INDUSTRY
Q&A
Strange times – wise words A
s BOSS Chairman and CEO of Office Power, Simon Drakeford and his team
rise in PPE and packaging. Almost every dealer we’ve spoken with has been affected
talk to hundreds of dealers every day -
by the drop in demand from their customers, as well as their
as well as discussing the latest events
teams’ shift to remote working and stock shortages in the
with peers from both within and outside
supply chain.
of our industry. At this strange time, communication, and awareness of what’s going on in the
WHAT’S YOUR INSIGHT INTO WHAT MAY HAPPEN
market and the wider world, has become more critical than
GOING FORWARD – SHORT AND LONG TERM?
ever. To help share some industry insights - and shed some
In the short term we predict that once dealers have fulfilled
light on how the COVID-19 is affecting dealers, and the office
the remaining demand from March’s boom, the ones who
supplies industry as a whole, we asked, Simon, to answer our
can’t immediately reduce their fixed costs will struggle. They
questions around some of the most hotly discussed issues.
will need to reconfigure their businesses in order to adapt to the remote workforces, disrupted supply chain and a
WHAT’S HAPPENED TO TRADING FOR DEALERS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?
dispersing customer base. Dealers with drivers and warehouses will need to rethink
Over the last few weeks we’ve spoken with many dealers
the logistics of their situation fast, and come up with more
both inside and outside the Office Power community and
flexible ways of servicing their customers, which will allow
the feedback we’ve received varies greatly. On the whole, it
them to de-risk their business and enable staff and customers
seems that dealers in the North are holding up better than
to order online and reduce cash flow problems. On top
those down South; this is most likely because working from
of this, we think there will also be concerns surrounding
home is less prevalent and there is a low service company mix
collecting cash, and dealers will look to chase debts in order
in the north.
to cover immediate costs.
Dealers who have a heavier weighting of standard
With many dealers furloughing large portions of their
industrial classification (SIC) customers - for example,
workforce, there’s likely to be increased pressure on the
construction - are coping, and there are others finding some
remaining staff across businesses to fulfil operational tasks;
success in pockets of unusual demand patterns such as the
because of this many dealers will need to run the risk of
[16] MAY 2020
www.dealersupport.co.uk
