LEADERSHIP
S T R AT E G Y I N T E R V I E W
What recovery? Inside Paperstone’s rapid post-pandemic rebound Having already surpassed sales and profit levels for pre-pandemic years, we catch up with Paperstone CEO JIM BROWN to get the lowdown on the company’s success.
G
rowth, in business terms, is the raison d’être.
realised there was an opening in the stationery market that it was
Every company starts small, but those that fail
primed to fill. Over the years, it has diversified and expanded
to grow or begin to contract are not having a
into numerous other areas, including catering, paper, technology,
good time. So, when a CEO tells you, “We’ve
furniture and much more.
grown every year for the last 18 years, except
Co-founder and CEO Jim Brown summed up what made
one, which was obviously the pandemic year,” you know that’s a
Paperstone different from the get-go, and what led it to success. “We
healthy business.
were the opposite of what lots of people were in the market, so the
Founded in 2004 and based in Tunbridge Wells, Paperstone set out with a goal of selling ink cartridges online, but very quickly
[20] SUMMER 2023
www.dealersupport.co.uk
way we wanted to do it was, we wanted to acquire customers online, but then take the relationship offline.”