Dealer Support April 2023

A very special month for Dealer Support

The end of April is almost here, which means it’s not long until we welcome you all to Dealer Support LIVE 2023! We are really looking forward to seeing you all at the Coventry Building Society Arena on the 27th of April for a day of learning and networking, curated specifically with the independent dealer in mind.

From the exhibition, to the panel sessions, breakout seminars and workshops, delegates will have the opportunity to gain valuable insights into the future of our industry from those working across its entire spectrum - wholesalers, manufacturers, suppliers, dealer groups, dealers - and more. It promises to be a really successful day, bringing all aspects of the industry together.

As well as being the month of our event, April also brings a very special edition of Dealer Support magazine! This month’s issue is our ‘Industry Insight Edition’ where we take a big picture look at the industry. We’ve spoken to key industry stakeholders, from wholesalers and service providers, and have canvassed the views and experiences of hundreds of dealers – and all are captured in the results of our survey.

There has been a lot of change in the industry over the last few years, and this year appears to be bringing even more big changes, particularly around wholesale, distribution and logistics. As a result, here at Dealer Support, we felt now was a good time to sit down with some of the industry’s major figureheads to discuss the significant period of change we’ve experienced and get their perspective on what’s gone before - and what the future of the industry looks like to them - as well as providing an update on their standing in the industry.

We spoke to two wholesalers and a service provider to get a broad view of the channel, our aim being to give dealers a much-needed insight into what they can expect from Nectere, Spicers UK and Exertis Supplies. What plans do each of these major players have in place to support the dealer community? What are they promising to bring to the table in 2023 and beyond? You’ll find out in this issue.

We also present the findings of our ‘voice of the dealer’ survey in a special eight-page report where we share the views, opinions and experiences of hundreds of dealers. This survey provides an incredibly valuable insight into the lived realities of dealer businesses and how they have operated during an extended period of uncertainty, as well as looking at their predictions and hopes for the future. We thank all the dealers who responded to our survey and provided us with these vital insights into the state of the industry and community – full report starts on page 10.

As always, don’t forget to chat to us on Twitter or LinkedIn and let us know your thoughts and opinions: @dealersupport.

Ellie Potter Editor

EDITORIAL

Eleanor Potter

Joanna Bailey

ADVERTISING

Claire Peacock

CREATIVES Amanda Lancaster

PUBLISHING SUPPORT

Kariny Venkatasamy

Nick Oleskiw hello@dealersupport.co.uk

PUBLISHER & CEO

Vicki Baloch

INDUSTRY

06 THE MONTH THAT WAS The headline news from the industry

08 NEWS EXTRA Bright and positive - Nectere’s management buyout

10 VOICE OF THE DEALER: THE DEALER SUPPORT SURVEY RESULTS

We reflect on the year that has been, and the one that lies ahead, as we present the results of our 2023 dealer survey

18 DEALER SUPPORT’S ‘INDUSTRY INSIGHT EDITION’

What to expect from our April edition

LEADERSHIP

20 EXERTIS SUPPLIES: SIMPLICITY IS THE KEY TO BRILLIANCE

Why Andrew Beaumont believes a simple business model is most effective

24 SPICERS: A TALE OF TRANSFORMATION

We sit down with Steve Morley who fills us in on a rollercoaster three years

30 FLEXING TO SUPPORT DIVERSIFICATION - INSIDE NECTERE

Steve Harrop gives us the lowdown on all the changes that have been happening

LIVE IT

34 FATHER P. CLIP

The good Father on customers, contracts and keeping ahead

36 LIVE IT

Take a break and enjoy some lighthearted fun

38 FINAL WORD

Championing retailers’ future by building and maintaining dealer relationships

“Our goals and ambitions will be led by the dealers and where they want us to go.”

Our findings show a relatively stable situation, with a slight undercurrent of uncertainty, but sprinkled with plenty of optimism too

THE MONTH THAT WAS

Essity makes breakthrough on journey to net zero emissions

Essity initiated the pilot for CO2-free tissue production in the second half of 2021. The pilot, encompassed efficiency programmes and electrification through renewable energy, and used hydrogen as a final building block to replace natural gas in the hood dryer of the papermaking process. As a result, Essity has successfully achieved a CO²-free production process for tissue.

“With this initiative, we have become the first in the world to use renewable hydrogen for tissue production. This is a major milestone in our ambitious climate agenda - and a big step toward a decarbonised society. We are creating a sustainable process that is setting a new benchmark for the industry,” said Donato Giorgio, president of global supply chain at Essity.

Up until now, the paper-drying process has relied on natural gas to achieve the required high temperatures of 600°CO². Renewable energy has not been a viable alternative in this part of the process but, by using hydrogen in the drying process, Essity has demonstrated that energyintensive production processes can also become CO2 emission-free. The company aims to continue applying breakthrough technologies to significantly reduce its environmental footprint.

Integra announces £25,000 Initiative giveaway

Integra Business Solutions has announced it will be giving away over £25,000 to members during 2023 to celebrate ‘25 Years of Initiative’ and to thank them for their continued support. Throughout 2023 members will have the chance to share in over £25,000 worth of prize draws, promotions and pricing support.

The first promotion, launched in conjunction with Bi-silque, will see six lucky winners travel to Portugal to enjoy the beautiful city of Porto. The promotion runs from January to June with the trip taking place in September 2023. Members will have the chance to win simply by purchasing Initiative and Bi-Office Boards, Easels and Flipchart pads via Antalis, VOW or direct, to reach their sales target. Members will be sent further details via the ‘Indulge with Initiative’ reward programme which includes regular sales target updates.

London Stationery Show announces LaunchPad winners

After dozens of entries, London Stationery Show are delighted to announce the six businesses which have won their annual LaunchPad competition.

LaunchPad aims to shine a light on emerging businesses looking to break into the stationery industry and showcase their unique products to a wider audience. The opportunity enables the winners to exhibit alongside market-leading brands at the London Stationery Show and meet top buyers visiting the UK’s leading trade event dedicated to arts and crafts, greeting cards, paper products and writing instruments.

The 2023 LaunchPad winners are: Curlicue Gifting Limited, Enayball, Jennifer Tune, Ladies Let’s Plan, Lione and Sheikh and Moonducks Design.

BOSS State of Office Supplies survey opens

The BOSS State of Office Supplies (SoS) survey has been designed in collaboration with companies in the industry. It will collect information on industry trends, top business concerns, energy prices, issues with international trade, moving goods between GB and NI, financing and credit conditions and pay review benchmarks.

This year’s survey finishes with a new section aimed at gathering information on how active your business is in improving its sustainability credentials – so please ensure you follow the survey through to completion.

The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete and will help BOSS represent your business and the sector. Be assured that responses are entirely confidential and results will only be used to represent your industry, lobby on your behalf, and help BOSS to support you – in particular, in the ongoing discussions with the Department for Business and Trade. Use this link to take part in the survey: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/interview/ a711a959-9d84-4cff-911f-9267b29ab9f3

The Stationers’ Company Warrants announces 2023 recipients

Over the years the Stationers Company has recognised many companies’ products and services with Stationers’ Warrants. Recipients have the honour of using the Company Warrant on their product or for promoting their service. As marketplaces have changed, the Stationers’ Warrants has reflected these changes and include not only traditional products, such as pens and notebooks, but also products which embrace sustainability and services that are unique and truly relevant to our industry.

Chris Geer, chairman of the Warrants Committee, commented, “Despite the challenging last 12 months, due to the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis that affects all sectors, it has been a pleasure to receive innovative applications from a broad crosssection of our content and communications industries.”

The committee was delighted to award new Stationers’ Warrants to:

● Hahnemühle UK for their Natural Line Paper Range.

● The Evening Standard for their ‘Standard Dispossessed Campaign’.

The rate of corporation tax, paid on company profits, will rise this month, the chancellor has confirmed. It will go up from 19% to 25% for companies with over £250,000 in profits, Jeremy Hunt told the Commons.

He also announced a new scheme to allow every pound invested by businesses in IT equipment, plant or machinery to be deducted in full from taxable profits. The tax hike, first announced in 2021 when Rishi Sunak was chancellor, has been a source of much political debate. Ex-PM Liz Truss attempted to scrap the policy in her mini-budget last September and some Conservative MPs still oppose it.

Delivering his spring budget, Mr Hunt said the UK would still have the lowest headline rate of corporation tax in the G7, the group of the world’s seven richest nations, even after the rise in April. He said only 10% of businesses would pay the full rate, and anticipated that his new ’full capital expensing’ policy was equivalent to a corporation tax cut worth an average of £9bn a year.

Corporation tax confirmed to rise to 25% from April

NEWS EXTRA

Nectere looks to bright and positive future after management buyout

Nectere is delighted to announce the completion of a change of ownership following a management buyout of the company

Established over 30 years ago by the founders Paul and Serena Musgrove, the business has built to be the leading provider of business services to its dealer network across the UK and Ireland. Paul and Serena have now taken the opportunity to hand over the business to the management team and will retire from the business, while continuing to support Nectere as consultants.

Paul explained, “The MBO has been carefully structured to secure the future of the business and allows Serena and I to focus on our health.”

Serena added, “We’re very proud of the business and team we’ve built over the past 30 years, and whilst it’s an

emotional time for Paul and I, we know that the team and the company will go from strength to strength.”

ONGOING GROWTH

The Nectere board, Mike O’Reilly, Heema Naik and Andrea Eli, together with Steve Harrop demonstrate the breadth and experience needed to deliver ongoing growth for the business and its dealers.

Mike said:“It’s incredibly exciting to be in a position of strength having

navigated the pandemic, and we now have everything in place to provide our dealers and suppliers with the best opportunities for a prosperous future.

Heema added, “Paul and Serena have laid the foundations of the Nectere model which is incredibly unique and we’re excited to develop it for the future.”

To learn more about Nectere and their current business aspirations, turn to page 22 to read our full interview with Steve Harrop, head of commercial, Nectere.

We’re very proud of the business and team we’ve built over the past 30 years

Neurodiversity solutions in the workplace

eurodiversity’ encompasses various aspects of the medical, psychological and sociological fields and includes conditions such as ADHD, autism and dyscalculia, with dyslexia being the most common type amongst adults.

The number of people diagnosed with ADHD has risen by 80% over the last five years and, in the UK, it’s believed that three-to-four per cent of the adult population have this condition. These individuals can be more sensitive to unnatural lighting and sudden movements, while others might be more susceptible to sounds, smells and colours and scratchy, rough furniture can also cause adverse results from those with tactile sensitivity.

Approximately 15% of the UK population are neurodiverse and research highlights that one-in-10 organisations now consider neurodiversity in their people management practices and office layouts. As a greater understanding of the possible benefits of strengthening employee diversity develops, this number is anticipated to continue increasing.

Studies suggest that companies which

proactively create inclusive cultures have the potential to triple performance levels and their employees display 50% lower turnover risk, which can aid in the reduction of recruitment costs and lost productivity - by taking constructive steps to accommodate a wider scope of neurological needs, businesses can ensure their office spaces reflect the diverse ways their employees experience these physical environments.

PRODUCT INNOVATION

As well as manufacturing sustainable office products that can form part of a circular economy, Exacompta’s innovative stationery ranges offer a variety of robust and stylish solutions to maximise workspaces, catering for a variety of unique needs for individuals, whether working at home or the office.

It’s bestselling Aquarel range of filing and organisational products incorporate fresh, soft pastel colours that can inspire imagination, calmness and clarity of thought which encourages positive wellbeing, enabling employees to relax, and reducing anxiety.

Additionally, the new Bee Blue collection has been designed in

conjunction with the latest trends in office colour design. These heavily feature a mix of blues and yellow shades, which combine to help boost performance and enthusiasm in a stimulating and enjoyable environment. Featuring Blue Angel certified items - made from 100% recycled postconsumer plastics - Bee Blue not only meets the environmental expectations of buyers, but these ergonomically designed, modular desktop accessories and filing solutions allow users to create a bespoke workspace to suit their personal requirements and meet their neurological needs.

Alongside the current trends linked to hybrid working and promoting positive mental health, there is a growing awareness of how neurodiversity plays an important part in connection to how individuals interact with each other and their surroundings

Voice of the dealer: the Dealer Support survey results

While some came out of 2022 with a better scorecard than others, one thing we can all agree on is that it was a year of changes. As the pandemic receded, working from home reduced but maintained an important position in the tapestry of the new workplace. Inflationary pressures meant finding creative solutions to keeping a lid on prices, and many dealers took the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned through the pandemic - induced downtime.

As companies battled the cardboard shortage,

grappled with supply chains and panicked about the cost of energy, efficiency in business was paramount - but that didn’t stop dealers from trying new things or launching ambitious projects. As we come to the end of the financial year, it’s a great time to not only reflect on the year that has been, but also to look forward to the 12 months ahead.

Earlier this year we asked our readers for their thoughts on the state of the industry today, and their outlook for the future. Our findings show a relatively stable situation, with a slight undercurrent of uncertainty, but sprinkled with plenty of optimism too.

We reflect on the year that has been, and the one that lies ahead, as we present the results of our 2023 dealer survey

50% of businesses turning over more than £5m a year feel they are back to pre-pandemic turnover, compared to only 27% of small businesses (under £500K turnover)

CHARTING THE RECOVERY

Clawing their way back from the hardships of previous years has been at the forefront of many business leaders’ minds and, for many dealers, it’s starting to pay off. Around half the respondents to our survey said that they had returned to prepandemic turnover, showing positive outcomes for all the efforts made over the past year.

There were some differences between business sizes; larger businesses (with a turnover of £1.5m plus) were more likely to report a full recovery while among smallest of companies (turnover of less than £500k) only 27% said income had returned to pre-COVID levels.

Hampering the drive for recovery is the fact that customer order values have not returned to previous levels. Just 30% of businesses surveyed said they had, with businesses of all sizes equally affected. Many suggested this was due to many of their customers still working from home (WFH), or hybrid working, while cost-cutting and a sluggish economy were also thought to be having an impact.

While customers may be maintaining WFH or hybrid working as the norm, most of the dealer community has returned to business as usual. Over 80% of respondents said meetings were now conducted in-person, although the rates were slightly higher in the larger turnover businesses than those at the lower end of the scale. In fact,

93.5% of businesses turning over £3m plus said they were back to in-person meetings.

While the homeworking market has been a staple of the last couple of years, the majority of dealers in our survey did not believe it will continue to grow. Almost 82% thought it would either level off or decline, going forward. Leveling off received the highest number of votes (64%) overall but small businesses (under £500k turnover) were most likely to believe in growth in the homeworking market - a third chose this option.

Supply chain disruptions are still rippling through the dealer community, with almost 80% saying this had affected their business. The most pressing concerns here were longer lead times for products, lack of stock availability and the potential for losing customers as a result. Several respondents also noted that these problems require time and resources to manage, which further impacts the business.

"

of dealers said supply chain disruptions had affected their business

80%

Over 80% of respondents said meetings were now conducted in-person

Across the responses, 21.5% said they were actively looking at M&A in the next 12 months

GROWTH AND DIVERSIFICATION AMONG DEALERS

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been big news over the last few years, with ongoing consolidation apparent across all business sizes. For some dealers this presents an interesting opportunity, but are any of our respondents looking to merge or acquire another business in the year ahead?

Across the responses, 21.5% said they were actively looking at M&A in the next 12 months. However, there were some significant differences between the business sizes represented. For companies turning over in excess of £3m a year, an impressive 41% are looking into M&A. Conversely, 85% of the smallest businesses would definitely not be looking into this any time soon - just 8% said they were.

Diversification into new markets has long been seen as an opportunity to grow and expand the customer base, and clearly the dealer community recognises this; 53% said they were actively looking to diversify, and dealers across all business sizes were looking at diversification fairly positively in the future.

In terms of the areas most popular to

diversify into, workwear was a clear winner; one quarter of those who said they were looking at diversification mentioned this as a focus. This was followed by PPE (12%) with other companies looking at areas including catering, print and facilities management.

In an accompanying interview in this issue of Dealer Support Steve Morely, sales director at Spicers, highlights the importance of ensuring that any diversification is presented as a complete solution. “I don’t think a dealer should be selling ‘just a product’” he says. “They should be selling a solution, and that is absolutely key. We have to understand what the consumer wants, and how they want to consume it, and then what format they want to consume it in.”

◆ Workwear

◆ PPE

◆ Catering

◆ Print

management

53% of dealers said they were actively looking to diversify

MOST POPULAR CATEGORIES FOR DIVERSIFICATION

PERFORMANCE AND FUTURE OUTLOOK

One measure of how well a business is performing is whether its workforce is growing or shrinking. We asked dealers whether they were planning to add more staff over the next 12 months, or reduce. Amazingly, not one dealer said they were looking to decrease the size of their workforce, and over 40% said they were looking to grow.

Feelings on performance for the next 12 months were fairly positive overall, with over 60% of dealers reporting they were feeling either very positive or somewhat positive about the future. Only 12% of our cohort felt either pessimistic or concerned for the future. Again, there was some variation across the groups, with smaller businesses turning over under £1.5m more likely to feel negative (20%) while 79% of companies with turnover in excess of £3m felt optimistic about what lies ahead.

Asked about the fastest growing markets over

the last year, there was a clear focus on furniture and interiors. This was specified as a growth area by 27%, with workwear and catering (both 9%) also mentioned. Votes were also in for facilities supplies, education/healthcare and promotional products as potential areas of growth.

As for what’s going to be hot in the months ahead, it doesn’t look like furniture and interiors is going away soon. A third of respondents said this would be a major sales area for the next 12 months, alongside facilities, print, and business

How do you feel about the performance of your business in the next 12 months?

Only 12% of our cohort felt either pessimistic or concerned for the future

supplies. Technology, workwear and, to a lesser extent, PPE were also seen as key sales channels for the year ahead. However, the road through 2023 is peppered with potholes, and there are some areas that are causing dealers more concern than others. Energy costs were cited as the biggest concern in the community, closely followed by rising inflation, fuel costs, and staying profitable as a business. Customer retention was seen as a key mitigator here - clearly dealers aren’t going to give up good business without a fight.

Steve Morley agrees with these perspectives. “A current challenge is inflationary pressures, because they’re coming from all angles on cost of goods, fuel costs, even stock costs now. I would think the biggest challenge for a dealer is to reflect

this in their pricing model.”

If we can mention the ‘B’ word for a moment - Brexit is still a concern. Of our respondents, 55% said it was still having an impact on their business, with almost 100% saying this impact was negative. The biggest effects have been seen in deliveries and the supply chain, with cost increases and staffing problems also noted. Several companies cited the additional red tape and administration costs involved, as well as problems doing business with Irish and Northern Irish customers.

90% of respondents said they would either increase staff or keep things the same over the coming months. None stated that they were intending to reduce staffing

Dealers aren’t going to give up good business without a fight

GOING GREEN

Sustainability has been a key focus for many dealers over the past few years, and continues to be a pressing issue today. Rising fuel bills and energy costs, coupled with inflationary price rises of products, mean that being greener and more efficient makes sense on many levels - but is it making sense for the dealers’ customers also? Reducing the number of deliveries would be a win for both the environment and dealers’ fuel costs, and it seems customers are becoming more willing to accept this change. More than 60% of our respondents said customers are more amenable to fewer deliveries, while just 20% said they definitely were not. It seems that the customers of larger dealers are more likely to be flexible, with 67% of dealers with a turnover of £1.5m plus saying this was the case.

Demand for eco products is still growing; 58% of our dealers are seeing more demand here. However, this was more prevalent in the largest businesses (£5m plus) - where 83% said their customers were keen – while just 8.3% of small businesses had seen growing demand for eco products.

In terms of stocking eco products, many dealers noted that price continues to be a barrier to offering a greater ‘green’ range and 15% were also concerned that there just weren’t enough eco products on the market, and not enough choice. Of those that are available, some respondents considered the quality to be sub-standard, and many worried about verifying the ecocredentials of these items.

Of course, sustainability begins at home, so it was great to see that almost two thirds (63%) were adopting the eco-agenda as part of their 2023 business plans. In fact, almost all business turning over more than £3m a year (96%) noted the inclusion of green targets in their plans for the year.

In an accompanying interview in this edition of Dealer Support Andrew Beaumont, MD of Exertis Supplies points out how important he thinks

sustainability will be this year.

“There’s a movement of endusers who want to purchase sustainable products, and legislation means that companies also have be to eco-compliant, which is possibly even more powerful,” he says.

“We’re almost seeing a bit of a polarised market this year, because you’re going to have the sustainability push that underpins everything but, as costs are increasing, you’re also going to have a market that wants to go for the cheapest options; the question is, how we will support all those routes to market?”

Electric vehicles can be a quick and effective win for dealers, although the investment required can be a barrier to adoption. This was reflected in the results of our survey, with just 50% saying they were investing in electric or alternatively-fuelled vehicles. Unsurprisingly, it was the biggest companies that were most actively pursuing electric transport options, with 83% saying they were investing. This contrasts with just 8% of businesses turning over less than £500k, and 36% of businesses in the under £1.5m bracket.

As expected, price was the main barrier, not just to electric vehicles but also to becoming a more eco business as a whole; this was the view of three quarters of respondents. However, it seems there is also some room for more support for the dealer community, as a number of dealers cited time (13%), knowledge (8%) and suppliers (5%) as other barriers.

75% of respondents said price was a major barrier to being green, but also cited time (13%), knowledge (8%) and suppliers (5%) as other factors

Demand for eco products is still growing; 58% of our dealers are seeing more demand here

WORKING WITH WHOLESALERS AND DEALER GROUPS

Two thirds of our respondents have a single or preferred wholesaler that they work with, and the other 33% work with multiple wholesalers, some with all the providers mentioned in the survey - VOW, Spicers, Exertis, CTS, Nectere and Data Direct.

Our dealer respondents have mixed reviews of the service they are receiving from wholesalers, they suggested a few things that could be done to improve their experience – for example, 32% of respondents wanted more flexibility on prices, and for costs to be more competitive. Almost a quarter (23%) said deliveries were a key area - they wanted more next day and overnight deliveries to provide stock for the next working day.

Other areas of improvement identified were service levels, having enough stock and communicating better with dealers - communication, reporting and, in particular, listening to the dealer community were mentioned by many respondents.

Andrew Beaumont also told us that communication and listening were a top priority for this year. “Our goals and ambitions will be led by the dealers and where they want us to go. We’ll keep working with the community and, when the

challenges arrive, hopefully we’ll be able to react in ways that can help the dealer through those difficult times.”

In his interview Steve Morley, highlighted the importance of having a good range of products available to dealers – our survey respondents will be pleased to hear that this is a key ambition for Spicers in the future. “The key for us, really, is just to make sure we’ve got the right products, at the right price, with the right service offerings. We plan, by the end of this year, to have a million products available online to dealers and we intend to increase that further in 2025 by up to three million products.”

Dealers feeding into the survey were members of various dealer groups including Office Friendly, Nemo, Integra, Advantia and Superstat; however, almost 30% were not currently members of any dealer group – and nearly 40% of those not currently in a dealer group were businesses turning over more than £5m a year.

39% of respondents are not currently members of a dealer group

33% of respondents work with multiple wholesalers, meaning the majority prefer to work with just one partner

The key for us, really, is just to make sure we’ve got the right products, at the right price, with the right service offerings

A HEALTHY OUTLOOK OVERALL

We thank all dealers who responded to our survey, giving us vital insights into the state of the industry and community and how they see the future. Overall, it’s encouraging to see so many of our community with such a positive outlook, despite the challenges that are still present in the current environment.

With almost two thirds of respondents feeling optimistic for the future, and half of our dealers returning to pre-pandemic turnover, this suggests we can start to look beyond ‘recovery’

and more towards business as usual. Yes, it’s a new normal, but there’s no reason we can’t thrive in that environment too.

This is reflected in the significant number of dealers looking to diversify into new markets, and those that already have. The opportunities for M&A are still there, particularly for larger companies. For around a third of firms, the benefits of joining dealer groups have yet to be realised. Weaving its way through everything, sustainability remains a key driver for most dealers.

It’s great to see the vast majority have returned to in-person meetings; let’s face it, Zoom just doesn’t cut it when it comes to making connections. We can’t wait to make connections with all of you at Dealer Support Live in Coventry later this month, where we can put the pandemic behind us and enjoy some quality in-person time together.

Around half the respondents to our survey said that they had returned to pre-pandemic turnover

It’s great to see the vast majority have returned to in-person meetings; let’s face it, Zoom just doesn’t cut it when it comes to making connections

60% of dealers are feeling optimistic about the future

SURVEY CONCLUSION

Dealer Support’s ‘Industry Insight Edition’

What to expect from our special April edition

Welcome to Dealer Support’s special ‘Industry Insight Edition’, where we bring you a comprehensive guide to the current workplace supplies landscape. We’ve spoken to wholesalers and service providers across the industry and we can now present the results of our State of the Nation Survey.

Regardless of your industry, competition is an inevitable, and often necessary, part of the business landscape. For customers, competition brings the opportunity of improved choice - but more choice also means increased need for meaningful information to inform decision-making on who to work with.

This year looks to be the time that the business supplies wholesaler race really picks up pace, with many wholesalers promising aggressive growth and new initiatives; independent dealer customers can only benefit from this. With this in mind, we at Dealer Support are providing you with a guide that is bang up-to-date, a go-to-guide for dealers looking to get a better

understanding of what the current wholesaler landscape looks like and what it offers their businesses.

INDUSTRY INTERVIEWS

Our aim is to always give dealers a broad overview of this part of the channel, and to provide valuable insights and information that will help you make more informed decisions so, in this special edition, we take a closer look at what Spicers UK, Exertis Supplies and Nectere have to offer you, including their objectives for 2023 and their latest business developments, as well as their advice for dealers in the postCOVID landscape and their views on how the industry is evolving.

OUR SURVEY RESULTS

We also bring you an in-depth analysis of the workplace supplies industry based on the insights and opinions of our readers, gathered through our State of the Nation Survey. Earlier this year we asked our readers for their thoughts on the current state of the industry, as well as their outlook for the future. The findings of our survey show a relatively stable situation, with a

slight undercurrent of uncertainty, but sprinkled with plenty of optimism too.

In this special edition we will be sharing the results of our survey with you, providing a snapshot of the industry’s current state, and the challenges and opportunities that dealers are facing. We explore some of the key trends and shifts that are shaping the industry, and offer insights and advice from the industry experts on how to navigate this landscape successfully. We also take a look at the areas where dealers are seeing the most growth and where they’re facing challenges. The insights gained from our survey offer a unique perspective on the industry, and we believe that our readers will find the results useful in making informed decisions about their businesses.

Whether you’re a seasoned industry professional, or a newcomer to the sector, we believe this special edition will provide valuable insights and guidance to help you stay ahead of the curve - this is definitely an issue to share with colleagues and keep for future reference! We know you’ll find it informative and perceptive.

Exertis Supplies: simplicity is the key to brilliance

ANDREW BEAUMONT, MD, Exertis Supplies, on why he believes the businesses model of keeping things simple is the key to their success

How would you summarise last year for Exertis Supplies in terms of biggest achievement, biggest challenge and biggest lesson learnt?

We’ve had several really positive years since we entered the office products sector in wholesale. Last year, as every year, the achievement is the ability to support more and more of the independent office dealers in the UK; we’re only successful if that independent office channel is successful as we don’t have another route to market. So, the fact that more and more have come to us, and increased their spend with us, shows we’re doing something right.

The biggest negative by far was the loss of Tim, our commercial director. He helped to start the office products part of the business eight years ago and we’re talking today about our part in the Office

Products industry because of what he brought to the business. We are a people business, so to lose somebody like Tim - who was so wellliked by every single person he interacted with - really hit us hard.

I had to give the business the time to grieve, and people do that in different ways. We had to make sure people knew they could laugh, they could cry, and handle it however they needed to handle it, because that was more important right then, than what we were doing as a business. Even today we are still recovering from it but we’re using his memory, and using his vision, to move us forward.

I have a picture of him on my wall, and I often smile at him about some of the things that happen during the day.

Then, in terms of biggest lessons, ours is to keep listening to our customers and the dealers; listen to their hopes and their fears - not

just from a business perspective, but how they are doing in their lives more generally too. Every dealer has a named account manager in Exertis. During lockdown we used to ‘phone all our dealers; we weren’t solely phoning to chase business, but they might have wanted to talk because they were stuck at home and were isolated. We would say, ‘Let’s keep that relationship, keep talking, and if you need to just talk, ‘phone us, we’re here if you need us.’

Everything we are today, from the ethos that Tim brought to us, is developed around feedback from dealers. Our whole strategy is built around what we hear from dealers and implementing that to help them. Without a successful independent dealer community, we won’t be successful - every dealer being successful is as important for us as it is for them.

What are some of the business’s goals and ambitions for the year ahead?

Our goals and ambitions will be led by the dealers and where they want us to go. We’ll keep working with the community and when the challenges arrive, hopefully, we’ll be able to react in ways that can help the dealer through those difficult times. Whatever challenges are thrown at dealers, we want to make sure that we’ve got the agility to be able to move, change and help. We are also looking to grow, and

our offering is open to everybody, whether they want to spend a little bit with us, or all of their spend with us. Dealers have had a tough time of it the last few years and we want to make sure they we keep helping dealers to grow and be successful.

How would you describe your business model?

We have a very simple model, and one of the things that we tried to do when we entered the market was to take out complexity. We’re very good at what we do; we’re very good at putting lots of boxes from our vendors in our warehouse and then getting them to our customers, or to their customers. That’s what we’re good at - it’s quite simple, really!

If we can be really be good at that, that’s all our dealers want. It’s not that we don’t move away from that model - and if we can tweak it, and help dealers, we will do - but part of our strength lies in our simplicity, and giving the dealers what they want, rather than what we think they want.

What do you think will be some of the biggest challenges facing the industry, and dealers in particular, this coming year?

Dealers always have the challenge of fighting against the large contract stationers and the way they win that battle, for me, is that people still buy from people, that is the dealer’s USP. They need to play on that; people want to buy from a local business and deal with local people.

A challenge that has never really happened before in the industry came about in January, when Complete were acquired by EVO. Suddenly, a parent company of a key industry wholesaler now owned a very large dealer.

Our goals and ambitions will be led by the dealers and where they want us to go

Dealers are now feeling quite cautious as this acquisition has taken buying from the same group that also owns your competitor to a whole new level, and are understandably concerned about the future strategy of the wholesalers.

What role do you think that Exertis Supplies can play in supporting dealers with some of the challenges they may face?

We were known as an ink and toner wholesaler for many years, but our OP range has now more than double the products of that of our ink and toner range, so we can now fully support an independent dealer for all their office product’s needs. That’s been a big change for us over the last three or four years; we have many office product dealers now who major with us because we can now offer the full range required; that’s been important.

The big thing that we can bring to the market on top of that is our tech range. We are owned by a very large UK tech business, so we can offer an extensive tech range, and that’s something for the office products dealers to grab hold of. We experienced record sales on tech products last year, as more dealers are seeing the opportunities there.

They were a little bit wary of the category at first, and we’re working with them to explain how the sell looks and feels, because the products are different however the sell is not that different. I always think now that if the office products dealer sits in their own office, and looks around, there’s nothing in there they shouldn’t be able to provide - including the technology.

Office products are not just traditional stationery but all products an office uses from technology to catering products, at Exertis Supplies we can supply the full range.

On top of that I think the key is selling for the hybrid working environment. Many people still have the same temporary ‘office’ set up they did when they went home in March 2020; there’s lots of equipment that will need upgrading now, and opportunities to make the home office more comfortable and permanent.

Then there’s a security issue on top of that, such as technical vulnerabilities in relation to cyber–attacks, or issues around GDPR. Some people have a shredder that probably takes one piece of paper, and then it jams - so there are opportunities to sell products that shred waste securely.

I think there are lots of opportunities to sell still to come from hybrid working. Many people see it as a threat for the industry, however I think it’s a real opportunity, because many people now have two workspaces.

I think there are lots of opportunities to sell still to come from hybrid working

What would you say are some of the key product areas that dealers should be focusing on, for sales success this year?

For me, the big message underlying everything is sustainability, and how we support that as an industry. We need to make sure that we’re getting the message of sustainability from the vendors through to the dealers and through to the end-user. That’s a real area that we’re working on, and I know lots of dealers are working on it too. There’s a movement of end-users who want to purchase sustainable products, and legislation means that larger companies and public bodies also have be to eco-compliant, which is even more powerful.

We’re almost seeing a bit of a polarised market this year, because you’re going to have the sustainability push that underpins everything but, as costs are increasing, you’re also going to have a market that wants to go for the cheapest options.

What are some forward-thinking strategies that you think dealers should be looking at implementing?

We’ve seen how social media is so powerful now, and it’s something that dealers have got to be aware of and to use to their advantage. That needs support from the vendor and wholesalers to guide dealers on how best to use social media to market their products and services.

Another strategy - and something that the industry as a whole should be thinking about - is making sure that we’re attracting a new generation of talent through businesses. For example, I’m a 51 year old man who was brought up differently in a different world to now. Social media isn’t my natural habitat, so if I surround myself with people just like me, nothing is going to progress in a new direction.

We must be really brave and listen, as an industry, to new voices coming through - there are different ways of doing things and the way it’s currently being done isn’t always the right way. I see pockets of businesses doing this now, however we all need to be thinking about how we attract the next generation into the industry.

After all, they’ll be the ones to take the business supplies industry forward, and they will do things that we haven’t even thought of yet.

We must be really brave and listen, as an industry, to new voices coming through

Spicers: a tale of transformation

Spicers has been on quite the journey since 2020, from bringing in the administrators to starting a whole new business during a pandemic. We speak to Spicer’s sales director STEVE MORLEY who fills us in on the rollercoaster ride Spicers has been on in the last three years

For the benefit of those who may not have followed your journey closely, give a brief overview of what’s been happening at Spicers the last few years.

It would be easier to say what hasn’t been happening in that time, to be fair! Back in 2020 at the start of the pandemic Spicers UK, along with the SPOT Group, went into administration. When Paragon first acquired parts of SPOT in May 2020, they didn’t buy the UK wholesale business, but there was a real concern that the wholesale market could become uncompetitive; and a resounding requirement within the dealer community to have choice and flexibility across their supply chain.

We introduced OT Wholesale as part of the newly formed OT Group back in May 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, with no customers, no systems, no systems integration, and the only way people could trade with us was by opening an account online – they could email or phone

an order in and we would send them a hardcopy invoice – that’s how basic we had to go back to in order to restart the business and we remain very grateful to those dealers who backed us. We started with four people initially, and we’re about 12 people now. We’ve grown the team in line with the sales line but kept the resource deliberately small as we want to keep costs very low and pass on the benefits to our dealer partners.

We currently deal with circa 830 plus customers and we have full EDI integration now with every back-office system. Since our launch we’ve been through three lockdowns, moved carriers, moved warehouse, been through Brexit, experienced the paper shortage, a war in Ukraine and now high inflation.

As you can see, in less than three years we’ve been through numerous amounts of change, to get the business fit-for-purpose for where we see it, going forward. The last part of our change plan is the new ERP system,

which we’re heavily investing in at this moment in time so that we can move from some very old legacy systems to a state-of-the-art platform and unlock the potential of where we want to go as a business.

So, we’re looking forward to some stability now to do the exciting things that we want to bring to market, but we had to go through all the pain to get to where we are. It’s been interesting navigating a pandemic with three lockdowns and putting a team together; we didn’t meet as a team in person for over 18 months because of the pandemic and in that time, we built a multi-million pound business again from scratch. Everything was done remotely; it’s been a real journey.

It’s fair to say you’ve had a tumultuous few years. How are you planning on reinstating confidence in your brand with the dealer community?

The key for us is just to make sure we’ve got the right products, at the right price, with the right service offerings, and that will breed confidence. Obviously, we’re very fortunate that we have the Five Star™ brand, which is 30 years old this year, and probably the most trusted own brand in the business. The difference between the old world and the new world

is, of course, that we’re now privately backed, and we no longer have VC ownership - the people that are in it understand the business and are planning for long term future growth. Ultimately, we must prove ourselves to the dealers; we’ve been through a lot of change to make this business fit for purpose and future proof, and now we need to show them some stability and demonstrate that we are a partner they can trust. I’d like to think that’s what we’ve always done since we setup - to be honest with people and build that trust.

What plans do you have in place to make sure you’ll be coming back stronger than ever before?

The major difference we have is strong backing from Paragon Group. They have already invested in a state-of-the-art warehouse in Ashtonunder-Lyne - the biggest single warehouse in the UK servicing the office supplies industry. We’ve just invested over seven-figures in our new ERP system, and that will also help us bring forward plans that we have for further service offerings to dealers and flexible delivery options.

We’re also looking at range extension. Now, it sounds very easy when you say ‘range extension’, but what we’re looking at is the ‘endless aisle’, as

Ultimately, we must prove ourselves to the dealers

we call it. We plan, by the end of this year, to have a million products available online to dealers – with plans to increase that further in 2025 by up to three million products. We want to make sure that, from a dealers’ perspective, when a customer is on their web portal, looking for a product, they will find that product they need without having to look elsewhere.

So, there will be a stocked range as well as the endless aisle, and what we need to do is let the endless aisle data guide us as to what products to stock rather than, as we used to do in the old wholesaler model, tell dealers what we are stocking. We want to work in partnership with dealers, and as long as we can all make an acceptable margin, we will stock it - which is a fundamentally different mindset from a traditional wholesaler.

What are Spicers’ goals and ambitions for the year ahead?

We have some very ambitious targets - we’ve got a growth forecast of over 70% this year. Paragon expects us to grow rapidly and to be number one in our industry. The main reason for changing the ERP system for us is to unlock what the future holds. We had over 35 legacy systems and over 200 databases powering the old system. Now we’ve moved to a single platform, the simplicity and flexibility it will give us will allow us to offer different service delivery models

that dealers need. We’ll be able to provide lots of different products and services, going forward and the endless aisle is a key part of that strategy for us.

I think the dealer community is ready for a new, hungry, wholesaler - and although we have a 200-year-old name, we’re really a business that’s only been going for two-and-a-half years, and we have a large appetite for growth.

What are some of the challenges of running a business when you have lots of different dealers, with lots of different business needs, and trying to cater for all of them?

It’s an interesting question because, when I look back - being that I was part of the old Spicers until its demise - Spicers was taking too much complexity, and therefore cost into its business. At a recent dealer forum we held, we asked ‘What do dealers want today?’ And, when you listen to what they want, it’s a fairly simple model - right product, right time, and easy to do business with. Yes, there are some nuances within that, but the fundamentals are great service, a good price and being easy to deal with.

We think our approach of a very low cost, stripped-back model is fit for online, hybrid and traditional dealers. Yes, we’ll have to adapt as we grow, but the actual base is now very solid and, being

a low-cost distributor, we can then tweak slightly as we go along to meet a dealer’s needs.

I think what we need is simplicity and transparency within the wholesale channel. Dealers need to be able to trust their wholesale partner, and that they’re going to do the right thing at the right time and give them the right information and widest product choices. That’s what we aim to do.

What do you think will be some of the wider challenges facing the industry and dealers, particularly this year?

The interesting part - and probably one that we haven’t faced as a business until the pandemic - is going to be high inflationary pressures, because they’re coming from all angles on costs of goods, fuel costs, staffing costs etc. I think the biggest challenge for a dealer is managing this in their pricing model, and really understanding what their actual costs are. Yes, they see the cost of goods that will increase, but you’ve also got to factor in your own fixed costs which are increasing for you as a business owner. If you just pass on the cost of goods increase, you’re going to go backwards on your margin. It is the right time to question everything and move as much fixed costs to variable costs where possible, i.e., delivery costs versus a third party offering etc.

Face-to-face selling and office-based workers have all been very

key in this business for many years - as long as I’ve been in it - but the market is changing with hybrid working and remote working, and a younger new tech savvy generation of buyers and consumers, which means different delivery models are needed, along with smaller pack sizes and a much wider range. As a result, the way people are purchasing is changing and we need to reflect this by looking at webbased offerings, app offerings, making it simple for people to order quickly and efficiently for both them and us.

For those dealers that are going after larger contract business, you’ve got to review your sustainability and social credentials, and those of your suppliers - this is becoming more and more important. As a business we have just been awarded the EcoVadis silver accreditation, which enables us to assure our customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders of our environmental commitment as well as helping dealers highlight this to their customers and potential clients.

I think what we need is simplicity and transparency within the wholesale channel

With Spicers coming from a more traditional office products background, how do you ensure you are futureproofing your brands as the industry evolves?

As we discussed earlier, Spicers is a very old name on a very new business and bearing in mind what we’ve been through as a business, the one thing I would say is we’ve had to be very flexible and adaptable, we’ve learnt very valuable lessons along the way. We have a clear plan in place to reflect what the market needs both today and in future. This industry constantly evolves, remember fax rolls?! Most dealers are very, very resilient and have been very entrepreneurial through the pandemic. I take my hat off to them; there’s some great businesses that have pivoted and done a really good job in some very testing times and are emerging with a stronger, more robust business as a result.

We need to utilise the power of data. As we mentioned before with the endless aisle, we need to look at the data and let this guide us whilst also listening to dealers - understand what is selling, when it’s selling, and make sure that we’re ahead of the curve to provide what the dealers want. We want to be their trusted supply chain and services partner; we don’t want to be just a supplier.

The whole supply chain today has had so much cost brought into it with dealers multi sourcing and collating goods themselves. Now more than ever, we need to work together as wholesalers depend on the success of the independent dealer community.

What forward-thinking strategies should dealers adopt to also thrive in 2023?

The key is listening to your customers, understanding their issues and concerns and then offering the solution. This will bring long term loyalty and something that our parent company Paragon Group do very well. Again, look at your data, look at gap fill opportunities,

most back offices can offer add-ons which really allow insight into customers buying habits and patterns, but more importantly can highlight what is not being sold into these customers and gives a great target list to review.

Also think local, it is a great story to encourage local businesses to buy from other local businesses and in turn support the local economy. We also have to understand what the consumer wants and how they want to consume it, and then what format they want to consume it in.

Any final thoughts?

We’ve been a very traditional industry that’s gone through seismic change in the last three years. We now need to start reflecting and asking what the lessons are we learnt and how do we ensure that the whole channel is fit-for-purpose in this new world. With our support from Paragon and from where I can sit now looking out, looking at what we’re doing as a wholesaler, and how we’ll bring that to dealers in the not-toodistant future, I also believe there’s a lot to be positive about.

We’ve been a very resilient channel for a number of years, and we need to get back to being entrepreneurial, working in partnership, driving down costs and really looking at growing our businesses together.

We need to work together as wholesalers depend on the success of the independent dealer community

One of the things we most pride ourselves on is the fantastic feedback we receive after our events each year. Here are just some of the positive comments we have had following our previous events:

“The exhibitors were of a really high standard.”

“The venue was great; brilliant location and very accessible.”

“As always, the seminars and workshops were very good.”

“Great networking opportunity.”

DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT BOOK TODAY

So, what are you waiting for? As we want as many of you as possible to benefit from a day of learning and networking, we are offering a limited number of FREE and DISCOUNTED tickets! Email hello@dealersupport.co.uk using the subject line ‘I want to come to DS LIVE 20233!’ to express your interest in tickets.

*Standard ticket price starts from £45 which includes all seminars, the exhibition, refreshments and a hot lunch.

Contact us at hello@dealersupport.co.uk

New regulations came into force on 23rd January under article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Fire Safety Order) to implement the recommendations made to government in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 Report which require a change in the law.

WHAT DOES THIS NEW REGULATION MEAN?

Those responsible persons of high-rise blocks of flats must provide information to fire and rescue services so they can adopt and apply an efficient and effective operational response.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

As an expert in the manufacture of safety signs, we can provide a comprehensive way finding signage project for high rise buildings which helps provide crucial information to residents and firefighting personnel.

● Photoluminescent signs helps residents find their way out of the building safely in low light or smoky conditions and helps fire fighters identify where they are in the building.

● Site safety notice boards provide important information about the building, key individual contact details.

● Notice signs or tagging systems help manage any equipment checks in the building. Identifying when the item was last inspected, and any defects are highlighted.

● Fire door signs help individuals to understand which are fire doors within a building, the importance of keeping them shut and not to block fire doors.

● Fire safety notices help to provide relevant fire safety instructions to residents.

● Wayfinding signage provides an easy recognisable route. They provide direction helping people find their way easily.

Help guide your customers through what they need with Spectrum Industrial. To read the full guidancehttps://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/fire-safety-englandregulations-2022/fact-sheet-overview

Think safe, act safe, be safe –fire safety new regulations are now in force

Flexing to support diversification –inside Nectere

Although Steve Harrop has been in the industry for decades, his role as head of commercial at Nectere is relatively new - and one that hasn’t come without its challenges. “Last year was a difficult year, but a rewarding one. It was the first year for me working for Nectere and in a relatively new type of role which dealt with creating supply chain management and looking at product categorisation.”

As well as being a testing year for Steve as he adapted to a new role in a new company, 2022 was also a problematic year for the industry as a whole. A war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis at home, plus unprecedented political turmoil, all made for a business climate that was volatile, unpredictable and unstable. Despite this, Nectere managed to succeed where others struggled, and it progressed in its systems whilst others were forced to backwards.

As a keen football fan, Steve uses a familiar football analogy to summarise how 2022 was for the company as a whole. “Last year was a game of two halves, with the first half of the year being dominated

by the paper shortage. Whilst everyone else was struggling, our supply was very stable for the first eight months - I even had competitors asking me if they could have containers of our ownbranded paper!”

Nectere focused on staying price-competitive, and although this was challenging, Steve cites the great support he had both from the mill side and Antalis as fundamental factors which enabled him to ensure stability. At a time when everyone was looking for paper, Nectere suffered only one or two days when it was completely out of stock.

“In the second half of the year we managed to develop our own unique version of EvoX, which is the industry leader webstore; we’ve now got 60-plus partners who are using that solution. It’s a super product. It’s very well adapted to the changes that the industry needs and it’s got lots of ability to do things that those other systems - and even the same type of system - aren’t able to do. I’m sure lots of people will catch-up but, for now, we think we’re just ahead of the game on that one.”

Of course, COVID continued to impact the industry last year,

With some big changes going on, we speak to STEVE HARROP, head of commercial at Nectere, to get the lowdown on the past year and his outlook on the one ahead

and Nectere was not immune to its effects – as Steve puts it, “When a huge player sneezes, we all catch a cold.” One of the most significant influences was on staffing, as some workers took the opportunity to retire early, or left the company for other reasons. “As a consequence, we’ve had to renew the team. It’s a lot younger now, and we needed to upskill them, especially in industry, products and category, and that takes time. You can’t just do that overnight.”

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE YEAR AHEAD

As with most businesses, Nectere is focusing strongly on stability, profitability and diversity in 2023 but is also keen to forge new partnerships to strengthen its position for the future. The firm has completed the long mooted MBO and a change of ownership is now in place, which brings with it exciting times and some changes to the business model too, but Steve believes that traditional products will remain at the heart of what they do. “Our goals are to have a stable platform, to increase the profitability of our partners and to acquire, as well as retain, our existing ones.”

Serving the needs of the dealer is crucial to a company like Nectere, and that comes with its own challenges too. Accommodating

dealers of different shapes and sizes and often very diverse business needs isn’t easy, but Steve is in a good position to take on this challenge with enthusiasm. “I’ve been actively involved in the dealer SME community for 40 years and, whilst a lot of things have changed and refocused, the fundamental basics won’t go away. It’s important to focus on simple things that provide a good return on their investment.”

The deal with Spicers will see Nectere growing its wholesale division which, backed by the significant investment made in its IT infrastructure, will support dealers looking to diversify their businesses. Steve is already aware of the presence in his network of dealers specialising in workwear, medical supplies and other niche areas - many of these began life as traditional office product dealers. Steve is certain that supporting those transitions to new markets is key to Nectere.

“Diversification is not an evolution for Nectere; it’s just a reality, and it’s been part of the business model since the inception. There’s a willingness of resellers who want to engage…many of them have a ‘jack of all trade’s’ solution, and it’s part of the reseller’s nimble ability to really engage well with their customers. So, we provide a financial platform and a range of services that underpin that need to diversify.”

ADVICE TO THE INDUSTRY

While 2023 promises to be a pivotal year for Nectere, some of the challenges that were with us in 2022 remain clouds on the horizon. Steve identified some key issues for dealers that will require thoughtful planning in the months ahead. “Managing inflation is a key factor because the costs in the business, and cost of product, are both going to increase, we know that. There’s only two ways in which you can make more money - you sell more stuff, or it’s less expensive to do it - so the cost-to-serve is crucial.”

Demand more from your supporting suppliers. Demand more from us. We will come through on that

Nectere is ready to support dealers through tough times, despite the changes it’s currently going through. Steve is committed to being there to support dealers, and is challenging them to demand more from Nectere. “At this moment we’re going through a period of flux and change and there are some challenges that we believe we’ll be overcoming very shortly. Demand more from your supporting suppliers. Demand more from us. We will come through on that.”

The importance of developing a close working relationship and, in particular, maintaining great communications with the dealer community are front and centre for Steve. “I think good communication is key. By listening to our dealers we can resolve most issues - or at least see a clearer path through. We’ve got a few small hurdles to overcome, but once we knock them out of the way, I think we’ll be in a very strong position to support dealers because the

business service model we offer is unique in the UK.”

In terms of focus products, Steve doesn’t pretend to dictate to dealers what they should or shouldn’t be selling. His take is all about being there to serve the needs of the community, no matter how diverse or niche they want to go. “We should be able to supply any business needs - indoor, outdoor, outreaching, outlying, anywherewe should be able to do it. If you take a building, you give it a shake, you turn it upside down and everything drops out, we should be able to supply that. It’s something I’ve always believed that dealers should adopt as a strategy.”

In addition, on the strategic side, Steve stresses the importance of being intelligent in the way dealers are approaching their business decisions. While diversifying, and embarking on new products and projects is a good move for some, it should always be driven by data. “Keep tech at the fore, have analytics, build your business relationships through the chain – but, if you’re not driven to succeed, look elsewhere.

“That might be a bit of a harsh message, but if you don’t see the future in what you do, in terms of our industry, then look elsewhere. The reality is that the world now is the most vulnerable and open it’s ever been.

“There are no super exciting strategies; there’s just selling more stuff to more people, for more profits.”

By listening to our dealers we can resolve most issues - or at least see a clearer path through

We have a very large customer in the area who has decided to put their stationery contract out to tender. We had an initial meeting with them this morning, brought them in KitKats and soup because we had heard they love that and we’ve agreed on a number of points which are very important to the customer.

Like being at their beck and call 24 hours a day, allowing them to shout at us, and beat us with a stick if need be, and allowing them to take our children hostage if their paper delivery is late.

The other problem is that we won’t be able to make anything on non-contracted items, as absolutely everything is on their contract list. I can’t help wondering what contract stationer gave in to them in the first place and allowed them this much leeway.

Independents like ourselves have no

chance of making anything out of it, but we still fight tooth and nail to win it - and I don’t know why. It’s not like we can boast about having the contract to our other customers, because they’ll get annoyed that we aren’t paying enough attention to them, nor is it that we can brag about it down the pub because everyone in there has warned us not to talk about office supplies or we’ll be barred.

So, what’s the point? Why don’t I just tell them we aren’t taking part in the tender because I don’t like them?

It’s because we are eaten up with the possibility that one of our competitors will win it and, even though they won’t

make anything out of it, they’ll still have it and we won’t. It would rankle in my brain for the whole three years - or whatever amount of time they have it - and I’d try everything I could to discredit them. I’d send in broken things saying that it came from them, or spend the wholetime plotting revenge, even though I know they aren’t making anything out of the contract...

I think I might need to see a therapist. Surely there should be an office supplies therapist to cover things like paper stocks, non-deliveries and constant price rises? I reckon they’d make a fortune, and the queue would be a mile long.

Father P discusses customers, contracts and keeping ahead of competitors – whatever the cost

Bringing hope, peace and unity to the good brethren of business supplies

Independents like ourselves have no chance of making anything out of it, but we still fight tooth and nail to win it - and I don’t know why

LIVE IT LIVE IT

Life hack

“Coffee grounds can be mixed with washing-up liquid and boiling water to unclog drains,” says Alex Azoury, founder and CEO of Home Grounds. Alex recommends mixing the grounds with soap and adding the mixture into your drain and following this up with a lengthy pour of boiling water. This mighty combination will break up whatever’s clogging your pipes.

Flamingo friendships CAPTION COMPETITION

‘Birds of a feather flock together’ but, within their flocks, flamingos form smaller cliques of like-minded individuals, a new study suggests. While previous research showed that flamingos formed friendship groups, the findings of this latest study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, indicate that these friendships are partly decided by individuals’ intrinsic traits.

Researchers at the University of Exeter and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) studied a flock of 147 Caribbean flamingos and a separatelyhoused flock of 115 Chilean flamingos at the WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire between March and July 2014.

Both groups were found to have individuals with varying behavioural traits, and they appeared to use these traits to choose which flamingos they would associate themselves with the most.

TWEET CAPTIONS TO @DEALERSUPPORT

“For example, bolder birds had stronger, more consistent ties, with other bold birds, while submissive birds tended to spend their time with fellow submissive flamingos,” study co-author and animal behavioural scientist Dr Paul Rose, a research associate at WWT and lecturer

cut 40 words

Quote of the month

The only limit to our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Did you know?

Australia is wider than the moon! The moon is 3400km in diameter, while Australia’s diameter from east to west is almost 4000km.

A race to the top

As reported by BBC News, a boy climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest to support a children’s hospice, as we wrote about last month, has now joined a wellknown fundraiser to go up Wales’ highest peak. Oscar Burrow, from Lancaster, and his family are racing Michael Cullen - known as Speedo Mick - up Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon.

The six-year-old is in the process of climbing 12 peaks to match Everest’s 29,030ft (8,849m) height while Mr Cullen has raised more than £800,000 walking the UK in blue swimming trunks. The 58-year-old said he had been “made up” when Oscar’s father asked if his son could join him in climbing the mountain.

Speedo Mick is currently on his final fundraising walk, which will see him walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End, taking in the UK’s three highest peaks on the way, while Oscar is halfway through his 12-peak challenge.

1. What is the name of Dua Lipa’s 2020 album?

2. Matt Goss, Luke Goss and Craig Logan made up which band?

3. In what year did The Beatles split up?

4. What is rapper P Diddy’s real name?

5. Complete this Spice Girls lyric: “If you wanna be my [BLANK], you gotta get with my friends”.

Knock me down with a feather

VERY LOST IN THE POST

A letter written in February 1916 has arrived at a flat in south London more than 100 years later, BBC News has reported. The envelope, which has a Bath postmark and a 1d (one old penny) stamp bearing the head of George V, eventually arrived at Finlay Glen’s flat on Hamlet Road, Crystal Palace. “We were obviously pretty surprised and mystified as to how it could have been sat around for more than 100 years,” said Finley, while Royal Mail said it remained ‘uncertain what happened in this instance’. Although under the HYPERLINK “https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ ukpga/2000/26/part/V/crossheading/offences-of-interfering-withthe-mail”Postal Services Act 2000 it can be a crime to open mail not addressed to you Finley said he felt it was “fair game” to open it once he realised it was from 1916, not 2016. “If I’ve committed a crime, I can only apologise,” he added.

THUMBS UP!

Championing retailers’ future by building and maintaining dealer relationships

I’ve built my company over the last 28 years on professional reputation and delivery of service for trade dealers, achieving this through established reliable and reputable international supply chains, our own experienced long-standing UK team, and the loyalty of our strict trade-only dealer customers.

Central to any successful business are the dedicated people who operate within it and share our common goal which is to give our dealers the very best customer experience.

I feel lucky to have attracted talented and diverse individuals over the years, including specialist personnel for technical support, IT, purchasing, operations, sales, marketing and, more recently, productspecific members for copier toner and printer hardware - all, of course, supported by our fantastic warehouse team.

The bottom line of any business needs to be offering a value proposition for a reliable product and service. My team and I provide this by passing on savings to dealers

through our regular specialist supply partner reviews and our professional B2B contract management; this has further helped us expand our portfolio of toner and ink ranges to include types such as OEM and branded - Xerox XET/ IBM - as well as our established unbranded compatible and remanufactured options.

We must listen and react to our dealer customers’ needs. Over the years they have asked for later cut-off points with timed delivery, private labelling, support for their website developments and the provision of free training for dealer sales staff. They have asked us for new products and required of us a sustainable solution which, I’m delighted to say, includes our zero-landfill promise.

Technical efficiency is also high on the dealer wish list for streamlining their daily business processes through EDI electronic ordering and direct invoicing which has helped all parties scale. Furthermore, the visibility of our business through our tradeonly website, and our supported free Fusion Plus data for their dealer websites and back offices, has proved invaluable.

Finally, if COVID taught us nothing else, it was the need to react and diversify to support dealers - which we did by quickly sourcing and onboarding a range of PPE. I’ve never been one to stand still; since the 2020 pandemic, and through our dealer’s further requests, we are now providing an extensive range of stationery items and printer hardware provision and we continue to promote a greener managed print solution.

The number of printed pages and new device rollouts are reducing per annum and OEMs, by and large, are seeking control of end-user data to cut out dealers. A philosophy that counters this with an alternative solution enables the OP dealer longevity in the office printing market.

This is our philosophy.

STEVE CLAYTON, MD of CTS Toner Supplies

Limited, talks about the importance of listening to dealer’s business needs to attract new opportunities and maintain the loyalty of existing clients

If COVID taught us nothing else, it was the need to react and diversify to support dealers

Steve Clayton MD of CTS Toner Supplies Limited

Brother’s print solutions are designed to support your teams in any setting, helping them work securely and e ciently.

This is...

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