Back together

With COVID restrictions hopefully a thing of the past, the office supplies sector has returned to in-person events. We round up the highlights from some of them – our long-read from the summer edition of Dealer Support magazine…

After two years largely comprising online and virtual events in the office supplies sector, this spring has seen the welcome return of in-person events and conferences around the country.

For such a tight-knit sector as office supplies, the opportunity to meet up with old friends – in some cases for the first time in person since 2019 – as well as potential customers was eagerly anticipated.

Appropriately enough, one of the first major events was held by Nemo Office Club on 29-30 April in Stratford-upon-Avon. ‘Back Together Again’ was the first in-person event Nemo Office Club has held since 2019.

Friday was a light-hearted day for members, which included cocktail making, a photo hunt and a quiz in the evening. Saturday was more business focused. Nemo Office Club’s managing director, Tim Beaumont, gave an overview before members split into two sessions designed for either retail or commercial members, with topics covering Keep It Local, selling eco-friendly products in retail, carbon offsetting, corporate social responsibility and there was a retail panel. The members came back together for keynote speech from former Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Digby Jones, who entertained delegates with anecdotes and answered numerous questions from the floor.

The afternoon was dedicated to an exhibition designed to give members the opportunity to build new and existing relationships with more than 40 suppliers offering everything from electric charge points to arts and crafts.

“It was a great event, and fabulous to meet again with our proactive dealer community on ways to grow sales and engage their customers,” said Keeley Shepherd, key account manager of 3M, a main sponsor of the event. “The exhibition was well-attended and the passion from the members infectious, leaving us in no doubt that the future of the independent reseller is bright.”

The evening finished with a gala dinner and awards evening – including a charity raffle that raised £2,815 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Evo Live

A little under two weeks later, many in the sector travelled north to Elland Road Stadium in Leeds for EVO Live. The one-day event, which featured 85 exhibitors and some 450 delegates from across EVO’s companies and trade customers, showcased the latest products in the market.

Guest hosts were children’s TV legends Dick and Dom, who injected energy and comedy into the proceedings throughout the day, which also included seminars from guest speakers, and a panel discussion with member’s of EVO’s board of directors.

In the evening, EVO recognised and celebrated its partners at the EVO Live Partner Awards dinner, with Wendy Goodman from Beeswift winning in the Account Manager category, and Exaclair victorious in the Supplier Partner award. Kimberly Clark Professional won in the Sustainability Excellence category, Reckitt and Benckiser took Best Newcomers, and 3M was awarded for having the best stand at the show.

“We’re delighted with the initial feedback we’ve had following our very first EVO Live,” said Steve Haworth, CEO of EVO. “It’s no secret that the industry has been keen to get back to face-to-face events following COVID-19, especially as individuals appreciate creating strong, meaningful relationships with colleagues and customers.

“Our event provided the perfect platform for people to re-establish connections and contacts while also learning about the latest products and services currently available within the market.”

Growth factor

Later in the same week more than 130 members of the sector convened at The Hilton in Liverpool to attend Prima’s Growthfactor- e event, which aimed to show what the company’s products can do for dealers, especially in relation to things like contactless ordering.

Other presentations included discussing the benefits of Prima Marketplace and its role in helping Prima customers to expand and diversify their product ranges in the future, as well as the company’s new enhancement portal, providing information on how Prima users can play a part in defining the future development of their software.

Ian Buckley, managing director of Prima, concluded the presentations by delivering a speech outlining the company’s roadmap for the future and its plans to bring together Prima ERP, BI reporting, data, e-commerce, mobile app and API integrations, to complete the ‘Circle for Success’.

The afternoon featured an exhibition with more than 20 suppliers featuring products and services ranging from furniture, workwear and educational to SEO, e-mail marketing and advanced reporting integrations. 

“Seeing dealers and suppliers so engaged and enthusiastic was such a massive inspiration,” said Ian Buckley. “I believe such positivity shows that the industry is again willing to embrace change and build for the future.”

Rob Harper, Prima’s marketing director, added, “After the past couple of years we were keen to put something on for our customers – a ‘Thank you’ for their continued support. We were keen to bring everyone together, deliver informative content that they can take back to implement in their business, and provide the opportunity for our users to meet our team, get to know each other and have some fun! We’ve never hosted an event of this scale before but, following the very positive feedback we’ve received from customers, suppliers and guests, we’re now excited for Growthfactor-e 23 and we’re sure it will be bigger and better!”

London Stationery Show

Finally, May 17-18 saw the return of the London Stationery Show at the Business Design Centre in London. This is the UK’s only trade event dedicated to stationery, showcasing the biggest selection of writing and paper products from around the world.

The show played host to more than 150 stationery brands ranging from new designers and innovative start-ups to established bestsellers.

As with the other events, there were a range of talks at the event. These included Martha Keith talking about how to build a stationery brand – subtitled ‘The Good, The Bad and The Pretty’ – from her own experience. Elsewhere Catherine Erdly spoke on 360 sales techniques for independent retailers and Rachel Emma Waring spoke about creative content strategies.

Conclusion

As the sector enjoys being back together – as evidenced by how well these events were attended – the mood within the sector has generally been positive, despite the many challenges that they still face, from rising costs to supply chain disruption.

Another common theme among the events was the community spirit that is still thriving in the sector, especially among smaller, independent dealers. There is a feeling that many will look to help their fellow dealers, and a sense of being ‘All in it together’ – which is not always evident in other business sectors.

The exhibitions highlighted the range of products now on offer, and the many innovations n the market, which mean that dealers can keep on refreshing their offers and develop the long-term relationships they are all seeking.

With many more events planned over the coming months – including Dealer Support Live on October 20 at the Coventry Building Society Arena – the office supplies sector will have plenty of chances to build on these positive beginings and forge new relationships in ways that simply cannot be done online.