Big interview: Millan Alvarez-Miranda
Just over three years ago, Millán Álvarez-Miranda was CEO of Unipapel, a mainly Spain-focused group that operated as an office products wholesaler, manufacturer and contract stationer. Since then, he has overseen the transformation of...
Special feature: Dr Benedikt Erdmann
German dealer group Soennecken has become a formidable player in it's 90-year history. For a start it's more than a dealer group; the cooperative encompasses a wholesale element as well as the recent addition...
5 minutes with: Dave Walmsley
Describe what you do in fewer than 20 wordsReporting to the CEO, I'm responsible for Lyreco's sales channels to market, SMB, corporate clients, global accounts, customer service and e-commerce. What was your first full-time job? Trainee...
Forum review: Right here, right now
Invest in people, prepare for change and focus on your expertise were the key messages expressed to the C-level executives who attended the 2012 OPI European Forum at London’s Grange St Paul’s in December.Senior...
Dealer spotlight: Relef-Center
At the risk of stereotyping, think of Russia and you think of scale. Landscapes, natural resources, cities, national oligarchs, large international corporations, all of them are imposing and vast. As such, anybody wanting to break...
Editor’s comment
Is it Groundhog Day? In February it's Groundhog Day in the US. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, according to folklore if a groundhog emerges from the ground then spring will come...
Final word: Radostin Kirilov
Getting online: the challengesSince its inception in 1993, the traditional way of doing business for OFFICE 1 has been to appoint Master Franchisees and focus on retail through sub-franchising backed by telemarketing for B2B. In...
Lyreco: Filling in the white spot
Global contract stationer Lyreco has announced three new strategic partnerships in the last few weeks in India, Turkey and the Baltic states. Coming after earlier 2012 agreements in Russia, Brazil, Romania and Argentina, the reseller...
Buffetti pursuing brand strategy
Private brand ratios of up to 35% are not uncommon at the big box office suppliers, but Italian retail franchise Buffetti is developing a concept with a staggering 90% of own-brand products in its stores. The...
Spicers targeting stockless dealers
One interesting piece of information to come out of Spicers UK & Ireland’s Business Experience event in December was the announcement of a new service delivery for stockless dealers. The wholesaler has historically worked with stockless...
