Newsletter Summer 09
Abbey celebrates 20th year with move to brand new Cheltenham facility We have marked this milestone year by relocating to new premises on the Neptune Business Park. To mark the success and growth of the past year, the Abbey directors have created a modern facility just down the Tewkesbury Road from the old offices. Earlier this year the firm bought two new buildings adjacent to each other, a two storey office and a warehouse building on the Neptune Business Park behind The Range store. The Abbey team has spent the past three months fitting out the new premises to create a purpose-built facility. Neil Brimble, Managing Director of Abbey is delighted with the company’s relocation. He said: “Abbey was formed in July 1989 so this year sees us celebrating 20 successful years of trading. This is Abbey’s fourth ‘home’. Our first was too big for the initial five staff, we subsequently spent five years on a small trading estate at Coombe Hill before moving to Manchester Park which saw good growth in the business over our 14 years in residence there.
The Abbey Directors: Steve Layer, Dave Giles, Neil Brimble and Mark Stradling
“With staff numbers now approaching 50, the opportunity arose to move to a modern site more suited to our business activities, whilst remaining in the Cheltenham area, hence the latest relocation. This will give us the opportunity to take the business further forward in the future.” Until the recent relocation in early June, Abbey staff were working from two sites in Cheltenham. The move has created a more effective working environment for the workforce and will pave the way for an exciting year which will see the new offices initially serving as working showrooms, a service centre and warehousing. Over the next few months a new showroom will be built within the ground floor of the office building to demonstrate the range of office furniture and business machines that are sold by Abbey. We would like to say a big thank you to all our staff for their help with the move and their dedication to Abbey over the years.
The Abbey Business Stadium – new home of the Robins Abbey is delighted to be the first ever stadium sponsor of Cheltenham Town Football Club. For many years we have enjoyed a successful relationship with the club and are pleased to show our support for the team by uniting the Abbey name with the Whaddon Road stadium. From the 2009/10 season, for a minimum of five years, the Robins’ ground will be called ‘The Abbey Business Stadium’. Tel: 01242 263444
www.abbeybusinessequipment.com
Cutting-edge design for prestigious new Cirencester headquarters Completing our largest contract in recent years, Abbey furnished the contemporary new headquarters building for the leading Wealth Management company, St. James’s Place Everyone at Abbey is delighted to announce the completion of one of our largest office furniture supply contracts in recent years. The prestigious 45,000 sq ft Cirencester based headquarters for the Wealth Management company St. James’s Place is now home to over 300 members of staff. We were selected by St. James’s Place to take on the challenging task of designing the ideal working space to incorporate staff from the company who were previously housed in six separate buildings. “We have developed an excellent working relationship with St. James’s Place over the last seven years and were delighted to be chosen to work with them on this large and exciting project for their impressive new headquarters in Cirencester.” Neil Brimble, Managing Director of Abbey Business Equipment. We provided all the office furniture including workstations, seating and storage, meeting rooms, the boardroom, a bespoke reception counter and the post room, along with a café bar. Sonia Gravestock, Operations Director of St. James’s Place Wealth Management said:
“We have had a long-term relationship with Abbey and were delighted to be able to work with them on the furniture proposal for our head office. We’re delighted with the results.” Installation of the UK-manufactured furniture took place in phases between early December 2007 and the middle of March 2008, resulting in the simultaneous completion of each wing of the building on time. Abbey’s design arm DPS (Design & Project Solutions) undertook the space planning for this project and also carried out the complex task of moving items such as personal effects, computer equipment and considerable amounts of filing from the old buildings to the new. Employees at St. James’s Place have embraced their new working environment and Abbey continue to receive many positive comments regarding the overwhelming success of this project. www.abbeybusinessequipment.com
Planet Positive Abbey has officially gone green! We’ve received Planet Positive accreditation for our considerable environmental achievement. We all know that man-made climate change is a reality and it is getting worse, so we decided the time was right to recognise our collective responsibility and do something about it. The Planet Positive mark signifies that we are making annual reductions to our carbon footprint and are offsetting the remainder by 110%. With the help of dcarbon8, we have measured and verified a positive impact on the planet, its ecosystems, and its people. As emissions regulation tightens and public consciousness of climate change increases, understanding and reducing our carbon footprint is imperative. Achieving Planet Positive status is just the beginning for us – we will now be focusing on reducing our carbon footprint. Abbey only supplies products from manufacturers who have environmental credentials that satisfy the most demanding of regulations within the scope of their operation. The Planet Positive system is a mechanism for businesses like us to work together for a common goal: making good the damage done by centuries of consumption and harmful emissions.
PROFILE
Meet Tim Harris
– Abbey Account Manager and football fanatic
Tim started his working life in the photocopier and office equipment industry, working alongside a number of the colleagues he now has at Abbey. He owned his own photocopier firm during the late 1980’s, but sold the business when he was offered the opportunity to embark on a career in football management at Newport County. Football has always played a large part in Tim’s life – from a teenager at Shrewsbury Town FC and Newport County FC he went on to play semi-professionally for Cheltenham Town, Gloucester City, Redditch and Banbury United. He has several FA Cup success stories from managing Cinderford Town, Newport County and Merthyr Tydfil. He has managed Forest Green Rovers and is heavily involved at Gloucester City FC. Most recently Tim has worked in marketing sportswear and corporate clothing. Tim on the beautiful game: “Football has brought me in touch with many successful business people and I look forward to offering them all the benefits that Abbey Business Equipment can offer.”
What makes Tim tick?
“Getting out and about, communicating and meeting people from all walks of industry and life (and football)”
Tim on his relationship with Abbey:
“Experience and enthusiasm counts for a great deal. We have market leading products with a local and national service and supply network, together with extremely competitive pricing structures. I’m delighted to be working with a company that sets first class service as its priority.”
We’ve sealed the deal with Design & Project Solutions to become a one-stop solutions firm After many years of working together, we are delighted to announce our merger with Design & Project Solutions. Our two companies have worked extremely closely since the formation of DPS by Phil McInnes in 1999 and the merger will enable us to work effectively as a ‘one-stop shop’, providing unparalleled local expertise in our field. DPS offers a range of services from office design and space planning, office moves and relocations through to interior build and fit-out projects. They also have a specialist team who install network voice and data cabling. We have welcomed on board the nine staff members employed by DPS at their Lansdown Trading Estate premises, where they continue to run the facility under the management of Phil McInnes. DPS is now the Projects Division of Abbey Business Equipment. “We are very excited about the future prospects for our newlycombined business and the opportunities it presents, giving us the confidence that we can continue to provide our clients with the exceptional levels of customer care that have always been the absolute priority for both organisations.”
Phil McInnes, Managing Director of DPS, is delighted to take up his new role as Projects Director at Abbey. “Having worked closely with Abbey for more than eight years I am pleased that our companies have merged operations. Having successfully established a range of business services, it is an extremely positive decision to add these to the portfolio of an established and reputable company such as Abbey Business Equipment. The merger will bring increased efficiency in the delivery of all our ‘business solutions’ to our clients and further enhance the quality of service we aim to provide.”
For a copy of our latest brochure please contact our Projects Division Director, Phil McInnes on 01242 230016.
Neil Brimble. Tel: 01242 263444
What is Print Audit? Need to analyse all your printing needs and want to reduce printing expenses? Print Audit 5 is one of the most powerful and comprehensive print management and tracking solutions on the market. It is comprised of three components called Analysis, Reduction and Recovery. These components can be purchased as a suite or individually, allowing you to pay only for the features you require. • Easy enterprise wide installation to any number of machines • Tracks 100% of printing, including local, networked, USB and direct to IP • Bulletproof security that cannot be overridden • Support for SQL or Access back-ends • Client-based architecture for low network overhead • Network integration with Windows NT, Active Directory and Novell Directory Services Analysis: • Tracks printing silently behind the scenes • Contains a powerful volume analysis reporting tool that can help identify equipment inefficiencies and bottlenecks • Tracks device port, duplex information, number of pages, number of copies, network user and more and more... Reduction: • Redirect print jobs from high-cost to low-cost devices • Utilise printing limits with customisable pop-up messages to notify users of print job costs and suggest a lower cost alternative • Force duplex printing and more... Recovery: • Optional job code validation through a user-friendly pop-up window • PIN codes and declining balances for charging users • Specify devices and applications to track or not and more... For your free print audit please call 01242 263444 or email: audit@abbeybusinessequipment.com
Space planning
NASHUATEC MP C2800/C3300 Create stunningly finished black and white and colour output. In today’s hectic office environments, finding a competitive advantage is not a given. As your company’s first impression is crucial, colour is the tool to show you mean business. Add it to your business documents and enjoy the benefits right away. Colour increases involvement, engages the interest and persuades faster: ideal for proposals, forms and invoices Designed to put you in the lead, Nashuatec’s MP C2800/C3300 offer a wealth of possibilities that support your creativity and productivity. To revolutionise your business image, you can now provide clients with spectacularly finished documents in black and white and colour. Everything you need to achieve high-impact results and the business success that goes with it. • All-in-one: print, copy, scan and fax from one device. • High quality black and white and colour output at 28/33 ppm.
Are you considering moving or re-organising your office accommodation?
• Easy access and intuitive operation via the colour LCD panel.
Why not take advantage of our FREE space planning and design service for any projects registered with us before the 31st October 2009. For further details please contact our Projects Division Director Phil McInnes on 01242 230016.
• Scan to USB function.
• Advanced faxing and information distribution capabilities. • Exceptional document handling and in-house finishing.
Abbey Business Equipment Limited Units 23/24, Neptune Business Centre, Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL51 9FB Tel: 01242 263444 Fax: 01242 250404 info@abbeybusinessequipment.com www.abbeybusinessequipment.com
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