RETAILER FOCUS – ELLIOT JACOBS, UOE
RIGHT: Elliot Jacobs outside UOE’s Crouch End store, which like all of its the shops features an old typewriter in homage to the business’ roots. BELOW RIGHT: One of the many old typewriters that Elliot has collected for display instore to hark back to the days when it was a typewriter maintenance company.
Type Cast
If the photocopier had not broken that day, Elliot Jacobs may never have reconnected with his Saturday job owners, let alone buy the UOE business, become a non-exec director of the Post Office or won the most recent BOSS Best Independent Stationery Retailer Award. With an ambitious plan to expand to 35+ stationery and Post Office stores, Stationery Matters hot-footed it to meet the man with a large typewriter collection.
I BELOW: The majority of UOE’s stores are open seven days a week and, having a Post Office means they are a hub for the community. BELOW RIGHT: Supporting the local community is something Elliot is planning to do more of with UOE and is currently recruiting for an outreach community manager.
f you have a disused typewriter looking for a new home, Elliot Jacobs could well take it off your hands. He needs to build up his collection, in readiness for the planned expansion of his UOE business into what he is aiming to become “The number one national stationery retailer” trading from up to 40 stores. So, what’s with the typewriters, and why is there one in every UOE store? It is in homage to the company’s origins, something of which Elliot has first-hand knowledge. As a young lad, he used to cycle up to UOE’s shop in London’s East Finchley to get some photocopying done for his Dad. Then, at the grand old age of 14 he clinched a Saturday job working at what was the former typewriter maintenance company that had evolved into the rather
grand sounding Universal Office Equipment business selling all manner of stationery and office supplies. It was many years later, when working in the computer sector that a broken photocopier prompted Elliot to visit to his erstwhile employers where he learned of their plans to retire. “It does rather sound like a Victor Kiam story,” joked Elliot recalling the catchphrase of the outspoken American entrepreneur who liked the Remington shavers so much, he bought the company. Elliot then developed UOE’s B2B online operation while the retail side ticked along. “It got to 2013 and high street trading was tough, but I just loved retailing. I knew I either had to become a proper retailer or get out of it,” revealed Elliot. “I then spotted that the Post Office was franchising out branches and recognised how bringing retailing together with the services a Post Office offers would
drive footfall and increase sales.” Elliot was successful in his bid for the Post Office in East Finchley. “Our business went boom overnight,” recalled Elliot, with Potters Bar, Hertford, Muswell Hill, Stoke Newington and Crouch End branches following suit in quick succession. “During Covid, though it was challenging, we were able to continue trading, further cementing our relationship with the community,” explained Elliot. After opening in Ware (together with a banking hub), last October hearing of the owners plans to retire, Elliot was able to acquire the popular First Stop Stationers shop in Reigate, which served to further underline the growth of UOE.