Page 18 - BOSS Today Issue 11

Anniversary

seems Mr Hart had become too as sales and marketing director
involved in spending his time who is ten years younger than
with the local council rather him.
than running the business. The The company, which employs
lawyers and administrators had 25 people, now supplies mainly
to be called in when he died to the thriving biotech sector
and his surviving sister took one in the Cambridgeshire area, but
look at the company’s accounts. it has customers nationwide,
The Turnbull family took the and has also moved into both
business, merged it with their business machines and furniture
existing business and grew it, – something Turnbull says
although printing operations allows the company to be more
were sold off when Turnbull’s creative. “Furniture is now more
Uncle Jack, who had been interesting, because stationery
looking after them, retired in has become so commoditised,” The Harts team today
the 1960s. The company that he says. “You are not putting in
took the printing operations on the same chair all the time.” “at the start much more dicey.
sadly went into administration But he has certainly seen “We had an offer to buy
some years later, but that isn’t some changes in that time, our supplier the lease that we couldn’t
the end of the story. “I saw not least the fact most of the turn down,” he says. “We had
an opportunity to buy an old business machines he now sells delivered had several such offers before,
printing press and we started were not even heard of when which we had turned down,
again,” says Turnbull. “Today he started. “The whole structure once a week. but something must have been
around £750,000 of our £4.5m of the industry has changed,” telling us that we should think
turnover comes from printing.” he says. “At the start our main now its twice about doing something this
As for Turnbull himself, his wholesaler delivered once a time.”
career started with him working week. Now it is sometimes twice a day.” Turnbull still enjoys the
at the age of 15 as an assistant a day. There were also more local contact with the customers,
in the famous Heffers bookshop manufacturers then.” despite no longer having a
in Cambridge, where his father The company has always retail operation. “We still see
knew the owner. “I didn’t like embraced change, however. playing with back at home. customers because we deliver in
it,” he says, “I left and spent two You hear that phrase used very “We were the seventh our own vans and we think this
years doing my own thing, often with business, but in company in the country to be personal service is important,”
but then father said I should Harts’ case it really applies. Back allowed to try it,” says Turnbull, he says. “But some customers
join the family business. So I in 1983 it applied to take part “Spicers are based near us, so don’t really want any particular
did. I learned every part, from in the initial launch of Spicers’ I knocked on their door. We relationship. They just want you
operating the machinery to Progress computer system. were guinea pigs and it was to deliver, and that is also fine.”
sweeping the floor.” This was a novel way for the a huge success, allowing us, The Harts name is still very
It is the office solutions side wholesaler to allow dealers to as an independent company, much in the public eye, because
of the business that Turnbull order goods with a computer, to compete with national the Turnbull family is heavily
has built in a subsequent career brought out at a time when operations.” involved in running the twice-
stretching for almost four most office suppliers, if they And although Harts has since yearly Words in Walden literary
decades. He is now 58, with no thought about computers at all, parted company with Spicers, event, and the Harts brand is
succession plan and no children probably thought of the Sinclair who in turn sold the Progress used in publicity for that. “At
of his own, but with a brother ZX Spectrums their sons were system on to ECi, Turnbull still the last festival we had James
uses it. Herriot’s son and Sir Roy Strong
One change in the last five as speakers,” he says. “We have
KEEPing CHarity in MinD years has been moving out of also had the current and past
retail. The company used to poets laureate and many other
Times may be hard, but that doesn’t stop BOSS run a stationery and bookshop major literary figures. We stage
members doing their bit for charity, as well as for in Saffron Walden, but sold it around 10 to 12 events at each
long-established fellow members. At the same BOSS in March 2008, which Turnbull festival and have around 1,500
Eastern Region annual dinner that saw Harts get thinks was most fortunate people through the doors.”
a special award, members also managed to raise timing because it was just a few
some £5,000 to donate to the BOSS BenFund. months before the credit crunch n For more inFormation
would have made such a sale visit www.harts1836.co.uk

18 BOSS TODAY | March 2012

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