DEALER INTERVIEW
E
INDUSTRY
veryone loves an inspiring story;
of it as a new player. “We blew up really quickly, and had a
whether it be about a beloved business
pivotal moment in December 2014 when we took on nearly
making the best of a bad situation, or
200 customers in a month – but we didn’t meet any of them,”
a handful of baby ducks being rescued
says Matt. “We had concentrated so hard on new business
from a well, these stories inspire us, and
but, after 2014, our mind set shifted to defining Office Oracle
warm our hearts. Since this is Dealer
as a brand and really homing in on maintaining business. Our
Support, we’re focusing on the former theme right now.
brand is about being consistent, being human, being honest
With COVID-19 still far from gone from our lives, businesses
and being premium in all that we do.”
all over the world have found themselves having to move
2017-19 was characterised by cementing a strong
quickly, and be agile – something which has proved more
management team and investing in them, to give them
challenging than ever before.
confidence as leaders. “I’ve never been someone who hovers
For some, this has been a nearly business-breaking
over people’s shoulders, and I believe making mistakes is the
struggle; for others, it simply hasn’t been possible at all. Then
best way of learning; if they trust themselves, they’re going
there are those companies which have gripped the situation
to be great. As for 2020-21, we’re still going ahead with the
in front of them and made the best of it that they possible can
plans we had at the end of 2019 because we’re confident we
– one such company is Office Oracle.
can still make it happen, in spite of COVID.”
OFFICE ORACLE’S TIMELINE Matt Phauré, the company’s founder, has business in his blood. Some of his earliest memories involve washing up and cleaning his dad’s car for extra pocket money, and buying corner shop sweets to sell on to fellow pupils at a profit. “I just really liked buying and selling!” he explains. Later, as he entered the world of work, Matt was an apprentice in the
Our priority has been supporting our clients with their return to work
investment industry until the financial crash of 2008. From there he took his experiences of a high-octane, fast-paced environment to a local, family-run office supplies dealer. “The clientele was the biggest change,” says Matt,
HANDLING THE PANDEMIC
“and I wanted more progression and a much larger emphasis
There’s that C-word again. Fortunately, as a business which
on customer service. So, in 2011, I started my own business,
caters to a lot of clients in the building and procurement
which is very client-facing. In my role, 80% of my normal
industries, Office Oracle has always sold lots of PPE, which is
trading hours time, is spent with clients. The other 20% is
what allowed it to get ahead of the curve when it came to the
focused on expansion of the group.”
build-up of the pandemic’s threat at the start of 2020. “Very
Office Oracle is in the comfortable position of having nine years of trading to reflect on; Matt describes this time as being characterised by “non-stop learning”. From 2011-14 the growth the business experienced came from passion and grit, and making sure the industry was aware
early on, in January this year, we noticed a huge upward trend in customers buying PPE,” Matt explains. “This meant that, even before COVID was widely covered in the news, it was on our radar. We reviewed our options and decided that, rather than closing up shop and waiting for the storm to pass, we
www.dealersupport.co.uk SUMMER 2020 [13]
