Dealer Support october by Intelligent Media Solutions

October 2011 Issue 196

INSPIRING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERS

The Silvine SAFARI range. Available as hard cover wirebound and flexible perfect bound notebooks. All made with care in the UK from forest friendly paper. Available in wholesalers 2012 including

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BACK OFFICE REVIEW Dealer survey results 2011 A4 Perfect Bound

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SMALL AND MIGHTY Building a mobile app CUTTING THE CHORD Selling your business

FROM THE EDITOR

page 28

page 24

Pedigree cross-breed

“If you use the public procurement portals, SMEs don’t stand a chance”

As I put the second issue to bed, my booklet-sized knowledge pool has hit encyclopaedic realms following some very enlightening interviews this month. My first visit was up to Leeds, where Superstat’s Chris Collinson was able to paint an interesting picture of the tug and pull of pricing and ethics that has been a subject of contention for many years in the industry. Pop to page eight to find out what the Superstat members had to say at the group’s ‘Big Debate’. This issue we bring you the latest FM guide supplement, highlighting the business opportunities in facilities management by expanding beyond the office products catalogue. The main magazine paints the opposite picture, as we speak to a number of specialist dealers who began selling stationery and traditional office items as an add-on to their existing services. Both IDS League co-winner RED BOX, (page 42) and long-running independent dealer A. Boville Wright (page 24) supply office products to the creative industry as supplementary to their art and design remit. Either way, cross-selling works, illustrating that time-poor customers are looking for one-stop-shop solutions when stocking up for the work environment. Blue Olive MD Gordon Bennie is no exception – his team is made up of print and copier engineers first, office stationers second, yet in just nine months of launching the office supplies arm, the company has seen incredible growth with an approaching turnover of £90k with the additional range. Last month, Bennie received a visit from his local MP as part of a government initiative to give managers of small and medium-sized businesses a voice. Hopefully this signals a shift towards provisions being put in place to assist SMEs in beating the challenges of running a business in an uncertain climate. Find out how it went on page 28. As always, we look ahead to the future, to see what dealers should be considering in terms of new technology, with a focus on both sides of the coin: stocking high-tech (page 34) and using new media to target your customer (page 44). If you’re thinking this is all a little too much, you may want to take the money and run with our legal guide to selling up (page 38). Until next time…

MANAGING EDITOR Julia Dennison julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk

DESIGNER Sarah Chivers sarah.chivers@intelligentmedia.co.uk

EDITOR Nina Rosandic nina.rosandic@intelligentmedia.co.uk

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Sinead Coffey sinead.coffey@intelligentmedia.co.uk

FEATURES WRITER Matthew Jane matthew.jane@intelligentmedia.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Natalia Johnston natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Vicki Baloch vicki.baloch@intelligentmedia.co.uk

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Dan Price dan.price@intelligentmedia.co.uk

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER – MEDIA SOLUTIONS Matthew Moore matthew.moore@intelligentmedia.co.uk

PUBLISHER David Collingbourne david.collingbourne@intelligentmedia.co.uk

Nina Rosandic, Editor

intelligent media solutions suite 223, business design centre 52 upper street, london N1 0QH tel: 020 7288 6833 fax: 020 7288 6834 email: info@intelligentmedia.co.uk web: www.dealersupport.co.uk web: www.uspmagazine.com

Annual subscriptions are ABC available at a cost of £68.00 for UK and overseas by surface mail, £90.00 for airmail. Subscription enquiries should be sent to the above address Dealer Support is the leading monthly publication for dealers in the business supplies industry. It provides information on the industry (both in the UK and overseas), information for and about the UK’s independent dealers, as well as information and advice on running a small business. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of the publishers. Copyright of all the material published remains with Intelligent Media Solutions Limited. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, copied, stored in an electronic retrieval or transmitted, save with written permission or in accordance with provision of the copyright designs and patent act of 1988. Printed in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk

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INSPIRING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERS

Contents October 2011

INDUSTRY 8 Educated Decisions Superstat on the ‘Great Debate’ and ‘theofficesuppliessupermarket.com’ 14 What we learned this month Facts, figures and banter from across the globe 16 Back Office Review 2011 We compare the leading software systems with the results of our dealer survey

PEOPLE 24 Family Portrait We speak to dealer A.Boville Wright about being a centurion in the business 28 Reaching Out Blue Olive MD Gordon Bennie reflects on an MP visit, and the importance of contractual clients

MANAGEMENT 34 Dealing with the future Branching out into hi-tech sales 38 Cutting the chord Selling your business - the right way 42 Breaking out of the Box We check in with IDS League co-winner RED BOX 44 Small and well-formed Is it time you snapped up an app?

AND FINALLY… 46 Start with ‘Why?’ Newell Rubbermaid’s Richard Fordreturns returns to the root

Industry

Dealer Group

Educated decisions

the 2011 Superstat conference played host to ‘the Great Debate’, at which dealers were given a chance to have their say on the group’s future pricing strategy. Nina Rosandic went up to Leeds to speak to MD Chris Collinson on the outcome of the session, and gained a lesson on ethics, net pricing and the importance of Seo

t this year’s Superstat Conference, the group opened the floor up to dealers to have their say on the theme of challenging convention, to question why the industry operates as it does and what would happen if things were done differently.

What prompted the Great Debate? There has been an ongoing controversy surrounding office Depot in the States, which held quite a lot of government contracts. They would give fantastic prices on the popular on-core products and blow everyone away. In order to make that a viable model, they would charge through the nose for off-core products. effectively, a government department spending millions on an account were paying more for an off-core product than John Smith could buy it for off the store shelf. In order for the model to work, you obviously have to sell things above retail price. This becomes particularly unethical when companies create catalogue publications in which they bump up the recommended retail price (rrp), then claim that the final price is a at a discount, when it is actually equal to retail, or more. The rrp should be set by the manufacturer, but if you call it

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

“If people Google you on price, they will always find something cheaper – if we set our business up to always be the cheapest we wouldn’t be here very long”

something else, you can get away with it. I’m not sure what the legalities are but whether you can defend it in a court of law is irrelevant, you’re misleading the consumer. It tends to be the bigger contract stationers, rather than dealers, but again it’s a case of relying upon lying to customers. This all got me thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong. If the only way you can go to market is by deceiving your customers, then there’s got to be something wrong with the model. If your pricing philosophy relies on the fact that they don’t notice something then there’s got to be a flaw in it. It’s successful to an extent – some of the biggest players in the country do it, however it becomes an issue for dealers trying to take on the contract stationers, as they quote a price on a basket of products that is below what a dealer actually pays for those products. So our agenda for the debate was: Do we join them? or if not, what do you do to survive and find your place in the marketplace? The other question was whether to stick with a net-priced book, or offer a flat discount across the board? and if we stick with the net-priced option, should it follow the formula of the contract stationers, or stick with the principles it’s always had?ww

So, what did the debate throw up? of the 50 dealers that expressed an opinion, 40 said we should be offering fair pricing and still be able to compete.

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AUTHORISED Distributor

Industry

Dealer Group

Is it fair that I offer you a cheaper price on your paper than the guy next door, because you buy more? Well yes, I think it probably is. But the dilemma is: what price do I put in the catalogue? Our answer is to create a catalogue that offers everything the customer needs, at a price reflective of the market, however, on the 10 products that are important to the client, we can offer a better price than what’s in the catalogue. We buy the commodity, or on-core products, better so we are able to offer a good price on those products. We don’t buy the fringe products so well, so the fact we give slightly less of a discount means we are still giving an honest price.

Were there many dealers against adopting a more ethical approach? There were a few dealers who said they preferred the other model, where we lose money here, make loads of money there, and leave it up to the customer to work out whether it’s a good deal or not. Their thought was: “If it’s good enough for the biggest people in the industry it’s good enough for me.” My viewpoint on that is: If you take on Goliath on his own terms, you’re probably going to lose. It only reinforces to me that we should be doing something different to the big guys and take them on on our terms. Let’s work to the dealer’s strengths, rather than the competition’s strengths. Some people suggested working on a ‘cost-plus’ approach all the way down the line, by keeping margins constant across the board. That’s unworkable to be fair, as you have to respond to what the market says. It’s an evolution not a revolution and we’ve ended up staying the same after the debate. It’s the way we’ve been doing it for years and it works – our members’ margins are improving and they are still ahead in the industry.

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

At the end of the day, if people Google you on price, they will always find something cheaper. If we set our business up to always be the cheapest, we wouldn’t be here very long. As long as we can justify the price, and offer continued great service in every respect, then everyone can go to market confident that what they’re offering is fair.

“If the only way you can go to market is by deceiving your customers, then there’s got to be something wrong with the model”

So, if dealers are unable to compete on price, how can they differentiate themselves and beat the competition? Because we chose the guy-next-door’s price to put in the catalogue, we have to run promotions throughout the year to show that we’re capable of meeting a lower price on the key products, as they are not listed in our main catalogue. This model only works if the customer is made aware of how competitive the dealer can be. We position Superstat as a ‘sales and marketing group’, more than a traditional ‘dealer group’, so to speak, and as a part of that, we have always encouraged dealers to build their online presence. Everyone has a website, but believe it or not some are 10 years old, and in many cases, even the dealer is embarrassed about it. That might have been acceptable 10 years ago, but not today. It’s not a question of building a website and away you go, it’s a whole new way of going to market, with a completely different type of investment. You may as well have thrown your money down the drain if you invest in a website and then it ends up on page 95 of the search pages – it has no use if no one is going to see it. Unless you are going to spend time and money investing in getting yourself seen across different web channels and getting right up there on the front pages of the search engines, you really are wasting your time.

Industry

Dealer Group

So, is search engine optimisation (SEO) the bottom line? The bottom line is getting found – it doesn’t matter how good your website, how good your prices are, or how good your service is, if nobody can find you. Even if you spend a considerable amount on marketing your brand, people don’t type in “Smith Supplies London”, they type in “Paper cheap next day delivery”. If you want to create an online ordering site for your existing customers, that’s fine; it’s a great way to take orders, but in order to make the most of it you need to attract browsers and new clientele – it’s all about getting found.

What do you suggest to your dealer members when it comes to getting found online? We have always told dealers they need to get on the front page of a browser. However, keeping in mind there’s only 10 spots on the front page of Google, and we have 300 member dealers, it would be bum advice to tell everyone that as they would be competing with each other for those spots. Our answer to this is The Supermarket Online – one site that we’ve put together that fights for an optimum position on Google. Its job is to take an order, and then fire that order over to the registered dealer that sits on that patch. That was the most effective way we could dream up to allow all of our dealers a portion of the action without getting in each other’s way. We have invested a lot in organic SEO and pay-per-click, and the site currently sits third on Google when you search “office supplies”, with only Viking and Staples above us – but we’re working on that!

So how does it work? Supermarket delivers a purchase order to Spicers, Spicers delivers that purchase order to the dealer, we send the dealer information of what is coming, and the dealer bills the consumer the following day. Its USP is that the dealer is doing the last mile delivery. The dealer is much better equipped to do that from a customer service’s point of view than UPS, DHL or the other carriers. The object of the exercise is that once we’ve caught that customer via the browser, not only does the dealer have the order, but he also has a lead for repeat business.

How are the profits divvied up? Each dealer pays £7,500 a year for the service and 30% of any gross profit is withheld by Supermarket. The scheme started trading in February 2010 and since then the founding regional partner dealers are now sealed. There are still locations available, but the difference is that dealers joining now don’t get a p-share, which entitles the dealer to a percentage of the proceeds of Supermarket if it’s sold.

You started this venture in tight economic times, you must be confident that the market is improving? I do think it’s improving slightly. From a purchasing point of view, we’re growing, albeit quite steadily, but at least we’re growing and not going backwards. Going forward, we’re looking at a strategy to make the route to market more effective for dealers. Whilst the whole industry is still really shaky, confidence is coming back, and once it comes back, which it will, the marketplace will really start to rocket again. DS

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

“The bottom line is getting found – it doesn’t matter how good your website, how good your prices are, or how good your service is, if nobody can find you”

Industry

what we learned this month

What we learned this month A round-up of office supplies tidbits and trivia from the last few weeks STATS AND FACTS

£500m

In the news

The amount lost in sales between 2007 and 2010, as a result of retailers neglecting their web and ecommerce channels, according to research carried out by Heath London

Dealer sponsors fresh eyes of artist

word on the tweet The key to selling online? Same as it has always been, no big secret there. Be human. @OfficeThings

33 percent of workers admit to chewing their pens ... definitely something to keep in mind next time you borrow or steal someone else’s pen! @SOS_3

Another record breaker for Office Supplies Now with August being our best month ever, mainly down to our growing educational offering :-))))

The owner of Greensmiths Hull Stationery has hit local headlines for sponsoring an artist to recreate a drawing of Hull’s Story Street, sketched by a draughtsman 123 years ago. Julie Greensmith, owner of the artist materials and office stationery store, owns an original copy drawn by the artist FS Smith, which shows the street lined with Victorian townhouses. Greensmith is now sponsoring one of her customers, Mark Rodgers, to do an oil painting of the street, which has been transformed by the building of a new health centre. Greensmith told the Yorkshire Post: “The development has revitalised the area. We’ve suffered 15 years of neglect, and at one point it was virtually derelict and we were the only traders left. We were the dumping ground for everything. In the last 12 months five new businesses have moved in and we have the last opening today. FS Smith wouldn’t recognise it.”

@johnfitton

DATES FOR THE DIARY BOSS Awards 2011 What: Industry awards for the office supplies sector When: 20 October Where: The Lancaster, London Info: www.bossfederation.com

Green IT Expo 2011 What: IT for sustainability conference When: 1 November Where: Central Hall, Westminster Storey’s Gate, London Info: www.greenitexpo.com

Integra Spotlight Supplier Conference What: Integra’s national member conference When: 24 November Where: Forest of Arden Hotel, Birmingham Info: www.integra-office.co.uk Everything for the Office Show What: Spicers’s annual exhibition and awards When: 7-8 December Where: Ricoh Arena, Coventry Info: www.spicers.co.uk

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Whitehouse follows Whitehall in OP cuts The White House, eager to demonstrate its dedication to curtailing federal spending, is planning to embark on “strategic sourcing”, or bulk buying, of office supplies. Starting this month, several federal agencies and departments in the US will start pooling their purchases of office printers, copiers and scanners in hopes of collectively saving $600m across the next four years, according to administration officials. “One of the things we’ve discovered is that agencies don’t have a clue what they have,” said the Obama administration’s top federal contracting official, Dan Gordon. In one case, it was discovered they had almost one printer for every employee.

adVertorial

Sharp see the bigger picture

harp announced a major new focus on the large format display (ldP) market last month, when executive vice president Yoshiaki ibuchi, launched a full line-up of large format commercial monitors, video wall solutions and interactive displays to a number of key dealers at the company’s business showroom in central london’s Cavendish square. in light of the previous launch of sharp’s seamless video wall solutions, the star of this show was undoubtedly the 70” Pnl702B interactive display. this groundbreaking offering differs from other professional interactive displays in several important ways. Firstly the interactive functionality is made possible by sharp’s own proprietary infrared system. the use of this system means that there is there no longer a need to add an extra layer to the protective glass, which reduces image quality and brightness in many competitor models. another key benefit is a bezel width comparable to many standard professional monitors, giving the unit the appearance of a factory finish rather than the bulky and less attractive finish of many locally integrated products. also, because the interactive device is fitted at the factory, sharp UK is able to offer an industry leading 24/7, three-year warranty, as with all other models in its professional range. the Pnl702B is supplied with sharp’s own Pensoft software and interactive pen as standard, which gives an immediate, out-of-the-box, practical application for the device in corporate meeting spaces, training and educational environments. the full range of products consists of sharp professional displays, including 42” to 108” professional monitors; two scalable video wall solutions, including one with high brightness, and interactive displays. the entire range is suitable for a vast array of professional applications.

“the functionality of this new product is extremely impressive; the display’s standard software seamlessly integrates with network printing and scanning devices” Darren Gaffey, Sharp UK’s IDP product manager

For further information on Sharp’s new IDP product range, please contact: Mfp.suk@sharp.eu 020 8734 2000

Industry

analysis

Back Office System Review 2011 According to the results of the Dealer Support Back Office Survey, 25% of dealers are considering alternative options for their back office system. We compare the results and take a look at what you need to consider when shopping for a new package

our business can only be as proficient as your back office system allows, and as time goes on, updates and add-ons are constantly being introduced to not only increase your process efficiency, but maximise sales potential. Switching systems can be a daunting process, therefore, it’s imperative that you think carefully when it comes to investing in a deal that will govern the way your business runs for the foreseeable future. We asked dealers to rate not only the system software, but perhaps more importantly, the support they receive from the system providers.* A promising 57% of dealers would rate their first three month’s service as ‘excellent’. However, some dealers were less than enamoured with the amount of support they receive and a few dealers went as far to suggest that some providers take advantage of the fact that customers are effectively ‘locked-in’ once they install a system, and neglect customer service as a result. In terms of the software itself, the lowest overall scores, where the majority vote was less than ‘excellent’, were: ease of use, productivity, system updates and pricing. Price, interface and features, service and support vary across the board and it’s worth weighing up each area. For example, for some dealers, a small company with a system designed specifically for low output, with few customers and a more personalised service may be the way forward. Similarly, for those wanting to be on the cutting edge of new technology, a larger company, with up-to-date interface and ecommerce solutions may be more helpful. As technology evolves and end user expectations grow, it becomes harder for providers to keep up with the needs of each customer. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and the best research is to be found by discussing not just with providers, but also fellow dealers on the pros and cons of what they are using and where it fits with your needs.

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

analysis

The leading contenders AXIS Axis Harmony

TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN SHOPPING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE PROVIDER: 1. How long will it realistically take for me to install, get up and running and feel competent using the key features of the software? 2. Is there any online support facility or comprehensive training manual available? 3. Will there be training made available? Will this be at an extra cost? 4. What are your support line opening hours? 5. Will I be assigned an account manager, or will I be dealing with someone different each time?

Axis, provider of the Axis Harmony software system, is a privately owned company in which all the the shareholders work full time. The 45 staff are based at the offices in Somerset and the West Midlands. The company has been trading since 1980, and offer specific variants of their software packages, based on 25 years of developing accounting and business information systems. approximately 40 of the company’s 200 customers are in the OP and consumables market. Axis diplomat for OP is a back-office system designed to handle the requirements of a busy dealer. The key features include: electronic wholesaler links to leading suppliers; pricing and discounting mechanisms; telesales campaigns and gap analysis; multi-warehouse operation; link to Sage 50 and 200; fully integrated CRM; internet trading with AXIS VMerchant; online and back office credit card processing; email-shot capabilities; warehouse management system incorporating wireless handheld stock management and picking; and Amazon trading support.

Pricing: An instant quote can be provided on the website.

PRIMA Prima

And finally… the deal breaker:

Prima has been trading for over 12 years. The head office is in Cheshire and sales office in Bedfordshire, The company currently employs 20 staff, with a customer base of 146. It is fully windows-based and can offer both local or hosted solutions. By using SQL at its heart Prima has full linking capabilities to all other best of breed solutions. The key features include: automated supplier updates; ‘cost plus’ margin protection; supplier price comparison; equivalents, alternatives and grouped item features. Prima also offers full CRM and FSM (field service management) modules. The latter allows for support contracts and meter click contracts to be deployed and updated and can automate the billing processes. Integrated webcart and webstore that can be managed from the Prima Back Office, including a contemporary website in which to showcase your product range.

10. What are the down sides or limits of the software?

Pricing: Monthly licence based on a per licence basis, packages start at £50 per week for the full system.

6. Can I access the account and system remotely? 7. Will I be able to integrate the software with my existing software platforms? 8. Will you be charging extra for add-ons and updates? 9. If my business expands over the next couple of years, will the system be able to cope with the increase in processes?

Every system comes with minor glitches, anomalies and areas for improvement. If they say “nothing”, then it may be time to move swiftly onto your next, more honest, quote!

*All results and comments are based on a survey sent to our entire database of independent dealers in uk and Ireland, 143 of which responded. Participants were given the opportunity of commenting anonymously, although their contact details were provided in order to verify their role at an office supplies dealership.

Continued

www.dealersupport.co.uk october 2011

Industry

analysis

HeaRT sysTeMs

eCi soFTWaRe soluTions

Pulse

vision and Progress

Helen Murphy has been developing software for the industry since 1985 and founded Heart systems in 2001. PulseOffice was released in 2003; a Windows-based back office software system for the small to medium sized office products dealer, and is currently in use by over 200 companies. PulseOffice holds information on multiple catalogues from wholesalers and suppliers, allowing orders to be quickly entered and priced according to customers’ profiles. Electronic ordering and live stock check with wholesalers and suppliers using the industry’s OPXML standard ensures speed and accuracy, and Sage 50 compatibility appeals to accountants. PulseStore, the company’s own e-commerce solution was released at the beginning of 2011.

ECi Software Solutions has been trading for more than 30 years and is headquartered in Texas, USA, with offices across the globe, including its European headquarters based in the UK. It is the largest software solution provider in the global office products Industry with 5,500 global customers, of which 3,300 users are based in Europe. ECi’s two packages, Vision and Progress, allow dealers to understand buying patterns and identify the best selling opportunities, by enabling the dealer to succeed in today’s competitive climate. The software offers seamless integration for e-commerce, business analytics, mobile solutions, data management as well as device and print management solutions. ECI’s focus is not just on necessary technology but also on being a complete solution that includes training and industry expertise. The company has been hosting its software online for 11 years.

Pricing: Prices start at £269 per month for a two user PulseOffice System. A two user PulseOffice system PulseStore starts at £350 a month.

Pricing : Offered on a tiered basis.

bluesKy Horizon Derbyshire-based BlueSky is run by 20 staff, and has acquired 160 customers in its five years of operations. Horizon is a fully integrated business system from sales order entry, contract management, electronic purchasing right through to a comprehensive accounts package. Included in the software is a B2B web product which is realtime. Our ethos is to provide the best possible business system for the office products trade and we look on our installations as a business partnership rather than a customer supplier relationship.

Pricing: Varies – based on the number of concurrent users and dependent on the mix of software/hosting servers and hardware options.

CalidoRe Power Power Gx For 22 years, Calidore has been developing, supplying and supporting back office solutions. POWER-Affinity is a fully integrated suite with an intuitive and practical design, based on Microsoft Windows, with a user base of 70 clients. POWER-Gx is a fully integrated back office system for the office products industry incorporating: customer relationship management; accounts suite and administration; sales order processing; purchasing, stock control and distribution; and management Information. Calidore also provides ePortal products, including the Rep ePortal, providing up to the minute sales intelligence for reps.

Pricing: The back-office software is available as a capital purchase or as a monthly rental.

MulTisys legerdemain Multisys is centrally based in Buxton, Derbyshire with a team of nine staff about to celebrate the company’s 20th birthday. Legerdemain, which supports some of the larger dealers in the industry, is a fully integrated back-office system with stock control, accounts, sales order processing, purchase order processing. It is now a hosted or cloud-based system with full xml links for wholesalers, pdf support and with fully integrated Liaison web order system. There are also add-on modules for gap analysis, EPOS for retail and windows style reporting. We do everything we can to help our customers from bespoke software development to planned early or late work to support their requirements.

Pricing: Options are available from £149 per month depending on the number of users, the features required and the level of support the dealer requires.

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Available both on an in-house server or as a hosted cloud solution. The web-store and eportal solutions are hosted at an international data centre and charged on a monthly basis – dependent of facilities chosen.

Turn to the next page for software users’ takes on their package’s customer service support

“As technology evolves and end user expectations grow, it becomes harder for providers to keep up with the needs of each customer”

We’ve Got You Covered Everything you need to grow your business. ECi gives you the power, experience and tools to succeed in today’s competitive climate. • ERP Solutions • E-commerce Solutions • Mobile Solutions • Business Analytics • Custom Printing Solutions • Device and Print Management • Professional Services • Data Management Experience • Flexibility • Scalability •Training Support • Integrations • Partnerships • Stability

www.ECiSolutions.com/ECiCover or speak with someone today: +44(0)333 123 0333 quoting DS10 www.ECi.eu • eu-info@ECiSolutions.com ECi and the ECi Red Box logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of eCommerce Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

Industry

analysis

Bluesky

software firms* reviewed by users

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfied

Poor

Quality of telephone support

42%

33%

20%

Problem solving ability

44%

31%

20%

Use of hard-to-understand jargon

56%

29%

16%

Service after first three month’s of installation

62%

24%

13%

Overall professionalism

56%

29%

16%

Overall experience

56%

27%

18%

Respondents: 45

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfied

Poor

Quality of telephone support

calidore computer systems

53%

47%

Problem solving ability

67%

33%

Use of hard-to-understand jargon

60%

33%

Service after first three month’s of installation

80%

20%

Overall professionalism

87%

13%

Overall experience

73%

27%

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfied

Poor

Quality of telephone support

35%

24%

35%

Problem solving ability

29%

35%

Use of hard-to-understand jargon

24%

41%

29%

Service after first three month’s of installation

38%

31%

25%

Overall professionalism

41%

35%

18%

Overall experience

29%

24%

29%

18%

Respondents: 15

Eci

Respondents: 17

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfied

Poor

Quality of telephone support

heart systems

31%

46%

23%

Problem solving ability

38%

46%

15%

Use of hard-to-understand jargon

23%

69%

Service after first three month’s of installation

62%

15%

23%

Overall professionalism

38%

23%

Overall experience

38%

23%

Respondents: 13

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfied

Poor

Quality of telephone support

multisys

50%

Problem solving ability

25%

75%

Use of hard-to-understand jargon

25%

50%

25%

Service after first three month’s of installation

67%

33%

Overall professionalism

25%

75%

Overall experience

25%

75%

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfied

Poor

Quality of telephone support

48%

35%

16%

Problem solving ability

42%

29%

26%

Use of hard-to-understand jargon

48%

29%

23%

Service after first three month’s of installation

48%

29%

20%

Overall professionalism

52%

29%

19%

Overall experience

48%

32%

16%

Respondents: 4

prima

Respondents: 31 *The firms with more than three responses to this survey

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

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OCTOBER 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

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www.dealersupport.co.uk OCTOBER 2011

pEOplE

dealer interview A. Boville Wright

FA M I LY PORTRAIT In 1904, artist Albert Boville Wright opened a picture framing and art supplies shop in Uxbridge. 107 years later, Nina Rosandic catches up with grandson and third generation MD Robert Wright

octoBer 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

dealer interview A. Boville Wright

So, over 100 years on and the family company continues to grow, how did it all start? The company began in 1904 – my grandfather was a picture framer, and as a bit of an artist, it was natural for him to sell artist materials on the side. The business continued in that way for many years. When my father took over in the 1960s, there was a boom in the graphics industry and many design agencies sprung up across the country, so the fine arts and design tools were big business. Now, computers have taken over in the graphics industry, and like everybody else, we’re selling computer consumables. However, the core of the business is not that different. Some of the products we sell are basically the same as 100 years ago – paints and paintbrushes haven’t really changed all that much! However we have branched out, literally, with four retail branches.

And in terms of being a specialist design company, do you tend to stick to catering towards creative business environments? The specialist side appears like a supplement to our stationery, particularly when you compare the sizes of the catalogues, but it actually generates more business for us. We wouldn’t really go and tout for business from solicitors or accountants – or an account that’s purely office stationery. We don’t think there’s much point in competing with the contract stationers and pure office stationers, instead we rely on going into design offices – such as architects, design agencies and TV and marketing departments. That’s our target market and all of them need stationery. It’s often the presentation side of things that are big in these environments: portfolios; presentation books; that kind of stuff. We like to think that for them we are providing a one-stop-shop.

So, when did the stationery side take off? I joined in the mid 70s, and at that time, we were already getting a considerable amount of B2B accounts on the commercial graphics side as a direct result of the graphics boom. As the B2B side started to grow, we realised that as well as selling our clients their specialist design materials, all the offices needed basic stationery at the same time. Also, it made sense as alot of our original specialist products have been phased out, with the advent of creative design software, machines and computers. We don’t sell hardware, apart from a few printers, but prefer to concentrate on consumables because that’s what we’re good at. An inkjet can be an office product, a photographic product or a design product these days. That’s where the specialist and stationery catalogues are merging into one.

How do you promote yourselves to your customers and keep them buying? One of our problems is trying to persuade people that we are not just an office stationer, we’re more than that. We use email shots and telesales, and tend to rely on our website, which is probably not the best idea. Back in the 90s, during the early recession, there was a buzz about how modern technology allows you to keep in touch with your clients inexpensively, compared to paying an ‘expensive’ field sales rep. Ironically, I think it’s come full circle and we probably need somebody on the road looking into customers’ offices again. You realize that having done that for ten years, actually, nobody from our company has been into some of our customers’ offices. You talk to them on the phone and you think you know what they’re doing, but you suddenly find that if you go into their offices you’ll be like: “Oh well I never knew they do that” and we might be missing out on a big sales opportunity.

An inkjet can be an office product, a photographic product or a design product these days. That’s where the specialist and stationery catalogues are merging into one

How is your client-base divided up now? Our retail accounts for about 60% of the business, which is to be expected I suppose, as we have four retail units and only a small team working on the B2B side. However, it’s surprising what you get off the street in terms of B2B, with small businesses coming in paying in petty cash, as some of our products come outside of their usual remit.

So, you have 30 full-time staff, is that mainly to cover the retail side? The retail is quite staff intensive, whereas we have six who look after the B2B side. We have one van and driver to do the milkround everyday, but we rely more and more on carriers. Through Nemo we negotiated a really good carrier deal and it actually works out cheaper than putting it on the van. A typical delivery costs us a fiver, plus it takes the pressure off our own delivery service. We do cover quite an extensive area because we’re specialist. Our main store, warehouse and deliveries go from West London, and we go about 10 miles in, and 40 miles out, of the City. I see you recently joined NEMO. What was it that led you to join the dealer group? And what are the benefits? We were originally a member of Office Club. We are also a member of Graphic Dealers Ltd (GDL), for

www.dealersupport.co.uk october 2011

people

dealer interview A. Boville Wright

To one or two schools we say, ‘Look, if you tell us what you’re buying and you’re going to send 100 students to us to buy it, we can beat the normal student discount price,’ but that’s becoming more difficult to persuade them to do

people like us who came out of the old graphics trade. Over a year ago, GDL and Nemo did a reciprocal arrangement and a lot of GDL members went straight over to Nemo. We always thought there would come a point when we would move over. Office Club is a first class dealer group and we had no complaints but we decided to rationalize and join the syndicate, so to speak. On the stationery dealer group side, I’d say 70% of what makes it worthwhile is the Spicers deal. There are a lot of other benefits, such as the delivery contract, general marketing help and, not least, the camaraderie – hearing everyone else’s problems and solutions and being part of a network. We’ve also seen big benefits from some of the deals that GDL and Nemo have been able to do by joining purchasing powers.

CV Turnover £1.3m Staff: 30 Retail units: Four Gross Margin: 43% Back office: Oasis Website: http://www.bovilles.co.uk

Your website lists an area devoted to back-to-school products. I guess art supplies lend themselves well to the youth and education market, is this an area you try to target specifically? Back-to-school used to be very important to us, but it has become more and more dilute. We tend to deal with GCSE art students at college, art school or graphic design school, but that market is getting tougher. Something we have found, which drives us bonkers, is that a lot of schools and colleges are thinking: We’ve got to help the students out here,” so they’re trying to buy direct from the education wholesalers, or even manufacturers with an education division, and selling it on to students at no profit. We’re trying to persuade them to come to us for a costeffective package deal, because we know where to buy. Schools assume we’re going to be expensive. Some local schools will suggest that they come to us, but we don’t have a hard and fast deal with them to supply. To one or two we say: “Look, if you tell us what you’re buying and you’re going to send 100 students to us to buy it, we can beat the normal student discount price,” but that’s becoming more difficult to persuade them to do, plus parents will always try and cut corners and find it cheaper elsewhere.

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

There’s been a lot of hype about businesses neglecting ecommerce channels just recently. Do you offer an online ordering service for your customers? We don’t have a webstore available to the public, but our B2B clients can order online. So many of our customers prefer a catalogue and to make orders by phone. I suppose it will change – everyone’s telling us it’s going to change, but maybe we’ve got fuddy duddy customers! In the stationery industry, everyone uses the wholsaler or dealer group catalogue – it is still the most important marketing tool in your armoury. On the specialist side, we’ve concentrated more on the web side of things, and have probably let the printing side of marketing slip a bit. Are there any are areas you’d like to explore or build on, in terms of your offering? We keep having this debate about whether there are any areas we ought to be getting into. In most cases, we’d have to put money upfront and invest, and we wonder if we really want to risk new stock and all the rest of it. Maybe we have been a little over cautious. We have been thinking about what we ought to be doing on the hardware side, mainly printers. Our printing services copy bureau is run by two people and proves to be a good steady area of business. It accounts for about 10-15% of the business, and we’ve been thinking about expanding in that area. As a centurion in the industry, to what do you owe the brand’s longevity? The key, like everybody says, is service and value for money. We know we’re never going to be the cheapest, so we do rely on the service/value package. I think the fact that people know we’ve been around a long time counts, as long as we back that up with good service. You’ve got to be on the ball all the time – you can be around for 100 years, but the moment you get something wrong, it counts for yesterday, and those 100 years go out the window. DS

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people

dealer interview

Reaching out Blue Olive Technology recently received a visit from local MP Michael Connarty as part of an FPB initiative to give MPs an insight into the challenges facing small businesses. MD Gordon Bennie tells Nina Rosandic about the political visit, and gives his own views on how OP dealers must utilise contractual services to stay afloat

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

dealer interview

t must be said, 2011 has been a successful year for Superstat member Blue Olive Technology. Having bought out the Scotland region of printer and toner maintenance company Big Fish two years ago, MD Gordon Bennie introduced the stationery arm to the business earlier this year. “Now we did that not because we were trying to build a stationery business, but because we have 3-4000 customers and it made sense that we provided the stationery service to them. We have come from nowhere on the stationery side, and in about nine months have come in at just under £100,000 turnover.” The company has been awarded Best New Business at the RBS Falkirk Herald Awards 2011, and just recently the team were paid a visit by their local MP. A politician calls A few months back, Bennie recieved a phonecall from the Forum of Private Business (FPB), of which he is a member, asking if he would be interested in engaging with his local MP as part of the Get Britain Trading Again, intitiative. “They said: “You can talk to him about what your problems are,” and I thought it was a fantastic idea – I actually applaud it. The vast majority of MPs, no matter what their agenda or political persuasion, have no idea on how to run a business or have any idea what it means.

www.dealersupport.co.uk october 2011

people

dealer interview

They assigned Bennie with Linlithgow and East Falkirk MP Michael Connarty, who spent five hours listening to his key business concerns. Bennie insisted focusing on what is affecting small and medium-sized businesses now, rather than wasting time guessing the future of the economy. “I focused firstly on cash flow activities. People in every business now are withholding cash, of course they are, they have to protect their business. You can’t legislate for it but it’s a huge burden on a small company. For me, that’s probably the hardest area of them all, (outside of sales), keeping cash flow positive.” Government procurement for all As a small business manager, Bennie is all too aware of the constraints around local government procurement, and made his thoughts known to Connarty. “Local governments try to use big corporate tactics against small companies, turning them away saying:“You don’t have ISO1400, ISO9002,” or, “You don’t have this quality standard or that one,” – it becomes a weighing factor and small companies, independent stationers included, don’t know how to react to that,” says Bennie. “It varies from council to council, but if you use the public procurement portals, SMEs don’t stand a chance and hence don’t engage in it, because 1) they don’t have the skill level, or that’s what they are made to believe, 2) they don’t really understand what the process would mean to them, and 3) just the sheer indignation of being ruled out because you’ve not got ISO9000 or some other qualification that doesn’t fit into their one-size-fits-all system. Essentially, it excludes

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

For some office supplies dealers their business is a lifestyle and that’s fine, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to build an empire or rule the world, but it’s still better to have your overheads covered

a great deal of companies from the procurement process and it shouldn’t.” Bennie recognises that large contracts, such as one for Whitehall, should probably go to a larger company because they’ll have a cleaner infrastructure that can support such a big deal. However, he urged Connarty that local governments should be looking to small local companies for small contracts, say between £50,000 to £100,000 for example, which could help to fund jobs and support local economies. “Smaller contracts should carry a public process with simplified and fast-track tendering,” he suggests. “It would help the MPS provisioners, it would help the office supplies dealers, and it would even help lowlevel stationers, because often the big boys don’t want to do the local government contracts in rural areas, and yet the smaller local companies are excluded from the process because they can’t make a crazy grade. I think a lot of office supplies dealers shy away from it. In order for this to change, they’ve got to be engaged and they’ve got to be bothered to look into it.” The MPS approach – transactional vs contractual Seeing as procurement contracts are difficult to get into, Bennie believes stationers need to find other ways to move their customers away from transactional to contracted accounts, for which managed print services (MPS) is a perfect vehicle.

Come visit us at

7th - 8th December 2011 Ricoh Arena @ Coventry Join us at the Everything for the Office Show. It's a great opportunity for you and your sales team to discover new opportunities, learn new skills and return to your business motivated and ready to start the New Year with a renewed enthusiasm. The showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programme will be as exciting as our previous year with new product launches, key service profiling, exciting industry sessions, a business experience keynote speech from Sir Clive Woodward, the coach who led England's rugby players to World Cup glory in Australia in 2003. The keynote will focus on Leadership, Motivation, Teamwork and Peak Performance and will be held at 11am on December 8th. You can also network with leading suppliers, and of course the team from Spicers. You'll also be able to grab your copy of the 2012 Big Book Catalogue hot off the press. And, if it's just too much to take in, you can sit down and enjoy lunch, on us!

Visit online

www.spicers-eftos.co.uk to register for your free ticket.

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July 2011 Issue 193

PEOPLE NEWS FIND OUT HOW OTHERS ARE FARING AND LEARN FROM THEIR EXPERIENCES

MANAGEMENT ADVICE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS

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dealer interview

dealer “For some office supplies dealers their business is a lifestyle and that’s fine, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to build an empire or rule the world, but it’s still better to have your overheads covered.” The term MPS in the dealer and stationery world means different things to different people. “It seems that many people are talking about it but they don’t know how to apply it. However, the figures speak for themselves: If you have 30 or 40 customers who spend £4-500 a year in stationery, and then you tie them into a contract with MPS and you add EOS into that mix – bingo. By moving them from transactional to contractual, you’ll hear ‘ching ching’ every morning. I have customers spending £500 a month, £1,000 a month, £3,000 a month, every month for the next three years – ‘ching ching’, ‘ching ching!’” says Bennie. “If a dealer gets just six or seven of these deals, then they’ve got their overheads covered and don’t have to sit and worry about what’s going to happen this month or next – as long as the service is good, they can stop worrying and go in aggressively and sell.” Bennie urges dealers that it’s not just about the MPS, your EOS and your print; it’s much wider than that. “If a customer enters into a two-year MPS contract, in that two years I can up-sell and up-sell to the extent that when the contract is up, as long as the service has been good, they won’t go back to their local stationer, because it’s unlikely they’ll be able to get X, Y and Z elsewhere.”

bookmark

It varies from council to council, but if you use the public procurement portals, SMEs don’t stand a chance and hence don’t engage in it

Return on MPS investment In a nutshell, MPS software will enable the end user to look at the print fleet with their IT companies, look at usage, allow them to project when they’re going to run out of toner or EOS product, and allow them to predict the maintenance cycle remotely. It also allows them to manage their EOS store cupboards effectively. For the dealer it enables a healthy source of income. “Say you’re paying £4-5000 a year for the facility, your ROI will be less than a year and a half, I’m convinced of that. But you’ve got to work at it,” says Bennie. He suggests working from the top down, not bottom up, when building company contacts. “If you’re used to using office managers as points of contact, you have to come up the value chain, to the MDs, or financial directors and IT managers. You have to address the contacts you have, and identify the decision makers.” He also highlights the need for staff training. “MPS software runs itself, dealers just need to learn how to sell the product and work out how to add their own company slant into it. Generally speaking, a copier guy from a bigger company gets paid in how many white boxes he sells and probably will not be as good at after sales care, whereas independent dealers might not be experienced in selling MPS, but they are good at keeping their customers and talking to them.” Bennie warns that dealers have to get smart with how they consolidate the hardware. “You can get companies who will do all the maintenance work with a workable agreement in place, for example, no fix-no fee for a long term partnership. They fix the printer, and make a margin

on the spares, and the dealer can make a margin on the cost. Another way is an EOS programme, so for example, for those people buying EOS from us, we offer free printer maintenance, as there’s enough margin in the EOS.” Bennie labels his company as a service company: “We go and visit our customers frequently, our engineers are out eight hours a day, five days a week in our customers’ offices, which means they have the opportunity to up-sell. More importantly they get to know the folks, right from the office junior to the facilities managers and in some cases, in smaller companies, the owners.” Blue Olive have partnerships with IT companies, where they offer the print service provision on behalf of the company. “We go in and promote the brand that is sending us, and in that way we have quite a unique standing. A lot of suppliers can’t supply that support and they’re missing a trick.“ In conclusion, Bennie says: “There are a lot of positives, even with the economy as it is, and with collaboration you can ease the burden, rather than being isolated and worried.” DS

Ginetta Kent MD GH Stationers

Speciality

We’re very much focused on customer care. We are Investors in People accredited and the staff have all been here a long time; it’s a close knit team, and that passes on to end-users.

I set up GH Stationers 12 years ago and prior to that I worked for various office supplies companies in the South Wales area. I know the market’s strengths and weaknesses so that enables us to offer something different.

Winning moment

Personally, my best moments were having my two children, now aged three and one. Professionally, it’s winning the Welsh regional final of the British Small Business Champions in 2005, which is a customer service-based award. We were nominated by our bank, which was very flattering.

Catchphrase

“The right choice for all your office needs”

Word for the wise

CV Website: www.blueolive-orderstore.co.uk Turnover: 600k

The staff can certainly work more efficiently using Vision. We’d outgrown the operating system we’d used for 12 years and Vision has been a breath of fresh air. It’s far more streamlined because it’s tailor made for the industry.

Gross margin: 37% Vans: 2 Dealer Group: Superstat

the leader in industryspecific business software

www.eci.eu

management

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

grow your business

It’s the future – deal with it With the need for dealers to expand their electrical supplies beyond the traditional remit of printers and scanners, Jonathan Hills takes a look at what dealers can do to branch out into the world of hi-tech and prevent getting left behind in this fast-paced markek

ith the further integration of technology into the modern office, it seems only natural that dealers look into the possibility of moving in on the prevalence of hi-tech equipment. Already printers, scanners and toner cartridges rank as the most commonly found items of many dealers’ supplies list – but what about the next level of technological investment? Perhaps traditionally outside of the natural remit of a dealer’s ordinary supply list, hi-tech office supplies are set to grow and will have significant repercussions on what dealers can sell to clients in the future. Some dealers may find the venture into such an alien arena rather daunting, but if experts, forecasters and simple common sense are to be believed, it is something which will shortly become a necessity if you want your business to survive. As marketing director of Westcoast, Alex Tatham puts it: “Office Dealers that don’t start talking about IT equipment beyond printing will find that they are increasingly marginalised from purchasing decisions.” As a dealer, the transition will result in you having a greater scope to sell to offices and businesses – SMEs may want to stay at the cutting edge of technological utilisation, but may not have the financial means to purchase en masse from a wholesaler or distributor. The positives and the negatives of this transformation are the same; on the plus side you already have a core, captive audience with whom you have a history and a positive rapport. On the downside you have to acquaint yourself and your staff with one of the fastest-moving and technically awkward areas of equipment sales. Phil Jones, sales and marketing director of Brother UK believes that it’s time for dealers to move with the times or get left behind. “The industry really does need to shape itself and move on,” he says, “not just to sell new products to existing customers but also to find new customers and new markets. The community has to find new business areas, as traditional areas are actually in decline.” It is important to remember, however, that making

the transition should be done with caution and care, especially if you have little or no knowledge of the industry in the past. “Don’t get too complicated too quickly because you can really get yourself in a muddle,” Jones advises. “Choose the right stuff and start slowly with a few limited lines, get used to those moving through, and, as your confidence builds you can actually begin to increase the portfolio of the products you sell.” A good way to start is within an area where you may previously have some knowledge, such as consumable products, scanners, printers and shredders. The reduction in consumables, especially EOS, which have formed a stalwart fraction of many a dealer’s repertoire and sales base for the last decade or more, will start to be phased out and replaced with virtual solutions as we see the impact of tablets and smartphones into the office environment. Jones suggests talking directly to OEMs in order to get a contemporary knowledge of how things in the hi-tech market are progressing. “By talking to manufacturers you will be able to understand the products of the moment and what other products resellers are selling, because a manufacturer has a more macro-view of the market.” He also suggests talking to other dealers and distributors so that dealers can acquire the “relevant clues they need to understand what SKUs [stock keeping unit] you need to stock – with the very fast growth of things like tablets, processor speeds on laptops, it’s easy to catch a cold quickly.” Getting in touch with others who can give you an insight into the product which you may not get from seeing it listed in a catalogue; furthermore, it will look good from the client’s perspective that you have taken your time out to actually address the product personally.

he one way by which you can make headway with hi-tech sales is by presenting a high quality of service and personal approach. You will already have many of these skills which you have built up within your company over the years, so use them. Gary Naphtali, MD of P1 Training & Development advises upon how to deal with the tech-transition and

www.dealersupport.co.uk october 2011

management

grow your business

how to introduce your staff into this new area of sales. “Qualify the right contact point,” he said. “in most cases ‘technical’ product purchases are decided by somebody other than your usual office products buyer – typically it will be an iT person and/or a senior financial decision maker (FD/MD) level.” He said, cautioning dealers against ‘blagging’ their way into hi-tech sales and warning that they are likely to get caught out. Keeping abreast of the most recent developments within the tech industry allows you to pass your knowledge on to your client, ensuring that when new products emerge, that are likely to prove to be useful to them, they are the first to know and they come directly to you for their equipment and advice. it is imperative that you do your research however, as more and more people are becoming tech-savvy. naphtali recommends giving the role of tech research to a team member who may already have an interest in the field; not only will this give you a head start, but will provide your client with a salesperson whose enthusiasm cannot be feigned. “you may find that your client is well versed in hi-tech,” said naphtali, “in which case you will need to be as well. Moving into hi-tech solutions when you are already selling semi-high-tech products is not such a great leap, but it is still a leap.” The key is to utilise the knowledge you have already accumulated from selling semi-hi-tech products and transfer them across into the new products, backed up with research, expert advice and staff consultancy. “Hi-tech skills and detailed product knowledge take a little time, and is a continuous process due to the fast changing products,” naphtali added, “furthermore, gross margins might be hit; not a problem if it results in an increase in net profits, but many dealers will experience a gross margin challenge as this category becomes a bigger contributor.” Keen to stress the importance of the education of staff members, naphtali highlighted “specialist skills” and

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Hi-tech skills and detailed product knowledge take a little time, and is a continuous process due to the fast changing products

“product knowledge” as the two key aspects in getting your colleagues up to scratch on hi-tech products, and that the education of staff will remain key in selling the idea to your clients that you know your way around the hi-tech environment. one of the best products to start selling with minimal briefing and no introduction are tablets, especially the iPad. “Tablets are going to the biggest headaches for the industry,” says Jones, referring to the increasing importance of tablets, with an ever decreasing number paper-oriented offices and the “black cloud hovering over the paper industry”. Tablets are a great example of something which can come straight out of the box and into the hands of those who need them. executives are a great way to start with this process as they bypass the ordinary procedure of corporate acquisition and tablet and hi-tech sales will percolate down through the business strait through to the office. “Look for the solutions which you can deliver which are more standalone, for example an ipad. An iPad is still a box which you can ship from a distributor to an end user,” said Jones. He believes products that dealers can deliver and that might make a jump in the future are computer, and (what he refers to as) “roam-worker”, accessories such as adapters, laptop travel cases and skins, mobile scanners and printers and small back-up hard drives. “it is here,” says Jones, who believes that the most immediate area of sales growth will be for dealers, and can be tapped now. There is no certainty that we will see the manifestation of the ‘true’ paperless office soon – previous forecasts on the topic have been somewhat overzealous and inaccurate, leading to a reactionary scepticism concerning the actual impact that a virtual environment may have. However, things are certainly changing, and though you may not have to overhaul your product list right now, you will certainly have to evolve as a dealer in order to remain in the business on a long-term basis. DS

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management

Feature

Cutting the chord Last month, Dealer Support highlighted Plimsoll research figures indicating that a quarter of OP firms risk closure. For some, selling up is the last option, for others a life of retirement bliss beckons. Jeff Webber looks at the legalities of handing over a business

hatever the reason for wanting to sell a business, care is needed to ensure that it is sold in the way that is right for you. This will include ensuring that the sale is structured as tax-efficiently as possible. We look at some of the basic points to bear in mind.

Sell or hand over the reins?

Do you want to keep the business ‘in the family’? If you have a child who is perhaps already a director or employee, and if you are not relying on the proceeds of a sale to fund your retirement, it may be worth considering transferring the business to them by way of a gift or a sale for less than the market value. An outright gift is an extremely tax-efficient way to dispose of a business – it is possible not only to transfer the business without paying any capital gains tax, but also to reduce the value of your estate for inheritance tax purposes at the same time. You could, of course, receive a salary or director’s fees if you were to retain an ongoing role within the transferred business.

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

management

Feature

The £10m limit is a lifetime allowance, so individuals can dispose of interests in two or more businesses and qualify for the 10% rate on each occasion, provided cumulative gains do not exceed £10m. There is no requirement to have reached any particular age, so ER is available to young and old entrepreneurs alike. ER can apply to two main categories of disposal by individuals:

What are you selling?

If you are the proprietor of an unincorporated business, it will simply be a matter of selling the goodwill and other assets. However, if you own a limited company, you can either sell the shares or the company’s assets. One important aspect for a purchaser is that the acquisition of shares involves the acquisition of the company ‘lock, stock and barrel’, including liabilities such as tax liabilities and also other potential or un-quantified liabilities. Some purchasers will prefer just to acquire the company’s assets. If the business assets include one or more properties, a sale of assets would involve stamp duty land tax, at up to 4% to the buyer, compared with a stamp duty cost of only 0.5% in the event of a share sale. If you wish to sell shares, but you are not the only shareholder in your company, you will need to check the Articles of Association and any shareholders’ agreement, as these commonly contain a ‘pre-emption clause’, which requires that any shares which are put up for sale are firstly offered to other existing shareholders. There is, of course, much more to this and an advisor can guide you. The method of sale is therefore a matter for negotiation, depending on the circumstances in each case. How should a company be sold?

If the purchaser is a larger company, its owners may be prepared to offer shares in that company instead of, or in addition to, cash. This route can enable tax on a sale to be deferred until the new shares are sold. It is possible to defer a gain and claim entrepreneurs’ relief (ER) on a future disposal of new shares received in exchange for old shares, if you qualify for ER in respect of the new shares. If you do not qualify for ER in respect of the new shares, you can elect not to defer the gain and instead claim ER on the disposal of the old shares. If you ‘want out’ of a company that has other ownermanagers, but there is no external purchaser on the horizon, a management buy-out or a purchase of your shares by the company itself could be a win/win solution. Another popular structure is an ‘earn-out’, under which the amount you receive for the business is paid in stages, perhaps by reference to profits in years following the sale. This can benefit both parties, giving the vendor an incentive to maximise the sales proceeds, whilst assisting the purchaser to take the business forward. Minimising tax

The single most important tax issue on selling a business is to ensure that you take full advantage of entrepreneurs’ relief, which reduces the rate of CGT on a qualifying disposal from 28% to 10%, on qualifying gains of up to £10 m per individual. ER can provide a tax saving of up to £1.8m per individual.

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

If the purchaser is a larger company, its owners may be prepared to offer shares in that company instead of, or in addition to, cash

 The disposal of a business or part of a business. This covers the main types of disposal, including the straightforward disposal of a sole trade or partnership business as a going concern, and the disposal of shares in a trading company. It also covers the disposal of assets that were used in a sole trade or partnership business that has ceased.  The disposal of personally owned assets used in a partnership or company business, as part of a withdrawal from participation in the business. This covers the disposal by an individual of a personally owned asset that was used in the business of a partnership or a ‘personal company’, in conjunction with the disposal of all or part of the individual’s interest in the partnership or company. Married or civil partnership couples can maximise ER by undertaking forward planning at least a year ahead of an anticipated sale, and taking steps such as:  admitting a spouse or civil partner as a partner in an unincorporated business  transferring shares in a family company to a spouse or civil partner, who would need to be (or become) an officer or employee of the company  or combining separate spouse/civil partner shareholdings of less than 5% into a holding of at least 5% in one name. Don’t forget VAT

A sale of shares is an exempt supply for VAT purposes. A sale of assets will be a standard-rated supply unless the transfer of going concern (TOGC) conditions are met, in which case the sale will be outside the scope of VAT. The sale agreement should specify that the sale price is exclusive of VAT. This will protect the vendor if a sale fails to qualify as a TOGC for any reason. Selling a business is a major transaction and it is very important to get it right. This will include taking the appropriate professional legal and tax advice. DS Jeff Webber is a Tax Director with BDO LLP

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MANAGEMENT

ids league

Breaking out of the box

2011 marks RED BOX’s second time in the IDS league top spot. Nina Rosandic takes a trip to Park Royal for a chat with the first of our co-winners, MD Gordon Christiansen

o stranger to awards, Red BOX has topped the tables in the ids league with a turnover of £21.3m in 2010, an increase of over £2m on the year before. With a gross margin of 46.2%, which also shows growth on the preceding years figures, it is no surprise that Md gordon Christiansen is sitting on his second ids trophy. Taking a seat in the smart boardroom of their north west london HQ, i ask Christiansen what has changed since his last Dealer Support victory back in 2007. “Not much. We’ve just kept doing what we’ve always been doing. Our business is london-centric, and we’ve positioned ourselves

octobeR 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Our ability to introduce new service offerings helps us gain a bigger share of the customer spend

at the top end. We like to think of ourselves as competitively priced but we don’t position ourselves necessarily as the cheapest. We try to provide a better quality product, packaged with premium service. i don’t think there has been any silver bullet. if i could pinpoint that, i’d be a very rich man.” Red BOX has only been a company in its own right for five years and has done well for what is arguably a new brand. The holding company, Colway limited, was first home to what began as london graphic Centre (lgC), 38 years ago – a retail arts and graphics store designed to provide supplies to london studios and design agencies. as the business expanded beyond the original remit, lgC became as a catch-all name for each of the emerging divisions: account sales, copier, and retail. “lgC as a brand was very specific, suggesting a specific location and service, which did not fit with our new multi-channel offering.”

ids league

In the RED Gordon Christiansen with the RED BOX logo; IDS trophies; and the red vans

After performing a management buyout five years ago, Christiansen and his colleagues decided to clarify the branding for each division. This was a big step for the company, as Christiansen explains: “We made what was a really big decision, for a company trading for over 30 years with a fantastic reputation in the London market” The office supplies channel became RED BOX and management started to push the new name as an autonomous brand. “We tried to position RED BOX as an office supplies company, with a specialisation in advertising agencies and the design market that we historically dealt with. The business now is roughly 50/50 between what we call media services, or advertising, and everything else.” Along with RED BOX, LGC continues as the brand for the retail side, comprising of four London units, London Graphic Systems covers the specialist print and copy side, and the newest addition to the group is RED SPACE. “We think growth through acquisition is a strategy that has worked in the past and will work for us in the future. We have a reasonably solid model in terms of who [and] where we target and what we pay for it. In 2007 we made an acquisition of an interiors business and rebranded it as RED SPACE, which was a logical progression.” It is this side of the business that has caused a stir in the office supplies industry just recently, with the appointment of Office Depot’s Nigel Edwards, taking over the role of MD. “Nigel is a highly experienced operator in the furniture market and we’re hoping he can take us to the next level. When you’re recruiting senior people it’s a rigorous process, on both sides – it was a big decision for Nigel to leave Office Depot and come to what is obviously a much smaller company.” In terms of keeping ahead of the competition, Christiansen is an advocate of the holy grail of independents: good customer service. “Our business plans aren’t necessarily modelled on keeping ahead of the rest. We have a strong focus on delivering great service and our ability to retain accounts has kept us in good stead. Marketing models can be as fancy as you like, but ultimately, you lose a customer if you give them bad service. If you deliver they tend to stay and to be loyal – that’s our driver.” Christiansen positions RED BOX as a company that continually seeks out new services in order to secure its

We have a strong focus on delivering great service and our ability to retain accounts has kept us in good stead

future. “There is plenty of room for OS specialists, copy specialists or janitorial specialists, however small and medium-sized businesses are looking to rely on fewer and fewer suppliers to improve their administration and procurement processes, and that’s the direction we take RED BOX in.” The company has just launched an archiving service and managed print services. “Our ability to introduce new service offerings helps us to gain a bigger share of the customer spend.” “We also go out and hunt for business, with quite an aggressive sales approach,” says Christiansen. “New business isn’t new business in this industry, it just moves from one company to the next and you have to fight for your customer base.” One of the moves RED BOX is about to embark on in an attempt to improve customer experience is the upgrade of its online fulfillment service. “We will be replacing our online service in the next few weeks, which is very exciting. It’s slicker, better and something more fitting for the 21st century, I think we’ll see a big improvement on usage,” he adds. Going forward, technology is in fact the company’s largest investment in terms of infrastructure, with an overhaul of the RED BOX back office system due to be launched February 2012. “We were looking at improving our processes for the future – the new package is more flexible and scaleable, and a better platform for us.” RED BOX differentiates itself by engaging with corporate social responbility, with various charitable and eco-friendly practices. “We view CPR as a key part of our business, and I consider sustainability as a very important aspect of this,” says Christiansen. “You have to take a leap; you can’t do it half-hearted. A few years ago we were half-hearted and not getting the full rewards. We’ve since found a lot of things that are positive to the environment are also positive to the bottom line.” It’s refreshing to see RED BOX channeling its success into worthwhile activities. Last year the company’s 132 staff raised £10k for children’s mobility charity Whizz-Kidz, and have recently set up the Colway Foundation to find a fair and democratic way of distributing donations to local causes in the future. “We have the ability to impact local charities close to people’s hearts,” concludes Christiansen. “It is very important that companies are seen to be positive contributors to the community.” DS

www.dealersupport.co.uk octobeR 2011

management

advice

Small and well-formed Office Depot recently launched its procurement app in a bid to make it easier for busy customers to make orders on the go. As a third of adults are now using smartphones, Nigel Coward highlights how dealers can monetise the small screen Why should dealers consider getting ‘appy?

An app is a great way to promote a business, with mobile users more frequently seeking to buy or learn about products on the move, rather than at home or on the high street. The mobile-aware generation use their phone handsets everywhere, including office decision makers, so having a presence in the mobile app stores is a great way of ensuring they know about you. What are the options?

At the most basic level, you can promote your catalogue of office products via a ‘mobile aware’ website. This involves your web developers applying technology to your existing website that ensures content is presented in a user-friendly way for visitors using mobile devices. Beyond that, when you start programming natively for the device hardware, the sky really is the limit. Location-aware apps can point users to their nearest showroom or store, while integrated video and highresolution images taking advantage of the Apple ‘Retina Display’ can showcase your high-end products in their best possible light. If the user likes what they see, you can even use popular payment systems such as PayPal to process a transaction. One client used an iPad app for their sales reps to show products and features, rather than carrying lots of stock in their car. Alternatively you might want to try games as a way of ‘viral marketing’. If you come up with a popular idea,

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

and allow players to post their scores via Facebook or Twitter, it will get consumers seeing and recognising your brand day after day. Finding support

Building mobile apps is never easy, so it is important to enlist the skills of experts to ensure your business is presented in the best light. Avoid one-man-bands, as although their prices may initially be cheaper, you do not always get the long-term service and support you may need. Good mobile development businesses should provide consultants who will work with you to understand your objectives for the app, and can identify opportunities for you to create strong interest and promote your product. Scope out your idea clearly, and ensure you look at what competition exists in the target app stores you plan to launch in. Consider launching into one market first (we generally advise the Apple App Store), and test the water before building for other platforms such as Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile. Above everything, ensure there is a contract in place and make sure you get a copy of the source code for your project. If your developer goes out of business, you need to ensure you can take your project elsewhere for updates. DS Nigel Coward is product development director for TMTI Group

Pros

 Mobile apps are the ‘now’ way of getting in front of consumers  They’re a great way to engage users, and to mobilise your sales force  Use device features such as GPS as a tool for guiding clients to your door.

Cons

 User reviews can make or break your app in the app stores  There are lots of one-man-bands claiming to be developers – choose your partner wisely  They have limited appeal to the older generation.

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FINAL wORD

Start with “Why?” Richard Ford, sales director, office products, Newell Rubbermaid

“For me his most challenging question was ‘why?’ – something that seems obvious, but when asked to clearly articulate it by a new recruit or by a customer, could we?”

n today’s tough environment, the drive to perform and to deliver a result can sometimes stifle inspiration, which will ultimately move a business into a ‘me-to’ commodity lead organisation – possibly not where you want to be. At this year’s BOSS AGM, guest speaker Richard Gibson gave us an insight into ‘The Truth about Leadership’, an interesting and thought-provoking session and one that I am sure most of us within the industry will find challenging on a regular basis – attracting, recruiting and developing talent is after all one of the most important roles a leader performs. But for me his most challenging question was: “Why?” – something that seems obvious but when asked to clearly articulate it, by a new recruit or by a customer, could we? Gibson’s presentation was based on the work done by Simon Sinek, in ‘Start with Why’, which outlines what he calls the ‘golden circle’, a theory that simplifies the way we think and approach why people buy. Consider the following: 1. What – everybody knows what they do, what they sell 2. How – most people know the how: how they sell; the proposition; the offering 3. Why – what is your cause, your belief and why should people care? The simple theory works on the assumption that almost everybody within our organisation will be easily able to answer one and two, but not so easily answer three. Like most people, in response to the “why?” I immediately jump to “to drive a result” but that’s an outcome, the “why” we are looking for is more reflective, based on why would a new recruit really want to join your organisation rather than getting a larger salary elsewhere or why would a consumer buy your product other than just because it’s cheaper than everything else? Try thinking about this for a few minutes. Apple is a clear leader in this field; they have managed to transform themselves into the world’s leading brand not only on computers, which was their core range, but more importantly into new areas such as MP3 players and telephones. They clearly work from the middle-out, starting with a clear vision as to the “why?” ‘They believe they challenge the status quo; they believe in thinking differently; they believe in making beautiful computers that are simple to use,” says Sinek. I know I have fallen for this approach and, like many people, now own numerous Apple devices and strangely Apple’s business results are outstanding. So the question is simple – why? The answer on the other hand is much more complex but in today’s economic environment I suspect is something that cannot be ignored. The space within this Final Word really does not do this topic justice, so if you want to view more then try www.startwithwhy.com. DS

october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

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MultiCopy

management

advice

Great Brand Great Point of Sale Appeal Established and instantly recognisable; MultiCopy has an excellent reputation.

The attractive green wrapper of MultiCopy Original is not only eye catching but clearly communicates a green commitment to the environment.

Great Range

MultiCopy comes in a wide range of grammages and sizes. There are also options, in the MultiCopy range, that have been specifically developed for optimum performance on colour inkjet and colour laser machines.

Great Paper

MultiCopy deserves its reputation as a reliable paper and runs through machines effortlessly. When it comes to making great paper, attention to detail is the key; each sheet of MultiCopy is precision cut and then vacuum cleaned before being packed.

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But the story goes onâ&#x20AC;Ś l Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels used in the manufacture of MultiCopy are 0kg per tonne. l The energy used to produce MultiCopy is primarily generated from renewable biofuel (waste products from the mills pulping process) l Excess heat from the mill is used to heat around 3,000 homes and civic buildings in surrounding towns. l All other emissions are kept to the absolute minimum and the process is totally chlorine free (TCF)

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october 2011 www.dealersupport.co.uk

october 2011

NEWS INSPIRING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERS

BOSS shortlist announced The BOSS Federation has announced the shortlist for its 2011 Industry Awards, taking place on Thursday, 20 October at the Lancaster London Hotel, London, as follows: Brand Awareness Award Big Carrot - Avery Dennison Black n’ Red - Hamelin Brands Leitz Diamonds - Esselte Office IS - Office IS Tipp-Ex - BIC UK

E-tailer of the Year B-line Business Supplies Irongate Group Moorside Office Paperstone The Supermarket online UK Office Direct

Catalogue of the Year Award Integra Office Solutions office2office Office Team Superstat Group

Manufacturers Marketing Excellence 3M Fellowes Staedtler UK

Dealer Excellence Award Up to £5m annual turnover DGOS Just Office Samson

Product of the Year Sigel Artverum Magnetic Glass Board Pilot Frixion Pens HSM SECURIO P44 Shredder Newell Rubbermaid - CardScan

Dealer Excellence Award Over £5m annual turnover Penkeths WG Office Supplies

Reseller Marketing Excellence Award Just Office Office Depot Penkeths Samson Office Supplies

Entrepreneur of the Year Award Michael Girton - Global Office Supplies Craig Burlton - Moorside Office Paul Musgrove - Nectere

Young Professional of the Year Award Dane Goodson - DC Direct Kyrsten Halley - Hamelin Brands Amar Kumar - Tannas Office Supplies

Environment Award - Manufacturers Esselte Exaclair UK Environment Award - Individual Dealers, Dealer Groups, Resellers and Distributors Commercial Kyocera Mita UK Office Depot

Last year’s BOSS Awards

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DEALER SUPPORT NEWS

Burke Office plays eye-spy

elfast-based office products dealer and member of Integra Office Solutions, Burke Office, gave customers something to think about as they launched a solution to lost or misfiled information at a recent seminar. Michael Burke, MD of Burke Office, was joined by Chris Dawes from Wiltshire based InfoCAP Technologies to highlight the absorption of employee time in searching for documents and the cost to businesses. They showcased the latest intelligent information retrieval system, PowerRetrieve, which gives both SMEs and large businesses a pattern matching search technology enabling them to find relevant information in a matter of seconds. The system also provides a facility to store and manage paper documents. Burke comments: “This seminar has been a resounding

success with customers and a big thank you to Chris at InfoCAP Technologies for his support on the day. As the market continues to contract, we need to diversify and provide more added value services to customers. Document retrieval and storage is just one example of how Burke Office is doing this.” David Dawes, MD, InfoCAP Technologies adds: “We are committed to bringing our unique intelligent information retrieval system, PowerRetrieve to the attention of the business community in Northern Ireland. The clear cost savings that users of the technology in England are making need to be demonstrated and we feel the best way of doing that is in partnership with the long established local office equipment company, Burke Office. Providing this local support is a vital part of the total package.”

SOS stands out for community support

ntegra member SOS Office Solutions was a proud finalist in the category of Commitment to the Community at the 2011 Merton Business Awards, which took place at Wimbledon Tennis Club last month. The award is granted by Merton Chamber and SLB Groups to outstanding businesses in the south London area for their commitment to the community. The staff at SOS Office Solutions were thrilled to be singled out for their efforts. “It’s a fantastic honour to be commended for such an award,” commented SOS’s Lauren Braisby. “SOS is committed to sharing our experience, values and success within the community. We believe it is important to demonstrate excellence in all that we do and serving the local community is a key

component of our character, so it’s a fantastic result for us.” SOS Office Solutions has a long history of providing service, affordable solutions and support for local organisations and charities, and have won a vast array of awards as a result of this. MD Trish Smith added: “Although we have won several awards over the past 17 years, being commended for commitment to the community will always be special to us – it’s great to know that we can make a difference. “The SOS Office Solutions team are delighted to be involved in the local community and are confident that our experience will enable us to continue benefiting local business!”

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in brief ... REDBOX makes latest acquisition

ED BOX has acquired office supplies dealer Sainsbury & Sainsbury, marking the second buy for the large independent this year. Based in Enfield, north London, Sainsbury & Sainsbury is a family-owned business established for 85 years and headed-up by John Sainsbury. It provides office supplies, office furniture and copier solutions to over 500 customers. Gordon Christiansen, MD of RED BOX, commented: “Our latest acquisition confirms our strategy to accelerate growth in our local market and gives us a greater presence in managed print services, where we see significant opportunities. John and Sue have built a successful business and we look forward to working with them and their team as we bring the two companies together.” The integration plan is scheduled over a nine-month period to ensure a smooth

transition. Sainsbury commented: “Now is the appropriate time for us to pass the business on to new ownership. We are confident we have found a good cultural fit with RED BOX and together we will continue to deliver value and the highest level of service to our customers. Sue and I are both enthusiastic about our future with RED BOX.”

Ingram Micro forms channel alliance

istributor Ingram Micro has launched the Channel Transformation Alliance, along with Microsoft and HP, to support the IT reseller channel’s success with emerging technology, cloud computing and managed services. The premise behind the alliance is that the expertise, consultancy, and professional services in the IT reseller channel will optimise the competitive and economic advantages

cloud computing and other emerging technologies offer to businesses. Its aim is also to promote education and enablement via a broad number of vehicles, including field-based topical and educational events, classroom-style ‘boot camp’ training, web-based training, face-to-face consulting engagements, business development resources, and documentation and practical business tools.

OFFICE FRIENDLY DEALER ASSOCIATION AND XEROX OFFICE SUPPLIES

DS Smith

DS Smith has entered into a binding legal agreement with Unipapel S.A. in respect of the sale of its European office products wholesaling business Spicers for an enterprise value of £200m. The sale is expected to be completed by 31 December and the agreement is subject to certain conditions, including anti-trust approval, and completion price adjustments. Spicers will be treated as a discontinued business for DS Smith in the financial year 2011/12.

OPWIL

Office Products Women in Leadership (OPWIL) held its inaugural board meeting at the TriMega Emerge National Convention and Trade Show in San Diego, California last month. OPWIL was formed in 2009 to create a network of aspiring women in the OP industry and to support their growth and development, particularly in the independent channel. Founder Krista Moore commented: “In a traditionally male-dominated industry, we are now positioned to collaborate as one voice, while mentoring and supporting our future leaders.”

Online sales

Neglecting online services has cost retailers £500m in lost sales between 2007 and 2010, according to a recent report. The review, carried out by Heath London digital agency and Oxford Economics, listed Morrisons, Dixons, Phones4U and Homebase among the worst performing retailers, missing out on tens of millions of pounds due to their weaker multi-channel performance. However, brands like Tesco and Boots made up to £314m in additional sales growth attributable to their integrated customer experience strategies.

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dealer invests in eco-friendly van ﬂeet M iddlesex-based OP dealer, Imagedirect has recently made a significant investment in a new fleet of five ecofriendly vans. The Renault vans all utilise the latest Euro 5 engine technology, significantly reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency by 15%. The investment helps to ensure all Imagedirect’s deliveries are made as ‘green’ as possible and the increased capacity will further support the recent business growth and improve the efficiency of the delivery service to customers. The dealer offers guaranteed next-day delivery as standard in London and the home counties, supported by a two-hour rapid response delivery for selected clients.

The investment will also assist Imagedirect in making further significant environmental improvements as part of its commitment to its ISO14001 accreditation. MD Damien Griffin commented: “Here at Imagedirect, we are always striving to improve our delivery service whilst reducing our carbon footprint, and these vehicles offer the perfect solution. We will now be able to make far more deliveries within the course of the day and provide our customers with a more tailored delivery service.”

chariOt’S On fire with new Stamp idea

atalie Dagne, of Manchester-based Nemo member Chariot Office Supplies, has won a COLOP Stock Stamp competition for her original design, receiving £100’s worth of Marks & Spencer vouchers and a feature in the 2012 catalogue. Dagne’s ‘Paid by BACs’ stamp, with room to write a date, was judged to be the best by a team of experts from Mark C Brown, William Jones Clifton and COLOP out of over 100 entries. Jane Scott, sales and marketing manager for the stamp firm, was “completely bowled over” by the response to the competition. “The sheer number and quality of entries far exceeded expectations, so much so that not only will Natalie’s stamp go in our 2012 catalogue, but the nine runners up also get their stamps included.”

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in brief ... SME spam

Altodigital wins print deal for 1m

ltodigital, independent supplier of digital print and document solutions, has been awarded a new fouryear framework agreement by West Mercia Supplies (WMS) to supply print and optimised control software to local authorities in Shropshire, Herefordshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire, which cover 1.2 million people across the region. WMS is a purchasing consortium owned by the four member authorities formed in 1987 from a desire to provide local authorities with ‘best practice’ advice around the procurement of supplies and services and to drive value locally. As well as offering a one-stop shop to schools and colleges, WMS also supplies local government offices and other non-profitmaking organisations, such as local charities.

Altodigital won a the tender under EU Procurement rules, with their responses scoring highly when measured against the contract criteria set. David Vere-Hoose, head of major contracts and tenders director at Altodigital, was “extremely pleased” to have been selected to support WMS for the next four years. “As a company we work with many councils and understand their desires to reduce costs, improve service delivery and reduce IT staff input across the print fleet,” he said. Altodigital will provide a dedicated team of managers to cover the individual councils and to ensure the efficient running of their on-going requirements for print and software monitoring solutions. Printing equipment will be supplied by vendors including Ricoh, Toshiba and Kyocera Mita.

Sales promotions at VOW

ouise Haslam, regional sales manager for the VOW Midlands and East Anglia Region, has been promoted to regional director. She has worked in the office supplies industry for over 20 years both for manufacturers and wholesalers. Subsequently, Karen Blatherwick will assume responsibility for the national accounts customer segment.

MD Adrian Butler welcomed Louise Haslam to the senior management team. “I am sure her many years of experience working with the independent dealer community will enable her to offer the required level of support and expertise to our customers.”

OFFICE FRIENDLY DEALER ASSOCIATION AND XEROX OFFICE SUPPLIES

UK SMEs have been warned not to spam their customers with unsolicited newsletters and marketing emails. Fasthosts Internet has seen an 88% rise in unsolicited mail complaints as companies underestimate the reputational damage caused by spamming. The data lends weight to the theory that the challenging economy and increasingly competitive online marketplace has perhaps led more small firms to cut corners with their email communication. Small companies are urged to ensure emails are only sent to recipients who have opted-in to receive them.

MPS

Escalating print costs and demand on employee resources are driving the demand for MPS for mediumsized enterprises, according to research by Quocirca and commissioned by Brother. Twothirds of businesses surveyed were either using or planning to use MPS. The main reasons for switching included: improved service quality/ reliability; improved tracking and visibility of print costs; to have predictable print expense; reduced costs; and to address lack of internal knowledge and expertise.

OP fraud

Dealers have been warned to be wary of potentially fraudulent activity from a company targeting office supplies businesses. Last month, credit company ICSM had a surge of enquiries regarding a company looking to place toner and office supplies orders with its dealer clients via email and over the phone to a value of £8,000-£10,000. ICSM estimates they could be looking to acquire up to £350,000’s worth of toner.

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IT dealer predicts bad times

echnology services provider Probrand has released figures that suggest the domestic ICT market is headed for even more testing times than predicted, with current price movements reflecting those of an early recession, having risen to almost double that observed a year ago. With rising prices set against tightened budgets and consumer confidence reported at an all-time low, the potential impact on technology sales and procurement of ICT looks to be considerable. The health of the global economy is often tightly reflected by the volume of price changes on ICT products, suggesting a ‘double dip’ may not be far off. There are numerous factors influencing ICT cost in this complex supply chain, from raw material and transport costs to exchange rates between countries. Higher volatility of pricing in finished ICT products is a reflection of manufacturers consistently being challenged by their costs. Raw materials for the complex ICT component supply chain are sourced from hot spots all over the world. A consistently stable global economic environment delivers stable costs in the manufacture of technology and fewer price changes overall.

Probrand updates various facets of ICT supply chain data daily, like price, stock and new product introductions within the UK distribution network, which consists of over 150,000 products from more than 2,500 manufacturers. The reseller recorded 237,000 individual product trade price changes in the UK supply chain during August 2010. However, such is the current volatility that a sharp trend has risen to top 420,000 changes in August 2011. This is reported to be a similar level of changes to the start of the recession in 2007/8. MD Peter Robbins said: “We are viewing unprecedented price movements in the UK ICT supply chain and trade price changes here are a direct result of testing global economic conditions that are challenging manufacturers by the minute. Are these price changes caused by tough times in the world economy or are the movements symptomatic of the on-going disruption caused by the catastrophic events in Japan during March? Perhaps it is a combination of the two that is delivering such an unusual pattern in the most dynamic market place in the world. This increased volatility in the market is a testing time for strapped ICT buyers trying to keep abreast of price movements.”

MBM Omega upgrades to larger premises

BM Omega, independent supplier of OP and print services, has moved to the Axis Centre in Leatherhead. The new headquarters, in Cleeve Road, will provide a firm base for future growth and allow MBM Omega to put in place a number of initiatives that will benefit customers and the community. MD James Morton commented: “After a comprehensive and lengthy search we are delighted to have found premises that meet our requirements. “We had outgrown our existing office and warehouses in Sutton and Croydon and needed to consolidate our operations, making for greater

efficiency. In addition the modern premises will provide a pleasant working environment.” Marketing manager Diane Green added: “We have a number of exciting plans which have been on hold until after the move. These include forging links with a local charity for fundraising and volunteer activities, expanding our delivery routes, introducing reusable boxes for local deliveries and other ‘green’ initiatives.” Leatherhead was chosen for its facilities and transport links, which are suitably close to the M25, as well as near fast rail links to London and the rest of the country, making it within a commutable distance for all employees.

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estcoast has been working to increase its presence in the IT distribution channel even further by launching a new Solutions Lab in Milton Keynes, giving resellers a space to hold events and train its staff and customers on technology. Westcoast also recently invested in additional business development managers (BDMs) specialising in storage, servers, networking and converged infrastructures solutions. The BDMs can visit resellers on request to educate staff and end-users. In addition, the in-house pre-sales

solutions team provides consultancy services and advice, as well as server pre-testing and configuration. Online tools provided by Westcoast such as iQuote and L@W are already provided by the company in an attempt to simplify technical information for a faster quote and increase sales. In other news, the distributor is supporting Microsoft’s Britain Works programme to create more ICT jobs by recruiting 500 apprentices in the reseller community. To find out more, email microsoft.apprentice@itskillsman.co.uk.

Spicers partners with P1

picers has partnered with training firm P1 to launch the Office Products Academy (OPA) New Talent Academy. Exclusive to Spicers dealers, the new academy offers a programme for new talent to be recruited and receive full training to allow them to be successful in a dealer’s business. Spicers sales director Tom Rodda said he was “delighted” to be working with P1 on the initiative. “Dealers have been looking to us to provide ground-breaking initiatives to help them grow their businesses. This three-step programme, which we have developed with P1, aims to help dealers get the very best from new recruits into their business. “Sales recruitment is a real challenge for our dealers as it is not only costly in money but also, and mainly, in time,” he continued.

“Having a vehicle that allows us and our dealers to bring raw new talent into this industry as effectively as possible is definitely something Spicers will support and drive.” In addition, Spicers and P1 have developed the OPA training programme for Spicers dealers as a series of industry-specific training workshops designed to complement the online academy launched by Spicers two years ago.

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Westcoast grows it distie channel

We are viewing unprecedented price movements in the UK ICT supply chain and trade price changes here are a direct result of testing global economic conditions that are challenging manufacturers by the minute. Peter Robbins, MD of Probrand

Superstat raises £1,170 for cancer charity

ealer group Superstat and its members have raised £1,170 for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research at its annual conference this summer. Marketing director Karly Haley was delighted at the generosity of all that attended the conference. “It was a fantastic, well-received event and raising £1,170 for charity on the last night was a brilliant end to the weekend,” she said. In the meantime, Superstat’s office supplies website, TheOfficeSuppliesSupermarket.com, has seen a record number of sales for the month of September. The site has experienced strong sales growth in the 19 months of trading since the website launched in February 2010. Last month marked another record turnover month, 10% higher than the previous record month of August. The website processed over 1,000 customer orders in September and the Supermarket team are confident that the growth will continue through the rest of 2011 and that 2012 will provide significant business growth for all involved in the programme.

Superstat with a cheque for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research

SYNAXON BUILDS ON CONFERENCE SUCCESS D ealer group Synaxon is investing to expand in order to include new members following the success of its first national conference last month. More than 100 of the group’s 700-plus UK reseller and dealer members attended the conference at Wychwood Park near Crewe last month to hear presentations from speakers, including those from sponsors Fujitsu, Acer and Autotask. UK MD Derek Jones said: “Everyone

enjoyed the conference and got a great deal out of it – both in terms of the ideas and thinking they were able to take away to their businesses and the contacts that they made. We’ve received some great feedback and encouragement from those who attended. The success of the conference shows that we have now built a very firm and solid platform for the group in the UK and that’s something we fully intend to build upon over the coming months.”

Synaxon is planning to introduce a number of enhancements and extensions to its services over the next six months, which it hopes will make it more appealing to both resellers and supplier partners. Jones concluded: “We will continue to invest, to build and to grow our relationships and our operations here in the UK. We have shown how effective the model is and we will now be looking to get more partners actively involved and working to do business better.”