Feature

Change is the ONLY CONSTANT

As our industry evolves at pace, so does the Top 100 list of personalities who shape it. Diversification in all its guises is the name of the game

Let’s start with some stats. Last year, we had an unprecedented 22 new entries in our Top 100; this year, it’s one more still – 23. Compared to pre-COVID, only 59 personalities remain from our 2019 list – a sure indication of how a global pandemic affects change.

That’s not to say 41 operators or individuals have disappeared – this is most definitely not the case. But when the OPI team got together to discuss – at great length – who’s in and who’s out of the Top 100, a couple of points came up time and again.

The first one: end consumer demands are changing – what they want in their working lives, in product terms, has gone way beyond office products, even the broader term of business supplies. Workplace solutions and services is perhaps an apt description.

Secondly, the pool of companies they procure these products from has grown immeasurably, and with it, so has the wider, addressable supply chain. This is down to many reasons: breadth of portfolio, availability, price, ease of transaction and convenience as well as speed are only some of them. The Top 100 needed to reflect both those evolving circumstances.

BROADENING HORIZONS

Just as the progressive operators from our ‘traditional’ industry have been branching out into adjacent categories to serve existing as well as new customer segments, so ‘outsiders’ are increasingly muscling in – and doing so successfully.

It is our remit to highlight those players that are making an impact. This is why you will find in this year’s list, in addition to candidates from prior years, not only incoming leaders of already well-known and established firms in our space – think Costas Gerardos, Anders Larsson and Mike O'Reilly, for instance.

Instead, there’s also a selection of entirely new organisations and their heads. Conrad Electronic, OptiGroup, RS Components, Unite and eBay are such newbies.

STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD

The following pages cover the whole spectrum. What these individuals and companies have in common is that they are doing something special. It could be highly accomplished family succession – there are several examples of this – outstanding revenue growth organically and/or through acquisitions, e-commerce excellence or successful penetration into this industry.

Of course, this is just a mere snapshot of the whole Top 100 (see page 36 for the full list). But it aptly illustrates two core issues: the absolute necessity to have young blood first coming into our sector and ultimately leading it; and the irrevocable importance of e-commerce and all aspects of digitisation.

Any operator addressing these challenges successfully will likely reap the rewards.

It is our remit to highlight those players that are making an impact

2021 marked the transition of sisters Amie and Belinda Lyone into the role of co-CEOs of Australia’s largest family-owned B2B workplace supplies company COS.

The pair succeeded their father, Dominique Lyone, who moved into the position of Chairman after founding the firm 45 years ago. Since then, COS has been on an incredible growth path for the past decade, which has included several acquisitions such as the purchase of Lyreco Australia in 2018 and the country’s second-largest independent dealer Quick Corporate Australia which COS bought last year.

The sisters both took jobs outside of the business first at the start of their careers, but have amassed decades of experience at COS since. Their complementary skills set them up perfectly to lead the dealership into the future. This year, the duo has strengthened its position in the education vertical with the purchase of JI Office & Education, with ambitious plans to grow further both organically and via acquisitions.

“We believe our purpose has never been more relevant – keeping Aussie workers healthy, safe and productive,” say Belinda and Amie, especially following the coronavirus crisis.

“COVID represented a challenging time in the B2B space as working from home became the norm. However, COS identified an opportunity to support the essential workers of Australia during the pandemic and has focused on helping its customers return to the office through pivoting our product ranges across platforms.”

As a family-owned business, COS is investing in Australia for the long term. Leading the path to net zero, the dealer has the largest solar farm in the industry and has begun an electric van trial in its Canberra fleet.

The family is also passionate about giving back with a transparent philanthropic commitment through the Lyone Foundation, which supports Australian charities focused on human welfare. In 2023, it will celebrate ten years, with over A$13 million ($8.4 million) donated from COS.

From left: Amie and Belinda Lyone

KENNETH BORUP, CEO, LOMAX

It’s been a busy year so far for Danish e-commerce office supplier Lomax under the leadership of CEO Kenneth Borup. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2022, Lomax is on the verge of another milestone event with the planned acquisition by French operator Lyreco.

The deal – currently in the hands of the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority – is not expected to close until Q1 2023. But even then, the plan is to initially remain independent in terms of both resellers’ brand portfolios. The idea, said Lyreco CEO Greg Liénard, is to “learn from each other and see what works best for our respective customers”.

Lomax’s achievements over the past few years have been quite remarkable. It has posted CAGR of 32% since 2019, driven by an influx of new B2B customers – primarily in the SMB segment – excellent client retention with very low drop-off rates and increasing spend of those clients. Total sales last year stood at €125 million ($124 million).

It speaks to the success of Lomax’s digital transformation that it attracted a buyer of Lyreco’s calibre, an operator which, incidentally, is not known for its e-commerce prowess. Once a traditional mail order company, Lomax now attributes more than 90% of revenues to its online activities, driven by a leading e-commerce platform.

In terms of customer base, there’s little overlap, meaning that, if the deal is approved as anticipated, Lyreco will be able to cover the full client spectrum in Denmark, from one-man bands – completely outside its realm at present – to large multinationals. As Borup says: “It’s a good fit because our two companies are different and complement each other. Whereas Lomax targets the SMB market through e-commerce, Lyreco goes after the bigger players and the public institutions with contract sales.”

With Lomax likely coming under the Lyreco umbrella, there’s arguably a sense of déjà vu for Borup, who has been with the company for 23 years, serving the last five of those as CEO. But he started his career as a trainee at Danish office supplier Barfod in 1997 – bought by Lyreco in 1998!

Böttcher is a company that continues to impress – with excellent financial results, outstanding credentials as an employer and a real thirst to invest and become even better.

Over the past year, under the continuing leadership of Managing Director Udo Böttcher, it’s delivered on all of the above expertly. In Q1, the German online reseller announced a sales increase of 16% for 2021, bringing revenues to €580 million ($576 million) – another record year.

Fully aware that this level of success is in no small measure the result of dedicated performance and commitment by its staff – and also addressing soaring inflation – Böttcher rewarded its employees with significant salary increases across various pay scales.

Already recognised as a company which offers above-average remuneration as well as other employee benefits, attracting talent is always high on the agenda. And that’s never been more important than this year when Böttcher completed its €100 million expansion project, in the process recruiting a further 80 staff to its previous tally of 600.

It was in August when the online reseller formerly inaugurated its highly automated new facilities which add more than 90,000 sq m (900,000 sq ft) in warehouse space and 7,000 sq m in offices. With a typical turnaround time of one hour – from receipt of order to ready for dispatch – Böttcher is aiming to ship 120,000 parcels daily from the new site, in addition to another 30,000 from its existing premises in the same town.

COVID-19 has been a well-documented enormous catalyst for the phenomenal surge in online shopping. And while Böttcher has hugely benefited from its early-mover advantage, it’s also seen capacity constraints, speeding up the need for additional space.

It hasn’t hindered quality and service, however. In a recent survey that investigated customer satisfaction of online shops, Böttcher was among the top-rated in the ‘office’ category. Headed by CEO Sören Gaardboe, OptiGroup has been blazing along the acquisition trail in recent years. Having joined the firm in 2006, Gaardboe became CEO in March 2019, having formerly occupied the position of COO.

Following a new strategic approach adopted in 2016, the Northern European packaging and facilities supplies wholesaler has successfully transitioned from a traditional paper wholesaler to a modern B2B distributor. This has been achieved through organic growth, acquisitions and divestments that no longer fit with its long-term aims.

Since the start of 2021, the distributor has bought nine companies, four of these occurring this year. The purchases cover the breadth of the group’s three divisions – facility, safety and foodservice; packaging; and paper and business supplies. They have expanded its presence in its home country of Sweden, as well as in Norway, Denmark, Hungary and Benelux. The company now has well-established brands in 16 countries. Revenues currently stand at just over €1 billion ($994 million).

There has also been a change of ownership. In late 2021, private equity firm FSN Capital took over OptiGroup – it was previously owned by Altor Fund II and Triton Fund II since 2008 and then also by RoosGruppen from 2017.

To continue its growth and development – partly geographically and partly by making its offering broader and more sustainable – the group has identified several strategic focus areas. These comprise sustainability, digitisation, cash conversion, acquisitions and synergies, organic growth and leading customer offerings.

Some key objectives include growing own brands to 30% of sales within the facility, safety and foodservice division; e-commerce to account for over 50% of orders; and operating cash flow in relation to adjusted EBITDA to amount to 90%.

Costas Gerardos has been working at Greek reseller Plaisio since 2003, starting as a salesman. In 2017, he became joint CEO and, aptly supported by his father George Gerardos, for several years worked in tandem with the company’s founder and industry veteran. George Gerardos moved to the Chairman position at the beginning of 2021, at the time handing over all day-to-day operations to his son.

Plaisio has long been known for its multichannel focus, interest in digitisation and appetite for continuous investments – not a common combination in the Greek market. And for that progressiveness it’s once again been reaping the benefits in a hugely challenging climate. For the financial year ended 31 December 2021, Plaisio reported sales of €437 million ($435 million), up 23.2% from the previous year – or 18.2% excluding the effect of subsidised sales under the ‘Digital Access’ programme. EBITDA increased a robust 49.6% to €19.9 million.

According to the CEO, the positive results – after an almost two-year pandemic period – were due to two main reasons. Firstly, the existence of a highly advanced logistics and e-commerce infrastructure which was firmly established long before COVID-19, thereby positioning the reseller well from the outset.

Even more important, said Gerardos, was the collective effort of Plaisio’s entire team throughout the pandemic, irrespective of individuals’ positions and often carried out in very difficult conditions. It was rewarded with a bonus payment to all staff which amounted to a total of €1 million.

And there’s no stopping the Plaisio machine: a further €10 million are currently being invested by this impressive operator.

ELINA PIENIMÄKI, CEO, WULFF GROUP

Wulff Group CEO Elina Pienimäki is one of just 12 female personalities in our current Top 100. It’s a number that’s gone up significantly since we first published this list in 2000, but nevertheless a somewhat sad indictment of a still hugely male-dominated industry – and something we, at OPI, will be paying more attention to in the coming months.

Pienimäki joined the Finland-based reseller in 2019. Since then, she has certainly made her mark on the company, internationally speaking perhaps mostly so with the purchase of Staples’ Finnish operations in May 2021. Attracting much press coverage at the time, the deal was regarded as a real scoop, with Wulff paying a mere €6 million ($6 million) for the operation, including €1 million in cash.

As Pienimäki said in the Big Interview with OPI (see OPI July/August 2022, page 18): “Was it a bargain? It was the price we were willing to pay for that company and the price Cerberus Capital was willing to sell it for.”

Integration is due to be completed by the end of 2023, with Pienimäki referring to the process being ahead of schedule at present. And more M&A is highly likely in all countries where Wulff has a presence – Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Pienimäki is well placed to execute the reseller’s strong focus on further acquisitions. And they will be much needed given its ambition to reach €200 million in sales by 2026 – more than doubling current revenues of €90 million and equating to an annual growth rate of 15-20%.

In terms of customer base, there are two specific target audiences. One is served by its Contract Customers and the other by its Expertise Sales division. Contract – typically large corporate customers, government and public sector companies – is all about delivering a wide range of workplace products to customers. Expertise Sales, meanwhile, is more to do with Wulff’s active and strong sales force and a sales channel that operates locally; this division is also less transactional and more service orientated.

When Ingo Schmidt took the top job at German reseller Plate in January 2021, he was tasked with filling the mighty boots of his father who sadly passed away a month later.

Dieter Schmidt had led the company for over 50 years and as such, it was no surprise that the succession, though coordinated and planned, created some ripples which took a while to smooth out. Throw a global pandemic into the mix and those ripples could easily have turned into a tsunami.

This, however, was not the case under the leadership of Schmidt Jnr, not least because of Plate’s deeply-rooted stability as well as strong customer loyalty. The latter, says the operator, has been particularly important most recently given ever-growing inflation and an energy crisis which is putting intense pressure on so many businesses.

Revenues remain stable at approximmately €90 million ($89 million) despite the loss of some customers which couldn’t weather the COVID storm and its ongoing aftermath. In terms of product demand, Plate continues to benefit from pandemic-related items – masks and test kits, for instance – that compensate to some extent for considerable reductions in some categories.

Paper is one of these due to spiralling price increases as well as accelerating digitisation. As the year progresses and moves into winter in the northern hemisphere, political agendas in Germany will likely dictate a greater importance of temporarily subdued COVID products again, according to Schmidt.

On top of this, Plate is heavily pushing existing, but previously marginal categories – in terms of customer awareness – such as hygiene and furniture.

One of the challenges the dealer constantly has to overcome is the lingering, and likely ongoing, prominence of homeworking within its core target audience of mid-sized businesses. It creates a considerable percentage of discretionary spend that goes to a variety of online operators.

It’s not a lack of ability by Plate to serve the homeworking employee, says Schmidt, but often a lethargic employer attitude towards solving the discretionary spend problem.

DR SEBASTIAN WIESER, CEO, UNITE

Dr Sebastian Wieser founded Germany-based B2B e-procurement platform Unite (formerly Mercateo) in 2000. Since then, the company has grown from the initial four people to 700 employees in 15 countries across Europe, with revenues of more than €400 million ($397 million) in 2021.

Mercateo embarked on the process of rebranding and integrating its two operational sides – Mercateo and Unite – at the end of 2021 to the new corporate name Unite. Mercateo is utilised for spot buying, framework agreements and volume purchasing etc, while the Unite networking platform – launched in 2017 – is designed to create relationships including negotiations on pricing and services. It also incorporates the Unite B2B network which directly connects suppliers with buyers.

Dr Wieser was one of the early players in e-procurement in Europe. He began his entrepreneurial journey after a previous career as an IT Strategy Consultant for McKinsey. His goal was to provide a scalable platform for e-procurement where buyers and sellers could transact transparently and sustainably, based on a strong, collaborative network.

Several features have proven incredibly important – from dynamic pricing to the Mercateo Procurement Portal and the BusinessShop solution. With its platform, Unite offers a 360° approach to provide access to the right goods at the best price, especially during times of unpredictability. “Global markets remain impacted by the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues. We’ve given our buyers and suppliers a reliable B2B platform with a strong ecosystem and network. This is in high demand in today’s volatile market environment,” says Wieser.

A new business component – Unite Financial Services – was launched at the end of last year in Estonia, with operations due to start in Q4 2022. This subsidiary is designed to provide financial services to Unite’s platform users.

LAUREN JONES, CEO, THE SUPPLY ROOM

DENNIS RIFFER, CEO, AFFLINK

In October 2020, Mark Fisher was named CEO of Envoy Solutions, a US distributor and solutions provider in jan/san, foodservice, packaging and marketing execution. It was the same year that Envoy Solutions was established, the result of North American Corporation and WAXIE Sanitary Supply formalising their partnership with FEMSA, a global leader in production, retail and logistics.

Under Fisher’s leadership, the firm has rapidly grown its geographic footprint from coast to coast, multiplying its revenues with the acquisition of 20 distributors. The most recent purchases include Florida-based Janitor's Closet, Knight Marketing in New York and HT Berry from Massachusetts.

He says the multibillion-dollar operation is redefining distribution by leveraging the strengths of regional companies on a common platform of world-class products and services. “Our mission is to make facilities cleaner and more sustainable, people safer, and operations more productive, every day.”

Through its differentiated business model, Envoy Solutions provides clients with an expanded product portfolio at national level while maintaining the highest standard of customer intimacy locally.

In 2022, the company launched its exclusive brand, KleenLine, in new markets across the US.

Envoy also has a strong focus on community-building initiatives. Earlier this year, it introduced its Adopt-a-School campaign, cleaning buildings and providing janitorial supplies for over 22 schools across the US.

Founded in 1951, The Supply Room is currently the second-largest independent dealer in the US and the biggest in the state of Virginia. A third-generation family-owned and operated business, it is furthermore a SWaM-certified (small, women- and minority-owned) supplier.

Lauren Jones took on the CEO role at the beginning of 2019, four years after joining the company. She has overseen the rebranding of its Lawrence Environmental division to the Facility Operations unit and introduced a new department that focuses on medical sales.

This year, The Supply Room has been focused on acquisitions. The first, in January, saw the purchase of Source Office & Technology, a significant player in the Denver, Colorado, market. Founded in 1990 by industry peer John Givens, Source is a key asset for the dealer, marking the expansion of the business outside of its mid-Atlantic region. It continues to operate under its own name as a division of The Supply Room.

A purchase closer to home builds on the company’s jan/san expertise. Beach Chemical and Paper, a veteran-owned facilities and foodservice reseller headquartered in Virginia Beach, was bought in August.

Says Jones: “As The Supply Room navigated through 2022, strategic acquisitions have been a major part of our growth strategy. While there have been numerous challenges, especially related to supply chain and workforce stability, we are excited for our company’s collective opportunity heading into 2023.”

A first-time entrant to the Top 100, sales and marketing organisation AFFLINK has earned its place in our list through its growing importance in the business supplies industry.

An expert in supply chain management services, it connects suppliers from a wide range of industries – packaging, janitorial, safety, foodservice, office products and MRO – with independent distribution specialists.

Under the leadership of CEO Dennis Riffer, AFFLINK has forged strong relationships with our sector, notably with Independent Suppliers Group. The alliance began in 2017, with both parties keen to strengthen it further as diversification becomes ever more important.

Riffer has over 30 years of experience in the field of supply chain management for global corporations, having served as General Manager for Kimberly-Clark and Director of Global Accounts for Scott Paper before joining AFFLINK in 2003.

His plans for the group are ambitious – he wants to grow the business fivefold in the next five years. A tough ask, he admits, considering the industry is still navigating the choppy waters of ongoing mergers, acquisitions and post-pandemic supply chain issues.

But, with a proactive and forward-looking attitude, it’s eminently feasible, he believes. One of the most recent initiatives Riffer

has spearheaded – in response to increasingly devolving B2B buying habits – is the creation of an AFFLINK-powered marketplace.

The Elevate Marketplace offers an endless aisle of everyday items to at-home employees and microbusinesses. Given its extensive network of over 200 suppliers, competitive pricing is core to this online storefront and regarded as a vital differentiator.

KENNETH SWEDER, CEO, BRADYIFS

Another new entry into the 2022 Top 100 list, it was less than two years ago that Brady Industries and Individual Foodservice (IFS) merged to become one of the largest independent jan/san supplies and foodservice distributors in the US.

The deal came about following private equity firm Kelso & Company acquiring a majority stake in IFS in October 2019. Kenneth Sweder, then CEO of Kelso-owned speciality tool and fastener distributor SouthernCarlson – incidentally now owned by Kyocera – was appointed Chairman of the board at IFS. In July 2020, he became CEO.

A few months later, in December 2020, Kelso/IFS acquired Brady Industries, significantly boosting both businesses’ activities in terms of customers, combined facilities, distribution footprint, product portfolios and geographic diversification.

This is another hugely acquisitive operator which is reaching into the business supplies space. Under Sweder’s watch as CEO of the new BradyIFS entity, he has overseen eight acquisitions, expanding the company’s reach across the country and enhancing its core categories of jan/san, packaging and foodservice supplies.

The latest purchase, made in July, was New York-based Hill & Markes, a reseller of jan/san, industrial packaging, foodservice, farm and office products to various market segments around the US. The addition of Hill & Markes to the fold has pushed BradyIFS’ annual sales to more than $1.3 billion.

Other acquisitions this year include two New Jersey-based firms – Camden Bag and Paper and SupplyitAll – while BradyIFS also expanded its presence in the Southeast with Georgia-based Associated Paper.

AUSTRALASIA/SOUTH AFRICA

Trevor Girnun Managing Director, Waltons Nick Grayston Group CEO, The Warehouse Group Sarah Hunter Managing Director, Officeworks Adam Joy CEO, Office Brands Peter Kelly CEO, Winc Amie & Belinda Lyone Co-CEOs, COS Craig Noyle & Gary McCluskey Directors, Inovocom Brad O’Brien CEO, Office Choice NEW Anne-Marie Sutton CEO, NXP NEW Paul Yardley Managing Director, GNS Wholesale Stationers

EUROPE

Adriano Alessio General Manager, In Ufficio Andrew Beaumont Managing Director, Exertis Supplies Tim Beaumont Managing Director, Nemo Office Club Carlos & Rafael Benavides Managing Directors, Comercial del Sur Dominique Bernard Managing Director, ADVEO Laurent Bertrand CEO, Lacoste Dactyl Bureau & École Peter Birks CEO, Ryman NEW Kenneth Borup CEO, Lomax Udo Böttcher Managing Director, Böttcher Robert Brech Managing Director, Kaut-Bullinger Jeanette Bresitz Managing Director, Office Friendly NEW Ralf Bühler CEO, Conrad Electronic Rui Carvalho CEO, Firmo Richard Coulson CEO, Complete Simon Drakeford CEO, EO Group Frank Egholm CEO, Office Depot Nordics Dr Benedikt Erdmann Chairman, Soennecken Dan Fati CEO, Dacris László Fehér Managing Director, Corwell NEW Sören Gaardboe CEO, OptiGroup NEW Costas Gerardos CEO, Plaisio Xavier Guichard CEO, Manutan NEW Per Hansson CEO, AllOffice Steve Haworth CEO, EVO Group of Companies Joe Hemani Chairman, Westcoast José Hernández Sanchez General Manager, Carlin NEW Kai-Uwe Heuer & Axel Hennemann Managing Directors, Büroring Arthur & Simone Hindmarch Managing Directors, Commercial Group Andrew Jones CEO, OT Group Danièle Kapel-Marcovici CEO, RAJA Group NEW Anders Larsson Managing Director, RKV Greg Liénard CEO, Lyreco NEW Pete Malpas President EMEA, RS Components Aidan McDonough Managing Director, Integra Business Solutions Michael Müller SVP Vendor Management, ALSO Group Patrick Murphy CEO, Codex NEW Mike O’Reilly Managing Director, Nectere Vaida Pacauskienė Managing Director, Officeday Bruno Peyroles CEO, Bureau Vallée Elina Pienimäki CEO, Wulff Group NEW Johann Pintarich CEO, Office World Group Nicolas Potier Managing Director, Bruneau Laurent Proy Managing Director, Alkor Group Ferdinando Rese President, Errebian NEW Andreas Reuter CEO, Schäfer Shop Richard Scharmann CEO, PBS Holding Hans Schmid President, Printus Ingo Schmidt Managing Director, Plate Jean-Yves Sebaoun Managing Director, Fiducial Office Solutions NEW George Steur Managing Director, Staples Benelux Miroslaw Szydlowski Managing Director, PBS Polska Arnold Theuws Managing Director, Quantore Jan Van Belleghem Managing Director, Interaction Frank van Zanten CEO, Bunzl Thomas Veit Managing Director, soft-carrier Francesco Villa General Manager, Buffetti Group Michael Voll CEO, Despec Nordics NEW Andreas Wielgoss Senior Director eBay Motors, Business & Industrial, Fashion, Lifestyle and Luxury, eBay NEW Dr Sebastian Wieser CEO, Unite Maria Zesch CEO, TAKKT

NORTH AMERICA

Jaime Alverde Losada CEO, Office Depot de Mexico David Boone CEO, Staples Canada Harry Dochelli President & CEO, Essendant Tony Ellison CEO, Shoplet.com NEW Mark Fisher CEO, Envoy Solutions Sean Fleming CEO, Distribution Management Alexandre Gagnon VP, Amazon Business Mike Gentile CEO, Independent Suppliers Group David Guernsey CEO, Guernsey Matthew Hebert CEO, Office Partners Kevin Johnson CEO, Warehouse Direct Lauren Jones CEO, The Supply Room Yancey Jones & Mike Maggio Executive Chairman & CEO, S.P. Richards NEW Charlie Kennedy Co-owner, Kennedy Office John Kenworthy CEO, Storey Kenworthy Ian Landy President, Basics Office Products Mark Leazer Executive Director, AOPD NEW John Lederer Chairman, Staples Inc Sid Lerman President, The Weeks Lerman Group DG Macpherson CEO, Grainger Denis Mathieu CEO, Novexco Leo Meehan CEO, WB Mason NEW Mark Miller President, Eakes Office Solutions Mike Motz CEO, Staples US Retail NEW Dennis Riffer CEO, AFFLINK Gerry Smith CEO, The ODP Corporation Jennifer Smith CEO, Innovative Office Solutions NEW Ken Sweder CEO, BradyIFS Jason & Robert Tillis, President & CEO, Imperial Dade NEW Alan Tomblin CEO, Network Services