NEWS AND VIEWS

The Peddle range provides accessible, easy-touse, electric bikes that come with a selection of ‘in the box’ extras to get customers riding quickly and safely. Peddle electric bikes can enhance a huge range of leisure activities as well as supporting physical and mental health, while also helping the planet by embracing sustainable travel.

Building on Exertis’ charity partnership with Mental Health UK, the distributor has pledged to donate £10 to the mental health charity for each bike sold, until summer 2023.

Peddle is designed for anyone whose lifestyle can be improved or enhanced by an electric bike, whether getting back into fitness, riding for mindfulness, embracing a more climate-friendly commute, or simply connecting with friends and family and riding for pleasure.

Dealer group Nemo Office Club has appointed Nick Wilkinson as senior business development manager. “We are absolutely delighted that Nick has chosen to join Nemo Office Club,” commented group MD Tim Beaumont. “Mark Allan has been a fantastic servant to the business, and was always going to be difficult to replace but, in recruiting Nick, we have someone with industry-leading knowledge, experience and skills to drive our business - and, more importantly, the business of our members - forward over the months and years ahead.

“Nick brings with him a wealth of knowledge in identifying opportunities, carrying out business reviews and developing strategies that will work for your business. He is experienced in the wholesale market with Spicers and Vow, with an understanding of vendors from his time at Snopake and time spent consulting with dealers at The Business Performance Group and Highlands; we do not believe we could have found a better person to give you the right support your business needs.”

Woodbank Office Solutions has been chosen to supply printers and provide document management services to Robinsons Brewery. Simon Fuller, IT infrastructure service manager at Robinsons explains their criteria. “As a family-run business, we wanted to partner with someone with the same values and ethos. We wanted to speak to the owner, not just deal with a company who only want numbers and figures. At Woodbank we spoke to Janet Bowden from the very start. We liked that.

“The process was very easy and straight forward - operationally no issues, and integration was great. Woodbank technical guys are very experienced and they knew what they were doing. We just left them to it. They do all the liaison and the training. Very efficient, very smooth.”

Pukka Pads 2000 Ltd signed the agreement to purchase Party Centric, the Yorkshire-based party supplies business, on November 2 2022. The acquisition adds another brand to Pukka Pads’ growing portfolio, which already includes Concord Filing and Carpe Diem Planners.

Chris Stott, CEO at Pukka Pads, said the company was “over the moon” to acquire the Party Centric business, adding it would “benefit from the strength of the Pukka Pad brand and operational excellence”.

The Pukka Pad Group is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high quality branded and own label paper pads and notebooks, filing and divider items, post and packaging and art and activity products. Stott founded Pukka Pad back in 1999 and, since then, the popular manufacturer has continued to create and produce innovative, stylish and high-quality stationery products for the world’s stationery industry.

Formed in 2002 by sales director Nigel Gass, and finance director Paul Macfarlane, SDS initially used another provider’s products but rapidly moved solely to Konica Minolta. Gass commented, “We soon decided that Konica Minolta’s products are the best on the market and perfect for our customers. We also share the same business ethics of trust and a customer service-led approach which has proven to be the perfect approach over the last two decades. The business community in the south west is largely driven by word-of-mouth and personal recommendations, and we have always striven to deliver the best possible service, and to work with the best strategic partners to grow our market share.” With an elite team of nine, SDS is focused on delivering exceptional customer service (and has been recognised for this by three Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards) and the best business solutions for its customers. “Working exclusively with Konica Minolta gives us a highly reliable and effective route to market,” Gass explained. “This means we can focus our product stocks, and technical training, to deliver the best sales and support service to our customers.”

Office supplies business ACS Office has won a tender worth £1.8m over three years with Portman Dental Care. Headquartered in Cheltenham, Portman Dental Care currently has in excess of 200 dental practices across the UK, Isle of Man and Ireland, caring for more than 800,000 patients.

ACS Office is supplying the company’s practices with office supplies, electronic office supplies, janitorial and catering supplies and furniture. ACS Office is delivering its services via full, end-to-end, PunchOut integration with Portman’s inhouse procurement system, PortPal. “We appointed ACS Office following a highly competitive tender process comprising a detailed written submission and an e-auction,” said Portman Dental Care’s head of procurement, Andrew Jones. “From the start, when they became our supplier of choice, we have been highly impressed with the adaptable, responsive and forward-thinking way the ACS Office team operates.

From all of us here at Dealer Support we would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! It has been another tough year for the industry, but, once again, you have all shown resilience, innovation and tenacity in the face of challenging circumstances. As we enter a new year it is hard to predict what 2023 may bring (if it’s anything like the last three years we’ll certainly have to take a deep breath!) but I look forward to seeing how the industry will continue to thrive. We will have a bumper issue in January to ring in the new year, full of the latest industry news, views and opinion and I look forward to speaking to you all again then. Finally, I would like to say a massive thank you to all of our readers for your loyalty, our contributors for your invaluable insights and to our partners and advertisers for your continued support this past year. Now, let’s enjoy some festivities!

We would like to thank all our customers for your continued support during 2022. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Dams Furniture

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our superb staff, customers, partners and suppliers. Wishing you all a fantastic holiday and a joyful successful new year!

Our advent calendar and prizes are back to wish our partners a very Merry Christmas. Why not visit www.brotherzone.co.uk and see if you’re a winner.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our partners, customers and friends from the EvolutionX and FusionPlus Data teams - see you on t’other side!

Thank you to all our members and key partners for your support over the last 25 Years. We look forward to working with you in 2023. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the team at Integra