European Forum 2023

European Forum 2023 

Book now: 22 – 24 May 2023, Pestana Amsterdam Riverside, Amsterdam

We are delighted to announce that the next OPI European Forum will be held from 22 – 24 May 2023 at the Pestana Riverside Amsterdam.

This unique pan-European event is a great opportunity to meet your peers from across the industry and share ideas. It has a topical agenda to discuss and analyse the issues impacting our industry.  

Please find below the outline schedule so you can mark the dates in your diary.

OPI European Forum 2023
22 May 2023
19.00 – Welcome dinner

23 May 2023
08.30 – 17.00 – Conference sessions and breakouts
19.00 – Group dinner

24 May 2023
08.30 – 14.00 – Conference sessions

Venue: Pestana Riverside Amsterdam

OPI Forums

As a senior executive in the business products industry, the opportunities to meet with your industry peers – the people who understand the uniqueness of your sector and recognise the importance of working together as an industry – are very rare. To help in these challenging times, OPI hosts forums in both Europe and the US for senior executives and leaders within the business products industry.

OPI European Forum

The European Forum focuses more directly on the uniqueness and the issues of the European market.

This is not a large conference but a small forum exclusively for senior executives from the leading resellers, manufacturers and wholesalers of office products, and “non-traditional” resellers and vendors from the increasingly important FM and consumer electronics categories.

Agenda

We will provide an inspiring agenda featuring high quality keynotes, panel discussions and roundtable sessions to stimulate thought and debate. We understand that networking is important, so there is also plenty of informal time for more private discussions. To ensure this can be accomplished in an appropriate environment, the European Forum will be a private meeting operating under Chatham House rules.

We are confident you will find the event a really valuable experience and a very good use of your time.

If you are interested in attending or would like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Steve Hilleard
CEO, OPI

Email: steve.hilleard@opi.net

OPI European Forum 2023

Monday 22 May 2023–Wednesday 24 May

The Pestana Amsterdam Riverside

Monday 22 May

17.00     Registration

19.00     Drinks reception & welcome dinner

22.00     Drinks in the bar

Tuesday 23 May

08.00     Registration and breakfast

09.00     Welcome and opening remarks from the Chair

09.15     State of the industry panel
The opening session will set the scene and examine the current state of the industry following several tumultuous years of challenge and change. Comprising short, focused interviews with key leaders from a range of channels who will share their thoughts on the opportunities over the coming months.  
Speakers:
Christian Langvad, VP Operations, Schäfer Shop Group
Lee Mellor, VP Europe, SC Johnson Professional
Christian Horn, Chief Product and Supply Chain Officer, RS Group
Alain Josse, Managing Director, Office Supplies Europe, Raja Group
Cezary Mońko, President, ACCO Brands EMEA

10.15     Is the office still relevant?
Hybrid working is now just working. The office is now a place primarily for social interactions, and they need to be redesigned and organised to reflect this change. Workers also need to be engaged to keep productivity levels high and companies will also need to manage all this as they cope with economic pressures and lease arrangements. The good news is that all this means increased spend in office equipment!
Join Mick Heys, as he discusses the office of the future.
– The emergence of hub & spoke
– How companies are investing in redesign
– Impact on technology sales
Mick Heys, VP, Imaging & Future of WorkSpace Practice Lead, IDC

11.00     Morning break for refreshments & networking

11.30     How the right team can solve your biggest challenges
In January 2023, PwC published a comprehensive review of what is challenging CEOs in the world of work and business. At the same time, Edelman’s now pivotal Trust Barometer for 2023 presents the issues we face in the world around purposeful, people-centric approaches to doing business. With a seemingly endless stack of complex challenges, how can we make sense of the truly turbulent world we’re operating in?
Join us to hear from Perry Timms, ranked the No 1 Most Influential Thinker in HR in 2022, who will distil all of this into a winning formula of decisive leadership with pragmatic and impactful people, culture and learning activities. Be prepared for not just Web 3.0, but HR 3.0. 
Perry Timms, founder & Chief Energy Officer, People and Transformational HR

12.30     Networking lunch

13.30     Managing price in an inflationary market
James and Juriaan will explore how best in class companies are managing price in today’s high inflation market. They will set the context, looking at both the drivers behind the price rises were are seeing as well as the capability gap that exists across industries when it comes to navigating this environment.
They will then share select case examples and a 9-step programme for boosting the likelihood of successfully implementing  price increases.”
James Brown, Senior Partner, Managing Director UK, Simon-Kucher & Partners
Juriaan Deumer, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners

14.00     Roundtable 1:
Delegates can attend one of our roundtable discussions, limited to around 15 participants. Options to be confirmed.

15.00     Afternoon break for refreshments & networking

15.30     Roundtable 2
Options as above.

16.30     Transition/comfort break

16.40     How everywhere commerce can drive sales and loyalty
Gaining visibility and driving long-term consumer engagement in an increasingly complex digital world is a challenge. The available touchpoints are vast in number, and ensuring they are knitted together to achieve your strategic goals and optimise ROI is time-consuming and can be expensive and resource intensive. Over-reliance on Amazon is problematic, as is the disintermediation of the actual ‘end user’ from the seller. During the presentation, Gordon Christiansen will outline many of the levers available to brands across the digital landscape and provide practical examples of how brands can build plans that carry consumers through the modern sales funnel.
Gordon Christiansen, Partner, Highlands

17.30     Close of day one conference programme

19.00     Drinks reception & group dinner

Wednesday 24 May

08.00     Breakfast

09.15     Opening remarks from the chair

09.30     From order-taking tool to selling machine: The consumerisation of B2B e-commerce
For a long time, B2B websites just had to work – no one expected them to be beautiful. However, the online world does not stand still for long and COVID accelerated everything. The pandemic sent business users online, even those who had never considered it before. A lot of websites were launched that just performed the basic functions and saw companies through that challenging time.
However, the post-COVID landscape is now evolving with online B2B users becoming more sophisticated and, with Amazon and others raising the bar, B2B customers now expect a more consumer-style experience from a website. Not only should B2B sites now be beautiful – they should be seamless too, integrating all parts of the business to give the user a smooth and unified experience.
This session will discuss what the consumer expects and how you can achieve a best-in-class website experience to drive sales and customer satisfaction.
Patrick Donnelly, Managing Director, ES Tech Group

10.00     Stories from the coalface
Independent expert Robert Baldrey has worked in the industry for almost 40 years, working for Spicers, EVO, Staples and Office Depot amongst others.
In this session, he will look back on his turnaround and restructuring experience, highlighting common pitfalls and problems that typically prevent profitable growth and value creation. Some of this may be common sense, but Robert will undoubtedly provide delegates with helpful and entertaining food for thought for their own businesses.
Robert Baldrey, independent industry expert

10.30     Morning break for refreshments & networking

11.00    What is pricing intelligence and here are the 4 things you need to be doing now
James Rehm, COO, Skuuudle

11.30     To be confirmed

12.00     Conclusion and wrap up

12.30     Lunch

14.00     Close of OPI European Forum 2023

Confirmed speakers at the OPI European Forum 2023. Please visit regularly for the latest updates. 

• James Brown, Senior Partner, Managing Director UK, Simon-Kucher & Partners
• Gordon Christiansen, Partner, Highlands
• Juriaan Deumer, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners
• Paddy Donnelly, Managing Director, ES Tech Group
• Mick Heys, Vice President, Imaging & Future of WorkSpace Practice Lead, IDC
• Adrian Hands, SVP, Head of Sales, Skuuudle
• Christian Horn, Chief Product and Supply Chain officer, RS Group
• Alain Josse, Managing Director, Office Supplies Europe, Raja Group
• Christian Langvad, Vice President Operations, Schäfer Shop Group
• Lee Mellor, Vice President Europe, SC Johnson Professional UK
• Cezary Mońko, President, ACCO Brands EMEA
• Perry Timms, Founder & Chief Energy Officer – People and Transformational HR Ltd

The European Forum 2023 is being held at the fabulous Pestana Amsterdam Riverside Hotel.

This beautiful hotel is housed in a cluster of 19th century Neo-Renaissance-style buildings and two modern annexes on the banks of the Amstel River. The hotel is rising above the hippest part of town, “De Pijp”, in a quiet location just outside the hustle and bustle of the Amsterdam inner canal belt. It features elegant guestrooms, a stunning lobby with beautiful ceilings and arches, an indoor swimming pool and secure valet parking.

Reservations
Bedrooms are available at a special conference rate of €249 including VAT and breakfast. 

To make a room reservation at the Pestana Amsterdam Riverside at our special group rate, please follow the instructions below:  

1. Access the Pestana website, select Pestana Riverside Amsterdam
2. Select your dates, number of guests and then choose “code/voucher” in the “special rates” dropdown box
3. Enter code EUROFORUM23 and then click search
4. Our group rate will be the only option available
5. Click “book now” and proceed with your reservation as normal

The group rate of €249 inc VAT and breakfast is available for three days before and after the conference.

Venue Address
Pestana Amsterdam Riverside
Amsteldijk 67
1074 HZ
Amsterdam
Tel:+31202206900
Get Directions

If you need any assistance, please get in touch: events@opi.net