EMBRACING CHANGE; SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES

As the office supplies market changes, Nemo Office Club’s TIM BEAUMONT highlights the need to appreciate the traditional qualities of local trading while embracing the new world

im Beaumont, Managing Director T of Nemo Office Group is concerned that the office supplies industry is being misrepresented by historical terminology that pigeonholes dealers into a narrow category that no longer represents the breadth of product dealers sell. Especially since the pandemic, many dealers have looked to expand their product offering and moved into sectors they would never have looked at pre2020 – everything from PPE and COVID testing kits to work tools and white goods – which are becoming increasingly distant to their traditional core markets.

“We are called the office supplies industry, yet dealers sell to warehouses, schools, retail outlets, doctors, dentists and many other businesses that use our members for more than just office supplies.” he says. “It is time that we, as an industry, reviewed how we are referred to in the wider world to ensure that our dealers are seen as suppliers to the complete workplace – both from customer businesses and potential supply partners.”

Nemo Office Club has started to refer to ‘business consumables’ when talking about the traditional core business enabling dealers to pitch themselves as providing ‘workplace solutions’, which is certainly more encompassing; whether it catches on in the wider industry

remains to be seen, but it is something that is enabling Nemo Office Club members to reposition themselves as a much broader supply partner to customers.

As an example of how the sector is looking towards different markets, Tim points to how Nemo Office Club has recently secured a contract to supply electrical charging points for offices and home workers. “Dealers are having to adapt to customer requirements, as CSR becomes increasingly important, we need to make sure that they have the tools to deliver, the electrical charging point supplier is just one example of that. We also have contracts in place for supplying white goods, electrical supplies – basically anything with a plug - as well as things like garden tools, decorating equipment, screws and nails,” he says.

“As well as providing the products, dealers are also increasing the services on offer, be that secure shredding, cleaning, leasing or managing coffee and water machines – it is no longer just about delivering stationery and office supplies. We are continuing to work with our members to identify new opportunities to supply the workplace, absolutely nothing is off the table in the future. Five years ago, who would have thought our members would be selling white goods, electric charge points and lateral flow tests!” KEEP IT LOCAL The drive to provide more products to different types of businesses aligns with Nemo Office Club’s ‘Keep it Local’ campaign, launched in June 2020.

“The government made a statement that they wanted £1 in every £3 of government’s procurement expenditure to be spent with SMEs.” says Tim. “We picked up on that message, used it to drive the campaign, challenging government along the way and reminding them of their commitment.” Letters were written to Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, and despite receiving thousands of views on social media, there was no response from either politician. Undeterred, Tim took some advice on how to influence the government and was told to pitch it at local MP level. “So now on our website, keep-it-local.co.uk, anyone in our industry – or outside - can find out who their local MP is, download a template letter and write to them and ask them what they are doing to ensure £1 in every £3 is spent with SMEs and supporting local economies.”

This very public engagement with MPs and much local activity from members has seen the campaign steadily gain momentum over the past 18 months. Tim adds that the groups internal portal has a wealth of information for dealers, including a marketing pack containing posters,

stickers, videos, packaging tape, template letters to send to businesses and networking groups, sales brochures, social media videos and postcards.

“The most proactive dealers have gone to their local networking groups and said: ‘Let’s work together to support each other and our local economy’ and we have had some great stories of wins – one dealer got all the business from a chain of estate agents while another got to pitch for local council business directly on the back of the campaign after many years of being rebuffed.”

The campaign has also had buy-in from other businesses outside the sector, which shows the appetite to Keep It Local. Tim has plans to expand the message further in 2022, including a Keep It Local Week from 9-15 May, including featuring activities to support the campaign.

FUTURE The Keep it Local week taps into Tim’s cautious optimism for 2022. While he believes revenues for the sector will increase – barring another period of lockdown – it will still be tough for some, and he envisages that there will be business acquisitions and inevitable closures.“I hope things will recover as more people go back to the office in the first and second quarter,” he says. “There are problems with inflation, supply chains and price increases, which will continue, but it is the same for everyone, so the consumer will end up paying the price.

With testing times ahead, Tim, understandably, believes that more independent dealers should consider coming under the umbrella of a dealer group. “Now more than ever independents should consider joining groups – not just ours – because it is not as much about buying power, it is about collaboration, working together and taking advantage of the expert support on offer to help businesses to grow.

“Our members benefit from networking, marketing support - online, offline, retail and commercial - fully managed services covering social media and email marketing, we can also help to generate new leads in addition to offering pre-negotiated trading terms with an ever-growing number of suppliers. Now, more than ever, dealers are stronger together.”