Konica Minolta partners with Kingfisher Office Solutions

The new partnership enables Kingfisher Office Solutions (KOS) to deliver Konica Minolta’s extensive range of office print and IT solutions, whilst enabling the manufacturer to reach new customers within the West Midlands and beyond

Reflecting upon the new partnership, Andrew Frascina, partner at KOS commented, “We are excited to unveil this new partnership with Konica Minolta, which is a prominent and well-respected brand, with products, service and investment in an impressive roadmap to match. We have missed deals in the past because Konica Minolta was the customer product of choice, so this is the perfect fit for our ambitious growth plans – both in office print and increasingly in IT solutions too.”

Frascina is clear on how the partnership will help expansion, as he continued, “Despite the pandemic restrictions, we have been keenly focussed on new business and our sales pipeline has actually increased. Having recently moved to much larger premises we are also planning to grow our sales team, and with Konica Minolta we now also have an enhanced print and solutions offering, to cater for customers’ needs as they physically return to work.”

There are however distinct changes in market requirements following social distancing. “Interestingly we are finding the demand for smaller A4 MFPs in particular has increased,” Andrew added. “In the past there was a march towards consolidating to larger machines, but now we are finding smaller devices are in demand again as lots of small businesses are working from home or remotely and want to continue this flexible approach to evolve.”  

Neil Hamilton, UK channel development manager at Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd, also comments, “As a well-established, experienced, and rapidly expanding professional reseller, KOS has just the pedigree and excellent reputation we want to partner with. With our extensive range and market-leading sales margins we feel very well placed in supporting Andrew and the team, resonating with KOS’s ambitious growth patterns to enlarge our combined business and deliver the best service to customers.” 

In addition to Kingfisher Office Solutions, the group also includes Kingfisher Office Services. Frascina explained, “When we moved to bigger premises, we also separated our sales and servicing divisions, which enables us to analyse performance and costs separately to aid growth, whilst seamlessly tailoring both to match customer needs.”

This business structure also enables KOS to evolve its IT solutions offering. “We plan to add a specific IT services division, which was another draw to working with Konica Minolta and its excellent range of office IT solutions. We already provide a number of IT services for many of our customers, so it is a natural progression for us, particularly as home working increases demand and as MFPs and IT services continue to merge.”

The partnership with Konica Minolta has arrived at the perfect juncture, as Frascina concluded, “With many of our competitors being bought up by bigger entities we remain a local, friendly and independent provider. We have a young, dynamic, energetic, and highly positive team and the considerable support of Konica Minolta to back this up. I believe we are perfectly placed to thrive going forwards.”