Page 16 - BOSS Today Issue 18

Special Report
FM Supplies

n Cleaning Supplies: this As a result, the OP channels
market is fairly steady have a very limited share of this
in terms of year on year market, currently: as the figure
fluctuations in demand. shows, OP dealers, contract
Floors and surfaces always stationers, OP superstores
have to be cleaned, hands and OP mail order companies
always need to be washed together accounted for only 6%
and dried.... and toilet roll of the total market in 2011.
always has to be available! Nevertheless it is almost
n Industrial Equipment, Tools universally reported that
& Supplies: this has this modest share of sales
undoubtedly suffered from is increasing rapidly, partly
the ailing health of the UK due to greater OP reseller
manufacturing, distribution awareness of the opportunity,
and construction sector. greater product availability
However, recovery is on and - regrettably - the
its way. continued decline in demand
n Health & Safety Equipment, for traditional OP items. As a
Workwear & Supplies: result, as Nice points out: “FM’s
recently, this has been driven share of OP dealer sales is now
negatively by the size of the about 10.5-11% on average.
UK workforce and positively Some of our dealers are putting
by changes in UK safety a massive amount of focus on
legislation (eg first aid), this area: many of our large
which would suggest that dealers are doing incredibly
overall it is fairly steady. well in catering and cleaning.”
n Mailroom & Packaging Indeed, Nice is clear that dealer
Supplies: while demand for focus is the prime driver of this
packaging in the UK is development: “It’s all about
steady overall at best – due focus. Dealers have come
in part to environmental along to our events and learned
concerns – the ‘mail and ship’ about the opportunities in this
packaging sector is growing market. They are also recruiting
rapidly, due to the increasing people with knowledge of
use of the internet. some of these sectors. They are
now much more aware of who
Debbie Nice, VOW’s Category they are selling to and what
Head For FM, concurs: “Demand they want.”
for FM supplies is essentially extent has the OP industry products accounted for only
driven by the number of people taken advantage of it to date? just over 9% of a UK OP dealer’s Who are we
working in offices, but for Certainly, nearly all OP sales on average in 2011, with competing against?
cleaning products there has dealers are now selling some catering supplies, cleaning So, if the OP channel has only
been growth through people categories of FM supplies: MWA supplies and mailroom and 6% of the FM supplies market,
becoming more aware of has found that virtually all packaging supplies each who has the rest?
hygiene issues. In beverages sell mailroom and packaging accounting for 2.5-3% of sales, As the figure shows, this is
there has been a big shift supplies and cleaning supplies, and industrial supplies and a fragmented market, but it is
upwards away from commodity while more than 80% sell health health & safety products less the specialist FM resellers that
products, due to the ‘Starbucks & safety products and catering than 0.5%. Of course, there are collectively hold the largest
effect’.” supplies. However, less than exceptions: some OP dealers share at around 37%. These
half sell industrial supplies. are doing as much as 25% of companies specialise in selling
What has that meant for However, despite this, FM their sales in cleaning supplies FM supplies, virtually all direct
the UK OP industry? supplies’ share of their total or 10% in industrial supplies; to end-users. While many
If the available end-user market sales is still rather low: in a another dealer was found to companies in this channel
for FM Supplies is both large survey carried out for VOW in be registering 40% in mailroom are generalists (eg Seton, Key
and not in decline, to what 2011, MWA found that these and packaging supplies. and HC Slingsby), offering

16 BOSS TODAY | July/August 2013

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