Page 17 - BOSS Today Issue 16

The Some 20 years after first involved in EOS (which grew product dealers out there, many

like wildfire) and cut paper, then
of them leaner, fitter and more
researching the office
machines. Then - more recently
focused on customer service
– there has been the basket of
products market, Martin
than ever before. Part of this has
disparate products we like to
been down to the assistance
Wilde says that despite the
call “FM supplies” and even the
of the dealer groups: in 1993,
end changes, he still looks provision of business services as I recall, we were predicting
such as shredding, catering
that these would decline. How
forward to the future
and secure waste disposal.
wrong we were! Today. around
My records of office product
80 per cent of office product
dealers - which originally
dealers are members of groups,
featured companies called “John
which constantly reinvent and
Smith Stationers” - became
reinvigorate themselves.
renamed to “John Smith Office
In addition, the office
of Bworking at a consultancy when compiling my research Supplies”, then “John Smith product superstores and mail
ack in 1993, when I was
Office Solutions” and, finally,
order operators which caused
were UK-based and UK-owned.
“OfficeHector.com” as we got
called Maurice Palmer
so much fright within the UK
My admittedly limited foreign
bolder and more search engine-
industry in the early 1990s
language capabilities remained
Associates, the Mr Maurice
savvy.
could never really reach the
unexercised.
Parker asked me to take over a
potential promised by some
fledgling research specialism
But over the years, the UK
Decline in demand
of the hype. There were many
that the company had recently
industry became subsumed
opened up: the UK stationery
within a European and then a
reasons for this, of course, but
However, this development in
The market. Since this seemed global market as Wall Street and product mix does have some two of the main ones were not
worrying undercurrents: as
immeasurably more interesting
really foreseeable back in 1993:
the City fell in love (then out
of love) with office products
I found in a research study I
than the company’s core
the internet and the interest in
research area - packaging - I
did last year, younger office
and M&A funding was easy
office products by mainstream
jumped at the offer.
to come by. And I began to
workers’ working practices can
consumer goods retailers. Both
these themes could perhaps
Today I have my own market
research first West European,
be profoundly different to those
be encapsulated in one word:
of their older colleagues, and
research business - Martin Wilde
then East European, and finally
Amazon.
their use of office products can
US markets.
Associates - but I still focus
paper on the global office products the annual BOSS conference be markedly lower. This is one has always been the BOSS
And as we internationalised,
And through all of this there
reason why we are now seeing
industry. So that’s as much as 20
was no more, Frankfurt’s Paper
Federation, which itself has
years of experience in watching,
a structural decline in demand
World show eclipsed national
undergone its own adaptations
questioning and measuring this
for stationery, paper and EOS.
trade fairs, and suddenly there
over the years to follow the
This isn’t due to the economic
industry. Two turbulent decades
changing realities of the market
was no opportunity for the
of constant change. What
downturn, it’s for keeps. Dealers
it serves.
whole of the UK industry to get
are having to change more than
perspectives have those years
As a last word, if you’ll
together, other than at the BOSS
just their business name to stay
given me?
world, Global reach Awards Dinner. afloat. The end of the (paper) forgive me, I would like to
The thing is, even that
believe there has always
world, indeed.
scenario has changed. With
been a need for informed,
We have of course also
Part of the answer lies in the
specialist independent market
five multinational accounts
preceding paragraphs: like
seen convulsions within and
taking over 80 per cent of their
researchers. Where there is so
between the distribution
the industry itself, I started by
much change, we all need to
business, many manufacturers
focusing on the UK and now
channels in the last 20 years.
know where we have come
now prefer to meet these
find myself looking globally.
Back in 1993 there were four
from, where we are now, and
privately in Frankfurt hotels
traditional office product
In those days, there was a
or is iT? real sense of being part of a rather than pay for space in the wholesalers. Now there are only where we should be going.
I’m looking forward to the
Messe’s labyrinth. Is this the end
two, although we have recently
national market: we had a UK
next 20 years. Bring them on!
of the (Paper) World as we have
trade show, and a UK industry
seen a number of companies
come to know it?
conference, courtesy of BOSS.
look to enter the channel. The
n Martin Wilde is
dealer channel has undoubtedly
On top of all that, what we
(I still rejoice in the fact that
Managing director of
shrunk since I first began to look
call ourselves has changed: we
I once put “Cost of toga hire”
are no longer the “stationery
Martin Wilde associates.
at it, and the last few years have
down in an expense claim.)
for More details go to
industry”. Over the years we got
been especially tough. There
Virtually all of the distributors
(initially sometimes reluctantly)
are still around 3,000 office
www.martinwildeassociates.com.
and manufacturers I spoke to
March/April 2013 | BOSS TODAY 17
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