OPI European Annual Review 2014

2014

EUROPEAN

ANNUAL

REVIEW

Von Gymnich and Reichhold stand up for Paperworld p10 Büroring’s Ingo Dewitz talks of category collapse p14 Italian resellers tough it out p18

Editorial Editor Andy Braithwaite +33 4 32 62 71 07 andy.braithwaite@opi.net

Features Editor Heike Dieckmann +44 (0)20 7841 2950 heike.dieckmann@opi.net

Sales and Marketing VP – Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa Ewan Dickson +44 (0)20 7841 2954 ewan.dickson@opi.net

VP – North America and UK Chris Turness +44 (0)20 7841 2953 chris.turness@opi.net

VP – Asia Tony Yao +86 186 021 29588 tony.yao@opi.net

Digital Manager India Pride +44 (0)20 7841 2959 india.pride@opi.net

Sales Executive Fergus Cox +44 (0)20 7841 2952 fergus.cox@opi.net

Events Events Manager Lisa Haywood +44 (0)20 7841 2945 lisa.haywood@opi.net

Production and Finance Operations Manager Nicky Coulson Production Assistant Jack Francis +44 (0)20 7841 2950 jack.francis@opi.net

Designer Charlotte Gerhardt +44 (0)20 7841 2943 charlotte.gerhardt@opi.net

Accountant Charles Edwards +44 (0)20 7841 2956 charles.edwards@opi.net

Publishers CEO Steve Hilleard +44 (0)20 7841 2940 steve.hilleard@opi.net

Director Janet Bell +44 (0)20 7841 2941 janet.bell@opi.net OPI is printed in the UK by The carrier sheet is printed on Satimat Silk paper, which is produced on pulp manufactured wood obtained from recognised responsible forests and at an FSC® certified mill.

It is polywrapped in recycleable plastic that will biodegrade within six months.

EDITOR’S COMMENT

Challenging times

A Happy New Year to OPI readers and welcome to our latest European Annual Review that is coming out just in time for Paperworld in Frankfurt.

It’s likely to be an interesting, possibly transitional, year at Europe’s largest office products trade show. We’ve covered the topic both in this publication and in our December/January issue of OPI, but it’s clear that Paperworld needs to find a new relevancy for the office channel.

Whether that is in the form of category expansion, more added-value seminars and/or educational programmes aimed squarely at European office resellers, or even the return of the European Office Products Awards (!), remains to be seen, but Messe Frankfurt has said that changes are afoot for 2015.

Let’s hope that these live up to all our expectations.

Looking back over 2013, it was a year of further industry consolidation, profit warnings and category uncertainty as digitisation gathered momentum in the workplace in many European markets, probably faster than anyone had really anticipated. It’s certainly interesting to hear German resellers say that some categories have “collapsed” (see page 14), even in a relatively robust economy. That definitely puts the onus on both manufacturers and resellers to come up with new and innovative growth solutions.

Andy Braithwaite , Editor

CONTENTS CBP0009242909111341

No part of this magazine may be reproduced, copied, stored in an electronic retrieval system or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with provision of the copyright designs and patents act of 1988. Stringent efforts have been made by Office Products International to ensure accuracy.

However, due principally to the fact that data cannot always be verified, it is possible that some errors or omissions may occur.

Office Products International cannot accept responsibility for such errors or omissions. Office Products International accepts no responsibility for comments made by contributing authors or interviewees that may offend.

Year in review...................4

Italian reseller focus......18

The top stories of 2013

A look at the highs and lows

Paperworld preview.........9

Retailer spotlight............22

OPI talks to the organisers

Ofiahorro, a new player in Spain

Ingo Dewitz, part 1.........14

5 minutes with................24

Büroring’s MD shares his views

Wholesale tales..............17 Office Products International Ltd (OPI), Diamond House, 36-38 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8EB, UK

João Oliveira

New product guide........27

Update from ADVEO Germany

Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 2950 Fax: +44 (0)20 7841 2951

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YEAR IN REVIEW 2013

That was the year that was A look back at some of the biggest OP news stories from Europe in the past 12 months JANuARY

FEbRuARY

Lyreco began the year by announcing another strategic alliance in Europe. The reseller’s newest partner was leading Baltics office supplier Officeday, headquartered in Latvia but also with operations in Lithuania and Estonia. In 2012, the France-based global operator had established European partnerships in Turkey, Romania and Russia.

OTTO Office added a line of lifestyle products to its assortment as it looked to appeal to new target groups.

Items included a robot-shaped USB stick, a popcorn machine and a birdseed dispenser for the garden.

Paper merchant Inapa sold 60% of its stake in its German Print Media Factoring business. The Portugal-based group said the transaction was part of its strategy to focus on core markets and to develop new income streams, particularly in the areas of packaging and visual communications – a strategy incidentally that is very similar to those of rival paper merchants Antalis and PaperlinX. UPM said it was aiming to reduce its paper production by 850,000 tonnes in 2013 by closing down two of its mills and selling another one. It expected 860 jobs to go as a result.

ADVEO confirmed that it had made an offer to acquire certain assets of troubled French dealer group SACFOM which had been in administration since September 2012. A deal for the acquisition of SACFOM’s Buro+ dealer group was finally struck in May after SACFOM was liquidated.

While its rivals were reducing capacity, Double A acquired the former M-real paper mill in Alizay, France for about €18 million as it looked to gain share in Europe and the Middle East.

Leading US e-tailer Shoplet announced its launch in the UK and Ireland after teaming up with wholesaler Spicers. The agreement also Alan Ball from Spicers and included plans Tony Ellison from Shoplet to introduce Shoplet into continental Europe, possibly in 2014.

Michel Milcent, head of Office Depot’s European operations in France, Italy and Spain, left the group and was replaced by Bart Sasse, who was previously in charge of the company’s operations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Corwell said it had begun operations in the Czech Republic. The Hungary-based wholesaler had already reported strong results from its subsidiary in Slovakia – up by 35% year on year in 2012 – and said the move into the Czech Republic marked a logical next step in its expansion.

In Sweden, Gullbergs and Kontorsvaruhuset agreed to merge to form Kontorsvaruhuset Gullbergs which, with 40 outlets across Sweden, around 60,000 customers and some 500 employees, would become one of the leading OP resellers in the country. News of the deal came just a few months after private equity firm Litorina became the majority shareholder in Gullbergs.

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

2013 YEAR IN REVIEW MARch Paper merchant Papyrus agreed to sell its German envelope production business to Mayer-Kuvert Network. The Papyrus manufacturing facility in Ettlingen produced more than one billion envelopes in 2012 and had net sales of around €19 million. However, with the envelope category under severe pressure, Papyrus said it wanted to focus on its core distribution businesses.

Malaysia-based Pelikan International said it wanted the German operations of subsidiaries Herlitz and Pelikan to work more closely together as it looked to stem losses in Europe.

The original plan was to set up joint ventures, but by the end of the year it was announced that Pelikan would actually acquire Herlitz’s sales and production arms in Germany.

Staples announced a shake-up of senior management at its European retail division. Carlos Maia was named VP of UK & Portugal Retail & Online while Gogi Grewal was appointed to the role of VP Northern Europe Retail, overseeing retail operations in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.

Lyreco introduced its new web shop into its two largest markets of France and the UK. Complexities with key global account customers had meant that clients in those two countries had had to remain on the previous platform, although the updated web shop had been introduced into other markets several months earlier.

ACCO revealed that 2013 EU restructuring actions would cost it approximately €9 million, mostly related to staff terminations and facility closures. However, ACCO Europe President Jay Mitchell pointed out that it was not a question of retrenchment and that a “significant investment” was being made in a new pan-European IT platform.

ApRIl

MAY

Shares of trendy notebook maker Moleskine began trading on the Milan stock exchange following an IPO that raised about €244 million. By the end of the year, the share price had slipped 30% to €1.60 after opening in April at €2.30.

The Spanish competition authorities (CNC) imposed fines of €44 million on 15 companies for running an envelope cartel over a 33-year period. The fines relate to anti-competitive practices between 1977 and 2010, mainly in the provision of pre-printed and custom envelopes for state and local elections, the public sector and large private firms. ADVEO was exempted from its €20 million fine for cooperating with the CNC during the investigation.

Staples stopped serving customers in Belgium through its own-branded Staples Direct website, switching back to the local web shop of Bernard, the France-based mail order firm acquired by Staples back in 2002.

Pilot officially opened its new European distribution centre. The writing instruments manufacturer upgraded its main European facilities just outside Annecy in the east of France at a cost of “several million euros”. The site – first occupied by Pilot in 1996 – now has a warehouse surface area of 6,400 sq m as well as 4,900 sq m for production, and office space measuring 2,200 sq m.

Edding’s Per Ledermann was named as the new Managing Director of German brand initiative Office Gold Club (OGC). Ledermann took over from his edding colleague Nicola Perl who had held the role for two years. 2013 was a transitional year for OGC as it developed a new marketing concept to reach its target group of purchasers at medium and large companies.

Leading German stationery group Schneider bought arts and crafts distributor Creative Hobbies Group (CHG). CHG, which was formed in 2010 with the merger of Kars and KnorrPrandell, was placed into liquidation earlier in 2013. Following the transaction the business changed its name to Knorr Prandell Creative.

Lyreco named Samuel Avenel as its COO, a new post that the reseller had been looking to create since Eric Bigeard retired. Avenel’s main brief is to develop and lead change on the commercial side.

Euroffice began operations in Germany, its second continental European market launch after starting up in Italy four years previously. The job of leading Euroffice Germany was handed to former Office Depot executive Benjamin Albrecht.

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YEAR IN REVIEW 2013 JuNE More than 500 people attended a party just outside the Bulgarian capital Sofia to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Office 1’s presence in the country. Office 1 Bulgaria’s first store opened in June 1998 and the reseller currently has more than 110 stores across the country.

A major transaction in the Danish office supplies market was announced with three of the country’s leading players – Redoffice, Scan Office and Zap-in – forming a joint company combining product assortment and logistics. At the same time, Scan Office became a member of the Redoffice reseller network.

It was revealed that Russian trade shows Skrepka and Paperworld Russia were to be combined into a single event. Paperworld Russia was first launched in 2011, but faced stiff competition from the well-established – and locally run – Skrepka show. The first ‘Skrepka Expo powered by Paperworld’ event will be held at the end of February 2014.

At its annual convention near Cannes, French trade association UFIPA announced plans for a pan-European product labelling initiative. Following subsequent meetings in Paris and Frankfurt, it was decided to launch a new association to oversee the project, with a ‘founding’ meeting to be held at Paperworld in Frankfurt at the end of January.

JulY Biella’s wholesaling business in Poland was transferred to the Polish subsidiary of Austrian operator PBS Holding. In addition, a licensing agreement enables PBS to use the Donau brand name in Poland and other Eastern European countries, while Biella signed a long-term exclusive supply agreement for PBS in Poland.

France-based group Hamelin said it would close four production sites in Europe as part of a business-wide reorganisation project. The vendor blamed a combination of digitisation and the economic crisis for what it called “an unprecedented market situation”.

Manutan acquired UK-based Ironmongery Direct, a distributor of fixtures and fittings to tradesmen working in the building and home improvement channels. France-based Manutan said the acquisition would enable it to expand its B2B product range in the UK and provide access to a new type of customer (tradesmen) and a new market sector (the building trade).

EU vendor Jalema and CEO Wim de Goei parted company. Jalema said that the firm’s supervisory board and Joan Westendorff – Director of holding company Difylogica and sole shareholder of Jalema – had differing views to de Goei on the company’s strategy and on how cost savings should be realised. Léon Lalieu, Director of sister company I-FourC, was named as the successor to de Goei.

Another leadership change took place at shredder manufacturer HSM, as longstanding Managing Directors Irene and Dietmar Dengler left the Germany-based firm. CFO Matthias Wochner joined HSM’s executive board alongside founder Hermann Schwelling.

HSM Americas President Bob Ouellette was later put in charge of HSM’s global Irene Dengler shredder business.

August Biella was involved in another transaction as it sold its soft plastics division to the ProOffice subsidiary of Ring International Holding. Biella said it would continue to offer soft plastics products as part of its portfolio, but would now source them from third parties, signing a strategic supply agreement with ProOffice.

There was more consolidation in the European paper market when Portugal-based merchant Inapa agreed to acquire Korda, one of Turkey’s leading paper merchants. Korda serves more than 2,500 customers in Turkey through its distribution centres in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Adana, and achieved sales of around €30 million in 2012.

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

2013 YEAR IN REVIEW SEptEmbER The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) raised fears over proposed changes to EU paper recycling regulations. CEPI claimed the proposals posed a threat to the high levels of paper recycling in Europe – which stand at almost 72% – and threatened hundreds of European jobs. European politicians would later agree with CEPI, and the proposals were dropped.

BIC increased its stake in Indian manufacturer Cello Pens to 55% after exercising a €35 million call option. The France-based global stationery vendor had recently settled a long-running legal dispute with Cello after the Indian firm had tried to back out of a 2009 acquisition agreement. As a result of taking a majority stake, BIC consolidated Cello’s financial statements into its group accounts.

UPM said it would relocate the headquarters of its European and North American paper division (ENA) from Helsinki to Augsburg, Germany, at the start of November. The manufacturer also restructured ENA, creating a Merchants, Home & Office division headed by SVP Petteri Kalela.

NoVEmbER About 20% of staff at Nordic reseller Wulff would be affected by temporary layoffs, the company revealed. Faced with declining sales, Wulff had previously said Fellowes-Leonardi green bin it was looking to make €1 million in annualised cost savings and was holding talks with staff. The negotiations resulted in about 60 of the reseller’s 300 employees agreeing to a programme of furloughs during the remainder of 2013 and in 2014.

Fellowes expanded its product assortment in Europe after teaming up with Italian partner Leonardi. Leonardi – Fellowes’ longstanding partner in the Italian market – has its own PP manufacturing operations and is now producing a range of environmentally friendly office and desk accessories that Fellowes is marketing under its own brand in Europe.

DEcEmbER

octobER Laurent Bertrand was named as the new Managing Director of French B2B reseller Fiducial Office Solutions. Bertrand – who joined the company in 2003 – took over from Bart Rentmeesters who had left Fiducial in August after almost two years in charge.

European reseller alliance EOSA said it would leave the BPGI purchasing consortium at the end of 2014. EOSA completed a restructuring process in mid-2013 and as part of the new strategic direction its members decided to take their own responsibility for purchasing agreements. The €500 million alliance had joined BPGI in 2008 and its BPGI membership will continue to the end of 2014, with both organisations promising that their cooperation will continue until then.

PBS Deutschland, the German subsidiary of Austria-based group PBS Holding, signed an agreement to acquire the sales and distribution operations of €23 million wholesaler Georg Kugelmann, effective 1 December. There was hope expressed in some quarters that this would mark the beginning of a further round of consolidation in the German wholesaling channel.

EOSA’s Philip Becker

Paper merchant PaperlinX filed a formal complaint accusing supplier Sappi Europe of breaching European and German competition laws. PaperlinX accused Sappi of restricting the customers to whom the merchant can make indent sales, where delivery is made directly from Sappi to PaperlinX’s customers. Sappi called the allegations “entirely unfounded”.

German online trading platform Mercateo said more than 2,500 small businesses and associations had signed up to its OfficePremium office supplies purchasing community. Munich-based Mercateo launched OfficePremium in October as a way of offering smaller organisations prices normally reserved for bigger corporations.

Experienced European OP executive Peter Damman was named to the board of business supplies wholesaler soft-carrier. The company said it would look to use Damman’s M&A experience as it developed Peter Damman its external growth strategy.

Aftermarket supplies remanufacturer Turbon acquired US-based International Laser Group (ILG). The acquisition fulfilled two strategic goals for Germany-based Turbon, namely strengthening its position in the US market and taking its annual sales to over €100 million.

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PAPERWORLD PREVIEW

Seeds of

change As the organisers battle with the demands of exhibitors and visitors alike, Paperworld Frankfurt opens its doors once more to the international OP public

EvEryonE

agrees that there’s a need for an event that brings the global OP industry together. For vendors, the core focus is on displaying their wares – preferably innovative and new – and communicating with existing and potential customers; for resellers communication is just as important, as is the opportunity to see and learn about adjacent product categories and new trends, offering a generic and, better even, specific guide to the future.

Paperworld Frankfurt ticks several of these boxes and remains the only genuinely international OP event of its kind, as two of the organisers point out in our Q&A feature on page 10. But it has also been falling short on some of them, most notably new product categories and high-level business networking opportunities.

Concession Indeed, the run-up to this year’s event was somewhat marred by the plethora of announcements from vendors cancelling their participation at the show. And with several high-profile and formerly staunch supporters of Paperworld, including the likes of Faber-Castell, Novus Dahle, edding and Durable, purportedly aiming for a biennial presence (see ‘Wake-up call’, OPI December/January, page 26), the organisers ultimately responded last November with a concession towards

The Paperworld Forum is held in the heart of Hall 3.0 and includes a varied lecture programme as well as numerous award ceremonies the brand manufacturers of two of Germany’s large trade associations.

These vendors, from 2015 onwards, are eligible to take part in the event “in an attractive exhibition area” on a biennial basis.

At the time of writing, the details of this future arrangement were still unclear. Whatever they are, the outcome will almost certainly have a far-reaching impact on the make-up of Hall 3.0 which, since last year’s newly configured exhibition layout, comprises many of the core office supplies manufacturers.

The sentiment is clear, however, says Durable’s Senior Marketing Advisor Horst Bubenzer: “Paperworld is the only constant fair

What’s going on? ★ Trend Show - Hall 6.1, C90 ★ Mr Books & Mrs Paper Hall 6.1, B69

★ Let’s wrap! - Hall 4.0, C90 ★ Asia Design Excellence Hall 10.0, C35

★ Paperworld Forum - Hall 3.0, D40

in the German OP calendar. It’s not an event for local independent dealers anymore – that’s history. And for German OP vendors that are trying to reach an international audience, including all the big global resellers, it’s vital that it reinvents itself and stays relevant. The scene has been set now and it’s important that we find a compromise that works for everybody.”

Pressure What happens in the exhibition halls also defines the current and future decisions of the resellers, of course.

German operator OTTO Office has already stepped away from the event altogether this year while Kaut-Bullinger’s Group Managing Director Johannes Peter Martin told OPI: “We are very sceptical about Paperworld these days; we will visit again this year, but if the spectrum of exhibitors doesn’t alter, the event won’t make much sense for us anymore in the future.”

And while there are plenty of sideshows going on (see left), including award ceremonies, trend shows, design competitions and even mini exhibitions (Office Gold Club’s Procurement day, for example), few, if any, of them are likely to sway the decision of ‘will we/won’t we attend’ in Paperworld’s favour. ★

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PAPERWORLD PREVIEW Q&A

In with

the new...

WITH

a new person in charge of Paperworld, there’s hope that it will inject some much-needed enthusiasm and new direction into what remains the premier event in the annual office products calendar. OPI spoke to Cordelia von Gymnich – a newcomer to Paperworld, though not organiser Messe Frankfurt as a whole – as well as Paperworld Director Michael Reichhold to find out why the great and the good of the industry should continue to convene in Frankfurt for a four-day OP extravaganza.

Christmasworld, Creativeworld and Beautyworld fairs.

OPI: What are your hopes and aspirations for this year’s event?

CvG: In the first place, I want to familiarise myself with the fair, its exhibitors and complementary programme. Although I have a lot of experience with Musikmesse and

“Only by visiting Paperworld in Frankfurt can you discover new products with all the senses – and build up trusting relationships”

OPI: Please tell me a little about your background at Messe Frankfurt – why the move to Prolight + Sound, every sector is Paperworld? different and I am looking forward Cordelia von Gymnich: I have been to seeing Paperworld from a new with Messe Frankfurt since 1989. perspective.

After working as an assistant to the CEO and Area Sales Manager for OPI: The layout Latin America, I was appointed of Paperworld is VP for International Sales in broadly in line 1995. Five years later, in 2000, with last year.

I assumed responsibility Was the feedback for the Entertainment, from 2013 largely Media & Creation Business positive?

Unit, which covers the Michael Reichhold: Musikmesse and Prolight Paperworld 2013 was + Sound fairs and their distinguished by big subsidiary events outside changes to the Germany. product This business unit was merged with the Consumer Goods Business Unit in line with the ‘Messe Frankfurt 2020’ strategic programme.

Hence, I am now also in charge of Paperworld and the Cordelia von Gymnich international

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

group layout and the halls occupied.

These changes were given a positive reception by both international visitors and exhibitors, and we are only making small modifications this January.

Thus, the school article product segment will be located in Hall 4.2 where numerous Creativeworld exhibitors will also be making their presentations. The gift wrapping and napkin product segment will also be relocated and these exhibitors move to Hall 4.0, an ideal position in the heart of Paperworld, alongside writing and drawing utensils.

Like last year, office supplies with writing pads, letter paper, envelopes, films, labels, book calendars and organisers are located in Hall 3.0.

Hall 3.1, meanwhile, is shared

by Remanexpo exhibitors, ie companies with remanufactured printer consumables, IT and printer accessories and paper.

OPI: There’s been much criticism saying that Paperworld is simply not a must-attend event anymore and this year more big brand vendors than ever are staying away from the main exhibition centre. How would you respond to this criticism?

MR: With a counter question: are you aware of any other trade fair for the paper, office

Q&A PAPERWORLD PREVIEW supplies and stationery sector that presents such a broad spectrum of products, that has such a high degree of internationality, that offers this bandwidth of inspiration and such an educational complementary programme?

For companies looking for international markets, as well as for manufacturers wanting to present new and innovative products, Paperworld remains the most important international trade fair for the sector. And, looking at it from the other side, Paperworld is the only venue where buyers will find a comprehensive overview of the sector’s latest trends and its international market leaders.

Only by visiting Paperworld in Frankfurt can you discover new products with all the senses – by seeing, hearing, touching and smelling them – and build up trusting business relationships.

OPI: On that product note, there appears to be a real appetite for a broader range of exhibitors at Paperworld among the reseller community, including vendors particularly from the FM, furniture and technology sectors.

What’s your response to that sentiment?

MR: We realise that there is a trend towards a broader range of products and that visitors like to see additional products at the fair. That’s why we develop this concept from year to year. We have the product group of Remanexpo with the recycler industry that is very interesting for a broad section of visitors. Also, there is the special event ‘Mr Books & Mrs Paper’ that shows additional office and paper products for book traders.

These days it’s very important to show many aspects of selling concepts and additional assortments to visitors.

OPI: As you say, there’s more to Paperworld than just the exhibition floor. What other ‘events’ would you single out as particularly noteworthy this year?

CvG: It is difficult to single out one highlight from the broad spectrum of events in the complementary programme. Paperworld offers

– the ‘Altenaer Kreis’ and ‘PBS-Industrieverband’ – an attractive exhibition area where they can present their product innovations every two years from 2015. This is the result of consultations between representatives of the two associations and Messe Frankfurt.

Michael Reichhold

“We realise the trend towards a broader range of products” something special for every visitor, like the aforementioned Mr Books & Mrs Paper special show. The products of the year are honoured at various awards ceremonies while, during the Green Office Day, visitors can discover everything new in the sustainable office segment.

Personally, I am looking forward very much to the Trend Show in Hall 6.1 which should be the first port of call for all visitors. There, they will find the colours, materials and products for the coming season all together in one place.

OPI: There are persistent rumours about Paperworld Frankfurt changing to become a biennial event at some stage, partially because of longer innovation cycles. Is that likely?

CvG: Paperworld will not take place every two years. We have conducted large-scale visitor and exhibitor polls which confirm that once a year in January is the right time to hold the fair. This timing is particularly advantageous for international visitors. Moreover, the stationery segment is especially innovation and trend-orientated. This means that both the trade and industry need a Paperworld that is held annually.

MR: That being said, Paperworld is offering members of two German manufacturers’ associations

OPI: The two main dealer groups in the US combined their events for the first time in 2013 and it was deemed a success. Do you think there is a need for consolidation of trade shows?

CvG: The German trade fair market is also subject to consolidation trends. However, these trends are significantly stronger in the private sector. They are also dependent on developments in individual branches of the economy. In Germany, the major fair and exhibition companies are also venue operators and this means that mergers are significantly more difficult to bring about.

Additionally, the German fair and exhibition environment is dominated by big international trade fairs.

Against such big fairs, second and third events covering the same subject have little chance in the long run and thus tend to focus on regional interests.

OPI: Both vendors and resellers that OPI spoke to believe that high-quality international and top level seminars and conference-type events could be a real complementary feature of Paperworld. Do you agree?

MR: The additional programme and especially the lectures are a very important part of Paperworld.

We have special lectures at the Paperworld Forum every day and they will be translated into English simultaneously.

And you are right, there can be even more seminars or conferences.

We have that for several German target groups, such as secretaries or wholesale purchasers.

For the future we are thinking of having even more additional programmes for visitors from abroad.

One important thing to mention is that all the lectures we already have are free of charge and deal with topics that are interesting for all visitors. ★

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FLOORPLAN PAPERWORLD PREVIEW

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INGO DEWITZ INTERVIEWIN

Man of the trade

OP dealers remain a force to be reckoned with in the German market and cutting them out of the supply chain is a dangerous game, says Büroring’s Ingo Dewitz

BÜRORING

is one of Germany’s two main dealer groups or, more precisely, dealer-owned cooperatives. At its helm, from a daily operations perspective, stands Managing Director Ingo Dewitz.

With a firm background in the office machines sector, Dewitz first cut his teeth in the reseller channel to then change to the manufacturing community – with stints at Oki Systems, Kyocera Mita and Samsung – later on. Back in the ‘trade’ since he took over from Carsten Marckmann at Büroring in 2010, what all of Dewitz’s roles have in common is his unwavering support of the independent dealer channel.

Here, in the first of a two-part interview (the second will be OPI’s Big Interview in February), he talks about the lie of the German land in OP terms, the opportunities and challenges of going virtual and the importance of Paperworld.

OPI: How has the OP market been shaping up in Germany over the past year or so?

ID: It has completely slumped since December 2012, with a brutality

One contributing factor to this decrease is the fact that drugstores and supermarkets – everyone not primarily in office supplies in fact – are experiencing strong growth from certain ranges. Labels are a good example of that. For everything to do with filing, however, the real core office products, the market has collapsed. And nobody is taking away that share from the independents.

It’s simply collapsed – the demand is not there. Production capacities have

“The market has slumped with a brutality that’s unprecedented” that’s unprecedented. If you look at the reports, the statistics are drastic and in the first three quarters of 2013 quite catastrophic. According to official statistics, OP sales have actually only gone down about 1%, but in the independent channel core office products are down 7-9%.

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

gone through the floor and fewer products are being sold.

OPI: Does that mean independents are on their knees?

ID: No, absolutely not. Independent dealers in Germany have long since come up with business models and

ranges that are removed from just office supplies. Particularly in the B2B sector there are more and more new and interesting ancillary ranges and within those ranges there is strong demand and growth.

In essence, dealers grow in other areas to offset the deficit in office stationery and supplies.

OPI: What impact have the troubles of 2013 had on your membership?

ID: We have the same number of members – 343 – and our total revenues are €700 million ($952 million). Seven left in the last year – two were bought by manufacturers and five left of their own accord, but we had seven new dealers joining us, so to all intents and purposes, we didn’t lose anyone.

OPI: Please tell me a bit about your new virtual warehouse. How

INGO DEWITZ INTERVIEW did that come about and how is it all progressing?

ID: We’ve been working on this for a long time and our aim is very clear: that end consumers could obtain everything they need from their OP dealer. The typical B2B dealer has an assortment that is far beyond what we have in our warehouse. We have small ranges in many categories and we want to expand those, but that’s often not enough.

We started the virtual warehouse concept with the school range. School supplies are not part of our core range – ink and toner, technology and office supplies are – and are more typical for groups like Prisma and also Soennecken, but we wanted to expand on that category without adding it to our warehouse offering.

Other product categories, for example products in areas such as mobility, facilities, DIY, IT and consumer electronics, will be added to the virtual warehouse over time.

any relationship with Iden Gruppe in Berlin, also strong in school products.

Deciding which partner to go for in each of the categories mentioned depends on which distributor has them as their core range. We

by these e-commerce platforms. It’s fine to market certain products this way for a short time, but Amazon and like-minded companies make their living from the data that dealers effectively give them and,

“The next step is that wholesalers will be pushed out... and another link in the chain is broken” are looking for suppliers that are specialists rather than generalists in their field.

Ingram Micro and ALSO are two broadline IT distributors that we’re negotiating with, for instance. That could add 150,000 SKUs to our offering.

OPI: On the topic of a virtual presence – what’s your view on players such as Amazon or Mercateo?

OPI: That’s a difficult question. Many independent dealers did or do still work with Mercateo and Amazon. But these platforms of course see what’s selling well and for many categories that do, they increasingly turn directly to the wholesalers, ultimately bypassing the trade and that part of the supply chain.

The next step is that the wholesalers will be pushed out by the manufacturers and, as such, another link in the chain is broken. Ultimately, manufacturers will do direct business with the end consumers via these platforms, and I’m very curious to see how this will play out.

You don’t have to be psychic to realise that the independent channel will get its fingers burned

OPI: But your partner for school supplies was Georg Kugelmann which was recently bought by PBS Deutschland, wasn’t it?

ID: That’s correct, our initial partner was Kugelmann and we had a business relationship that had developed over a long time.

Unfortunately, Kugelmann didn’t manage to secure the business and we haven’t had detailed discussions with PBS Deutschland yet.

So at the moment, we’re still in a state of slight limbo. Our primary wholesale partner ADVEO doesn’t have many of these products. Some of the small wholesalers have a large school supplies range, but these small players are losing more and more significance in Germany.

Alka within PBS Deutschland has a selection but, as I said, we haven’t had that discussion yet. And we Büroring’s facilities in Haan, near Düsseldorf, Germany don’t have

at the end of the day, these dealers will be pushed out – them and the wholesalers too.

It’s interesting that manufacturers often say how important the trade is for the industry as a whole, but in reality almost all of them do direct business in Germany. We have many members in Büroring that worked with Amazon at the very beginning.

These dealers give away their own identity, their profile, their customer goodwill, running the risk – and we’ve seen it many times – of being cut off the next day.

If there is a moral to the tale, it’s that using just e-commerce doesn’t ultimately help the dealer community.

There’s a real need for multichannel orientation. That, combined with service and a regional and local focus, generates loyalty and business.

OPI: Let’s change the subject to something that’s very much happening now – Paperworld Frankfurt. Facing more criticism than ever, what’s your opinion?

ID: I have a very straightforward opinion about it: the fair is important for the industry. We make our living from trade gatherings and the exchange of ideas, and we need a principal trade fair for this industry.

And if the way it is organised and run at the moment doesn’t work anymore, something will have to change to make it work again.

We went every year until last year, and we’ve withdrawn simply for business reasons; we don’t gain any economic advantage anymore by taking part. And I suppose that the many withdrawals from manufacturers that we’ve heard about recently have something to do with that same fact. ★ Look out for part 2 in our Big Interview in the February issue of OPI.

OPI MAGAZINE OPI.NET

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ADVEO GErmAny ReselleR Focus

ADVEO architect Thomas Apelrath on building the ADVEO model in Germany

The

theme of the opening day of ADVEO World which took place in Berlin, Germany at the end of November was ‘Architecting ADVEO’. As a change to the traditional format of the previous Spicers World event with its vendor evening, the first day saw a ‘congress’ with keynote speakers that included leading German demographics expert Professor Bernd Raffelhüschen and Durable Chairman Horst-Werner Maier-Hunke. ADVEO CEO Millán Álvarez-Miranda also flew in to address the invited audience of top customers, suppliers and partners.

“We wanted to provide some higher level insight into the business, explain recent developments and show our vision for the future,” ADVEO Germany Managing Director Thomas Apelrath told OPI. 2013 was a year of change for the wholesaler’s business in Germany.

The former Adimpo EOS distribution business was fully integrated and now operates out of the same distribution centres as the former Spicers operations and runs on the same IT platform. Sales teams have also been aligned according to ADVEO’s customer segmentation strategy, which has broken down target customers and related services into five distinct groups. Of these, retail is actually ADVEO Germany’s largest group thanks to the inclusion of the Adimpo customer base, but service-oriented independent dealers are number two in terms of sales and still the most important group in terms of profit.

Depressed market Apelrath admits that the market in the German dealer channel is depressed due to structural declines that have led to traditional product groups falling by about 5% year on year in recent

times, and possibly even slightly more than that in 2013.

In this kind of business climate, dealers are unwilling to take too many risks, and this is one of the reasons that Apelrath cites for the member numbers of the Calipage dealer network in Germany falling short of expectations so far. Calipage Germany currently has about 70 members, although the target for the end of 2013 was over 100.

One strategy that Apelrath has recently introduced is that of peer-to-peer marketing where existing Calipage members help with the recruitment of new dealers in their region. This might sound like a strange concept, trying to recruit possible competitors, but Apelrath underlined the importance of having “clusters” of Calipage members in large markets that would enable more efficient marketing.

“It makes little sense for us to invest in end-user communication if you have only one or two dealers in a given area, so we are trying to avoid fragmented market coverage,” he said. “And we think it’s a much more powerful message if a dealer goes to a peer and recommends the concept.”

contract success One area of success in the dealer channel over the past 12 months

Thomas Apelrath has been a push into the contract business for corporate and public sector accounts. A 15-strong contract team has been set up, a task made easier thanks to a number of ex-global reseller reps in ADVEO’s ranks who were familiar with how contracts work, and so far about 30 tenders have been won at an impressive success rate of 20-25%, with about 100 further contracts in the pipeline.

“There are two main pillars to our contracts sales focus,” explained Apelrath. “First, we support dealers that need to respond to a bid, and then – more proactively – we screen the end-user market ourselves so that we know which contracts will be coming up for bid, what the profile of the customer, the contract and who the current contract holder is.

That helps us develop a strategy for breaking into a particular account.” ★

€30 million IT investment “Germany is a core part of our overall strategy,” ADVEO CEO millán Álvarezmiranda told OPI at ADVEO World in Berlin. “2013 was a challenging year, but we have strong expectations for 2014.” Álvarez-miranda said that the acquisition of Adimpo had led to the development of a stronger offer in the multiple retail channel and this was creating cross-selling opportunities for other retail customers.

The ADVEO CEO also pointed to a company-wide investment of €30 million that is being made over the next two years. SAP is being implemented, firstly in Spain and France in the coming months, and then in Germany at the end of 2014. But a significant amount of the investment is also being devoted to areas such as Crm tools and data management. With the number of product SKUs set to increase dramatically, Álvarez-miranda said that ADVEO is aiming to play a key role as an interface between vendors and resellers in the area of content management systems. millán Álvarez-miranda

OPI MAGAZINE OPI.NET

17

ReselleR Focus Italy

Toughing it out OPI caught up with several leading Italian resellers at November’s Big Buyer trade show

It

has been another challenging year in the Italian office products market. While the country has been somewhat spared the secular declines that paper-based products have seen elsewhere, the economy is still heading in the wrong direction, cuts are being made in the public sector and private businesses are generally spending less on OP. What level of decrease the OP market is seeing depends on who you talk to. Conservative estimates put the number at about 5%, others reckon it’s nearer 20% for some players. And the consensus is that the situation is not likely to improve anytime soon.

Cuts at US-owned global players were a talking point at the Big Buyer show that took place in Bologna in November, and it would appear that digitisation of the workplace is also a ticking time bomb that could catch some people unawares.

A number of leading Italian resellers provided OPI with an update on the market and on their businesses at Big Buyer.

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

In Ufficio Dealer group In Ufficio is headed by Adriano Alessio, President of Italian office products reseller association AIFU, which represents about 25% of the B2B channel. Alessio is responsible for collecting AIFU’s sales data, so is well-placed to provide an update on the state of the Italian market.

The figures for the first three quarters of 2013 that Alessio revealed during the Big Buyer show made for interesting reading. Categories such as office machines are under severe pressure in the B2B channel, down 11.5% year to date and by an alarming 24% in the third quarter.

Other categories with mid-single digit declines over the nine months included IT consumables, furniture and desk accessories. Cut paper and traditional stationery products actually registered increases of 2% and 4% respectively.

One would expect new categories to be growing nicely. Mailroom and packaging was up by 6.2% and jan/san increased by 5%, although Alessio said this last figure was “disappointing” for a category that represents a low market share for office resellers and should be growing faster. The food and catering category even reported a nine-month decline of almost 20%. The AIFU President put this down partly to the inability of resellers to make investments in taking these new categories to the next level.

“There are some quick wins when you introduce a new category, but then you have to invest in the assortment, training and gaining expertise in that category,” he said. “The problem here in Italy is that most dealers just don’t have the funds available to be able to do that. Bank credit lines have dried up and collecting payments from customers is a real issue. There aren’t a lot of available resources to be able to make investments.”

For the In Ufficio group, members’ aggregate sales Adriano Alessio were down about 2% in 2013 versus a market average of -4%.

Alessio said that more progressive members were growing and that it was important for the group as a whole to learn from these successes.

Italy ReselleR Focus MYO There has been a lot of speculation in Italy over the also seeing organic growth of 4% in a declining market past year about contract stationer MYO, formerly called as they add new accounts, and customers become more Karnak. Previously linked to tax issues in San Marino, attracted to a single-source approach.” the company has been rebranded and is now fully As MYO grows its sales force, Rudella is predicting incorporated in Italy. top-line growth in 2014 of around 10% and for a sense Lorenzo Rudella, recently appointed as Managing of “normality” to return to the market. MYO is also Director of parent company BI/Holding, did admit that benefitting from its re-entry into the public sector these changes had let to uncertainties and the loss arena following its exclusion while it was on a of a significant number of sales agents which government blacklist. A dedicated contract resulted in sales declining 15% in 2013 to team has been established, with that about €85 million. specific unit reaching 2013 sales of However, he said this challenging almost €5 million, and that number is period – which also included the expected to increase further this year. merger of five companies into a single Credit collection is key issue for MYO entity and a realignment of the Rudella. He estimates that between cost structure – is now behind the firm 5,000-7,000 telephone calls per and the focus is again on growth. month – involving about 40 customer “The good news is that we are now service staff – are made chasing up adding sales reps,” he told OPI. “We are outstanding payments. While this now up to 400 (from 350) and our target is means diverting resources, successfully Lorenzo Rudella to add a further 50. The reps that stayed are managing cash flow is a priority.

Buffetti Franchise retail chain Buffetti continues to make progress with its private label merchandising strategy. CEO Francesco Villa said that stores that have been fitted out in the new format are seeing double-digit growth.

140 stores have now transitioned to the new model with a further 200 to come, out of a total retail network of 685 outlets.

Villa said that 2013 revenue was flat at about €100 million, although Buffetti-branded stationery products have grown in the double digits.

Francesco Villa

Office Distribution €70 million wholesaler Office Distribution is gaining something of a reputation in the Italian market as a service-oriented company and the leading national competitor to ADVEO. General Manager Franco Grossi Franco Grossi told OPI he believed that resellers appreciated “the more proactive sales approach and greater flexibility” of Office Distribution, although he was quick to praise ADVEO as “an intelligent competitor”. “They don’t just push on price, which is important for the stability of the market,” he added.

The independent dealer community is Office Distribution’s core customer base and the wholesaler is also an important supplier to Lyreco for its off-catalogue items. Grossi said that around 100 dealers are using Office Distribution’s online platform for their e-commerce needs, but that the wholesaler was not actively encouraging the stockless dealer model.

“Stockless dealers are growing naturally, but we don’t want to encourage new players to enter the market – the market doesn’t need more competition,” he stated.

OPI MAGAZINE OPI.NET

19

ReselleR Focus Italy Euroffice

Errebian Errebian is Italy’s largest local contract stationer with 2013 sales of approximately €120 million, up from €116 million in 2012. Growth has been fuelled by a large increase in the number of sales reps over the last 12 months, thanks to issues at rivals Staples and MYO. The company has also been conducting a national recruitment drive to attract young sales reps and this is now paying off with a meaningful impact to the top line.

Errebian now has around 650 independent sales agents targeting the mid-market sector.

Donato Colucci, Business Unit Manager, Office Products, said reps are attracted to Errebian by its commission-only pay structure, reliable service, product category expansion and investments in sales force tools such as mobile apps.

Colucci firmly believes the main challenge in Italy is the economy as opposed to structural issues. “Paper sales in Italy are actually rising,” he told OPI. “We know this will change at some point and when it does we will deal with it, just as we have always dealt with change in the past.”

Underlining the importance of cash flow and customer payment issues in Italy, Errebian now has a 15-strong in-house team dedicated to collection.

“Usually, it just needs one telephone call,” explained Colucci. “But we still need to do it.”

Donato Colucci

Euroffice Italy’s Country Manager Diego Vicamini kept delegates at a Big Buyer seminar entertained with a fast-paced presentation on e-commerce, but warned that half measures were no good if resellers wanted to be successful in this space. The Italian e-commerce Diego Vicamini market in general is reported to be growing steadily, with year-on-year increases of just under 20% for the last five years.

Euroffice Italy is riding that wave and its annual sales are thought to be in the region of €6 million, although Vicamini declined to confirm that. He said that growth was being achieved in traditional product categories as share shifted to online, and that Euroffice was under less pressure than other resellers to move into adjacent product categories in order to offset declines in paper-based categories.

“We web players have a different model that is not based on a sales force,” he said. “We are empowering our customers to buy what they want and are not trying to force them to purchase other products.”

That is not to say that Euroffice Italy isn’t offering new categories. It has a wide range of facilities and breakroom supplies, and Vicamini said that customers are becoming more aware that these types of products can be sourced from office suppliers.

“We haven’t seen a mass shift towards the digitisation of transactions in Italy, so there is still a lot of paper around for things like invoices and financial documents,” he added. “When that happens, we’ll see stronger market declines than we are seeing right now.”

GBR Rossetto Independent dealer GBR Rossetto (see ‘An Italian success story, OPI July 2013, page 40) is another reseller that has benefitted from the recent availability of sales agents in the Italian market. It has grown the number of agents by a net 60 in the last 12 months, taking its total to 260. As a result, sales have grown to about €36 million, despite a double-digit decline in average order size for traditional office supplies.

The dealer has increased its geographical spread outside its traditional stronghold of northeast Italy,

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

and now has 30 reps in the Rome area, for example.

As the company grows in scale, CEO Antonio Rossetto told OPI that he is now looking to forge an international Antonio partnership that Rossetto would help achieve purchasing benefits.

RETAILER SPOTLIGHTnOfiahOrrO

Making a

fresh start

One of the biggest names in Spanish OP circles has embarked on a new venture

Juan

Moreno says that office products have been in his blood since he was a child, and it is easy to understand why. His father was the founder of stationery giant Unipapel (which has now morphed into ADVEO) and ran the company for more than 30 years.

The young Juan cut his OP teeth in Germany, working for an envelope manufacturer, a paper mill and a merchant before returning to Spain to join Unipapel where he stayed for about 20 years, working in various departments such as logistics,

don’t cover the new requirements of home and small office workers,” states Moreno.

He sees the continued economic difficulties in Spain as an opportunity, partly because the market has become “cleaner” as troubled businesses fall by the wayside and partly because, out of necessity, more people are working from home and/or setting up micro businesses that employ just a handful of staff.

“These people have new needs in terms of products, low prices from

“The traditional retail business in Spain is dead” manufacturing, development, sales and marketing, ending his tenure as Commercial Director of Sales and Development.

In 2000 he joined Spicers, starting up and then leading the wholesaler’s operations in Spain and Portugal for over ten years. Now Moreno is using this background and experience to develop his own office supplies retailing concept called Ofiahorro (which can be roughly translated into English as ‘office savings’).

Ofiahorro was established in November 2011, but the first shop – in Madrid – only opened in January 2013. “I spent more than one year analysing the market and developing the strategy,” Moreno told OPI.

Market opportunity That strategy is to offer an everyday low price range of products for SOHO customers. “We find that the global players are competing very hard for big accounts and SMBs, but they and other traditional players such as franchise chains and hypermarkets

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

the first unit and services such as printing,” he notes.

Moreno adds that stationery retailers have failed to adapt to these socio-economic changes.

“The traditional retail business in Spain is dead,” he argues. “More than 1,300 retailers have closed in the last three years and more of them will have to close in the next few years.

“In my view, traditional businesses and existing franchise chains have a dark future. They have no strategy for this developing SOHO channel and are too focused on school products,

but don’t stand a chance against the hypermarkets’ offering.”

Looking at various other competitors in the Spanish market, Moreno says they all have their weaknesses. He argues that Amazon’s product range and delivery times are not appropriate for his target customer group; hypermarkets are not located near small business areas nor do they stock a satisfactory SOHO range or offer services; mail order players such as Viking, Kalamazoo (Staples) and Bruneau are generally only aggressive on pricing for a first order (and usually with private label), not all year round; Lyreco is focused on the corporate sector and its business model is not adapted to SOHO customers.

Ambitious plans Ofiahorro still counts just a single outlet in Madrid, in a district with a high concentration of small businesses and independent professionals. “We are working to adjust the range of products, prices, services, IT and so on, before starting with our expansion plan in 2014,” Moreno explains.

The plan is to open seven further stores in Madrid over the next three years before expanding into other cities in Spain. Moreno says that this expansion would involve company-owned stores, but he did not rule out the possibility of a franchise concept.

This could well put the company up against leading French franchise chain Bureau Vallée at some stage. Bureau Vallée – which also operates a low price model – has recently re-entered the Spanish market with a handful of stores in and around Barcelona and is known to be also targeting Madrid and the south of the country. CEO Bruno Peyroles told OPI last year that the goal was to open up to 300 stores in Spain within ten years. ★

5 minutes with...

João Oliveira, General Manager, Olmar Artigos de Papelaria, Portugal

Your first full-time job.

Purchasing Manager for a manufacturer of archiving products.

What would you like to be doing in five years’ time?

The same, but with more time for me and my family.

Your greatest strength.

Perseverance. I never quit.

Your biggest achievement.

Reaching the targets we set at our company.

The most scary travel experience you’ve had while in the OP industry.

During a plane journey to visit customers in Africa, I didn’t think I would come back.

The biggest single factor/issue affecting the OP industry over the next five years?

A return to industrial growth in Europe.

What business book would you recommend as essential reading?

When China Rules the World by Martin Jacques.

What keeps you awake at night?

Work-related problems that I can’t solve.

Greatest strength?

“Perseverance.

I never quit”

Best way to spend the weekend.

With family and friends near the beach.

Your hobbies.

I enjoy cycling and read a lot about it.

Your favourite holiday destination.

The Algarve in Portugal.

The best concert you have ever been to.

U2 in Lisbon in May 1993.

The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months.

Captain of the Sands by Jorge Amado.

What sports team do you support?

FC Porto. They have a winning ideology.

What is mankind’s greatest invention?

The internet.

If you had one day to live, what would you do?

Probably helping people in need.

The best moment in your career.

Still to come.

The first record you bought.

The Doors.

Your ideal night out.

Dinner and going to a bar near the beach.

If you could invite two famous people for dinner, who would they be and why would you invite them?

The new Pope, because of his perspective of Catholicism, and probably any of the recent US presidents to ask them why they think they can substitute the United Nations in global decisions.

The industry figure you most admire.

Eric Bigeard: He has incredible business development skills.

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EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

New New

product guide GBC Fusion 5000L A3 Laminator ACCO Brands

Rexel Auto+ 300X ACCO Brands

Ideal for frequent large office use, and equipped with a host of intelligent features and intuitive controls, the Fusion 5000L A3 Laminator guarantees super fast, perfect results. Stylish and compact, it is ready to use in one minute and laminates a single document up to A3 size in under 20 seconds using standard 2x75 to heavyweight 2x250 micron pouches.

With the Auto+ 300X Shredder, you do not need to stand and feed paper into it, or even remove staples or paper clips first. It has an automatic feed and a 40-litre bin so you load up to 300 A4 sheets and leave it to get on with the job.

This advanced small office shredder provides sufficient security to shred confidential documents into fine cross cut pieces. Cross Cut P-4 security level.

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Pocket Stamp Plus COLOP

“Special Edition” 2013 COLOP

COLOP will launch a new Pocket Stamp – called Pocket Stamp Plus – this spring, developed in cooperation with a well-known Viennese design agency. The highly fashionable accessory convinces with its minimalist, but modern and clean appearance.

The highlight is the new fully automated sliding mechanism that allows using the stamp with just one hand.

The new Pocket Stamp in 7 attractive colours will initially be implemented in the main size 20 (14 x 38mm) and is therefore the ideal mobile address stamp.

In 2013 COLOP introduced a “Special Edition” in vintage style, which is something truly exceptional, because it is the first product made by women, for women.

Due to the huge international success, the range has been extended with the round Printer model R 40, which is very important in many countries.

Plenty of positive feedback has meant that the “Special Edition“ will be continued for another year. As such, the stamps in trendy pastel colours will bring more pleasure to the office day again in 2014.

Contact: Gerald Binder Tel: +43 7242 66104 Email: gerald.binder@colop.co.at Website: www.colop.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (F10)

Contact: Gerald Binder Tel: +43 7242 66104 Email: gerald.binder@colop.co.at Website: www.colop.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (F10)

OPI MAGAZINE OPI.NET

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Tracking Notes Hopax

Regular Cube Hopax

Contact: Stuart Seymour Tel: +44 191 2145858 Email: Stuart@hopaxeurope.com Website: www.stickn.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (E72)

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Pads Hopax

Pop-up Tab Hopax

Contact: Stuart Seymour Tel: +44 191 2145858 Email: Stuart@hopaxeurope.com Website: www.stickn.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (E72)

Contact: Stuart Seymour Tel: +44 191 2145858 Email: Stuart@hopaxeurope.com Website: www.stickn.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (E72)

Dolphin Stapler/ 2-Hole Punch Pao Shen Enterprises Co.

Stapleless Stapler Pao Shen Enterprises Co.

KW-TRIO made this Dolphin series of streamline shapes for staplers and punches.

The capacity of the Dolphin Stapler is up to 20 sheets for each half/full-strip using 24/6 or 26/6 staples and another no. 10 stapler option.

Good plastic body, quality steel components and rotary anvil for pin or clinch is a further selling point. The new Dolphin 2-Hole Punch is coming in many options in terms of capacity: 6, 10 or 16 sheets. Good plastic body and a steel bottom.

The eco generation is coming and KW-TRIO is following the trend with the development of the stapleless stapler. It can fasten up to 8 sheets of paper without using staples.

Reloading staples is no longer a problem and it’s easier and safer for children.

The ergonomic handle makes it user-friendly and effortless.

The fashionable design is ideal for school, shop, home and office use. Colourful option: White, blue, and green.

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Contact: Michelle Hsu/ Mirian Chang Tel: +886 4 8521174 Email: ps@kw-trio.com Website: www.kw-trio.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (E38)

EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Contact: Michelle Hsu/ Mirian Chang Tel: +886 4 8521174 Email: ps@kw-trio.com Website: www.kw-trio.com Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (E38)

Pukka Postal Products Pukka Pads

Mail Lite® Sealed Air

We offer a wide variety and specification of high quality envelopes, including business, recycled, square, board-backed, CD/DVD and bubble-lined envelopes. The range includes a selection of fashionably coloured, pearlescent, deep-coloured and pastel envelopes to brighten up any letter or greeting card.

We also offer bespoke sizes and printing to meet your exact requirements.

In addition to envelopes, we also provide a range of craft papers, card, boxes and wedding stationery.

Mail Lite® Protective Postal Bags are lined with Aircap® bubble material with a special air retention barrier.

This seals every bubble against air loss to give high performance cushioning and outstanding product protection. Mail Lite have a quality appearance, are lightweight, practical and easy-to-use with a self-seal closure and easy-open tear strip.

Tel: +44 1202 339960 Email: sales@pukka-pads.co.uk Website: www.pukka-pads.co.uk Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (B21)

Contact: Lisa Robus Tel: +44 1536 315719 Email: lisa.robus@sealedair.com Website: www.sealedairprotects.com

Printy 4912 ID Protection Stamp Trodat GmbH

Original Trodat Printy 4642 Trodat GmbH

Trodat’s ID Protection Stamp helps protect against data or identity theft. The high quality Trodat impression will cover any sensitive or confidential information.

In the appealing Original Printy 4.0 design, the stamp is very easy to use. It eliminates the need for shredding as well as unnecessary power consumption, helping to protect confidential data before recycling.

In addition, the practical ID Protection Stamp is just like the rest of the Original Trodat Printy 4.0 family: Climateneutral, as standard!

The success story of the Original Printy 4.0 continues as Trodat extends its product range. The first round stamp has been added to the range of existing text stamps and helps to complete the Printy 4.0 family.

The Printy 4642 creates a round impression with a diameter of 42mm and can be carried easily without the worry of creating a mess thanks to the supplied cap.

With all Original Printy 4.0 features, the stamp is of course climate-neutral as standard.

Tel: +43 7242 239 0 Email: trodat@trodat.net Website: www.trodat.net Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (B50)

Tel: +43 7242 239 0 Email: trodat@trodat.net Website: www.trodat.net Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (B50)

Trodat Bestsellers Trodat GmbH

Goldring Smart Style Trodat GmbH

As of 2013, Trodat manufactures more than 70 of its best-selling products with the highest content of recycled plastic that is technically possible in order to reduce its CO2 footprint. In a second step, the residual, unavoidable CO2 footprint of those products is compensated by investment in Gold Standard climate protection projects recommended by the WWF®.

As a result, Trodat offers its best-selling products climate-neutral as standard!

With the introduction of the new Goldring Smart Style, the user is offered a highquality writing instrument and a functional stamp in combination with another important feature.

Be it for a smartphone or tablet, the top of the pen allows precise and gentle touch screen operation.

There is also the possibility to engrave the black and silver Goldring Smart Style with a CO2 laser on the cap.

The engraved letters shine in silver, giving the pen an exclusive elegance and sophistication.

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Tel: +43 7242 239 0 Email: trodat@trodat.net Website: www.trodat.net Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (B50)

EUROPEAN ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Tel: +43 7242 239 0 Email: trodat@trodat.net Website: www.trodat.net Paperworld Hall No: 3.0 (B50)