norwich
About
At Indigo Swan, we understand that businesses today need clarity, control, and confidence when it comes to their energy. As an award‑winning energy consultancy, we specialise in helping organisations of all sizes buy better energy – ensuring they receive exceptional value without compromising on service.
Energy is evolving rapidly, and navigating fluctuating markets, sustainability expectations, and supplier challenges can be complex. That’s where we come in. Our team of energy enthusiasts works as an extension of your business, offering transparent advice, clear communication, and ongoing support you can rely on.
With a 95% customer retention rate and over £2 million returned to our clients in the past year, we’re proud to deliver meaningful savings and lasting peace of mind.
Let’s change energy together – with expertise, integrity, and heart.
Client Story
Using Microsoft Power Apps, we supported Indigo Swan in boosting their operational efficiency through the creation of a time tracking app. Since implementation, one area of their work has seen a 60% reduction in time spent. Read more in the drop downs below.
The experience of building this custom Power App was extremely positive. The process was collaborative and efficient, with clear communication throughout from the Breakwater Team. The solution not only met our requirements but exceeded expectations by integrating seamlessly into our business process and providing intuitive functionality for our team. It has already started delivering value by simplifying time tracking and enabling better visibility of our operations and allows us to measure quantifiable improvements. Overall, the project was delivered on time, with excellent support and a strong focus on the objectives.
Challenge
To boost operational efficiency within the business, the management team at Indigo Swan wanted to know how much time was being spent across various internal processes.
Time tracking was previously done manually via spreadsheets, which was cumbersome and inconsistent.
They needed to track this information in an easy to manage way that didn’t become a time-consuming task itself. The solution also needed to be simple with minimal training required for use.
“Attempts to update the method to the team have failed due to manual data entry which created a significant burden for the team, making analysis difficult and limiting the ability to identify and quantify changes.
This resulted in poor visibility and minimal feedback for Swans.” – Andy Kindleysides, Operations Director
Solution
Our AI and Automation team got to work mapping out a Time Tracking app using Microsoft Power Apps.
Power Apps are custom applications that work with your Microsoft 365 accounts and data. The applications can be accessed by all employees through applications like Microsoft Teams, on via browsers.
Our team began by creating an active time screen. This is where the Indigo Swan team can start and stop a stopwatch, as well as enter relevant information, such as task type, task details and an importance matrix.
Next was the creation of a completed time screen. Here the Indigo Swan team can see completed task entries and create manual entries after completing a task if they did not time it within the application.
It has a similar look to the previous screen, however, they can set the start and end time and add paused minutes for any breaks in the task. It then automatically calculates the total time spent on the task.
They can also select the day the task was performed if they did not add the entry the same day. And they can see the total time for tasks on the date selected.
We also created a Tasks section in the application. This allows Indigo Swan to set types of tasks that are available when adding a time entry.
The management team can create company-wide tasks, and employees can create personal tasks that are unique to their role. All data is automatically pushed to a central database for detailed review without any duplication of work and can easily be reviewed on a regular basis.
The Time Tracking app is accessible through the user’s browser and single sign-in is enabled to allow easy access.
Result
The implementation of the time tracking application ensures that Indigo Swan employees are logging hours correctly against projects, tasks and clients. It encourages employees to focus on tasks methodically and supports improved time management.
Being able to easily access the app and simply click the stopwatch reduces errors from manual entry or memory-based reporting, with the additional failsafe that manual entries can be made.
The application means that the management team can see how much time is spent on different tasks throughout the day, whilst allowing for better forecasting, budgeting and resource allocation.
“The data has been invaluable to focus on the areas within the business that can be improved and was used to increase efficiency in one area by reducing the time taken by over 60%.
Engagement from the Swans was also extremely well received with accurate data tracking at over 90% since its implementation.” – Andy Kindleysides, Operations Director
