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EVERYTHING FOR THE OFFICE SHOW
Date Published: 14/12/2011
SPICERS ‘EVERYTHING FOR THE OFFICE SHOW’ PROVIDES MORE SUPPORT THAN EVER
More than 1100 dealers, manufacturers, suppliers and industry professionals came together to discuss the latest opportunities and challenges in the office products market at Spicers’ Everything for the Office Show at the Jaguar Exhibition Hall, Ricoh Arena, Coventry, last week.
Several of Spicers business initiatives were showcased on larger more defined Spicers stands including, Sales, Promotions, Marketing, 5 Star™, Furniture and e-commerce. The e-commerce area included Spicers Sprintwise MPS, Spicers Academy and P1 Training and Development along with other dedicated online marketing tools. The response to new services and the new 2012 Big Book Catalogue have been overwhelmingly positive with Dealers acknowledging the added business benefits and the importance of partnering with such a pro-active Wholesaler.
Sales and Marketing Manager at PBS Office, Leicestershire said “I would like to thank you for your kind hospitality during EFTOS and your continued support to us as a dealer. It was a privilege to be invited to such an excellent event, a great choice of venue with excellent service throughout!”
Paul Hicklin, Director, Compleat Office Solutions Ltd, went on to say “I would like to thank the Spicers team for our invitation to the Gala dinner last night. It was a very enjoyable evening & provided an excellent opportunity to catch up with old faces & obviously offers the chance to talk in a more relaxed atmosphere. The exhibition was well laid out & suppliers were enthusiastic when talking to us & this also provides an opportunity to see the new products that will appear in the 2012 big book.
With over 100 stands and areas dedicated to Workplace Solutions, Business
Machines and Traditional Office Products the show was designed to give dealers
the support they need; from expanded product areas to marketing and sales
support; to become a one stop shop for their customers. The show was supported by
industry staples including Acco, Avery Dennison, Brother, Bunzl, HP, Newell
Rubbermaid and Talk Paper, dealers also had the chance to meet new suppliers
like Jushua, Fosse and Sigel.
Anita Glithero, Dealer Wholesale Key Account Manager, at ACCO UK, who won the ‘Best
Promotional Support/Activity Award 2011’ at the Everything for the Office
Awards, said, “We thoroughly enjoyed the
show, it was fantastic for us to be able to meet the dealers and actively
promote our products and promotions to them. We received great feedback from
dealers who were genuinely interested in the products and how they can sell
them into their customers.”
Garry Wright, National Account Manager, Pukka Pads said “I thought the show was excellent from start to finish, everything from booking to setting up to meeting new customers, we had the opportunity to network and discuss new products with a host of dealers from all over the U.K. The hall had a great layout and design and the staff from both Spicers and the Ricoh arena were on hand and willing to help with everything.
Tristen Hinds, Business Consultant from Prima Software who also exhibited at EFTOS shared his thoughts on the importance of the show and the access it gives to the dealer community. “Once again EFTOS has established itself as a highlight in the Prima calendar. It allows us unrivalled fast track access to a high quantity and high quality range of Prima Customers and Prospects. One of the many highlights this year was signing up two new Dealers on the day!”
In addition the show was supported by 3 dealer groups, Integra, Office Club and XPD who all had a presence at the show, Kim Gladstone, Head of Business Development, XPD said “We would like to express our gratitude to all those that were involved in the planning, execution and delivery of this years EFTOS show, as it was not only a successful 2 day event for us personally, but an extremely well organised and structured one! We are confident that we have secured many long term leads as a result of our attendance, but also had the opportunity to meet lots of faces, old and new, thus creating a great rapport in a relaxed atmosphere.”
Inspirational keynote speaker, Sir Clive Woodward, headlined the seminar programme with his motivational keynote on Creating Champions, with the first 50 attendees receiving copies of Sir Clive Woodward’s book, ‘Winning’. The two day programme also included educational seminars on ‘Catalogue Selling - How to make the most out of your 2012 Big Book’ and ‘Category Selling - Delivering growth with Workplace & Technology’.
The opening day culminated in a formal gala dinner with entertainment from Comedien Paul Thorne and the second inaugural ‘Everything for the Office Awards’, celebrating the best innovations in promotional support and services. The ‘Best Stand at EFTOS 2011’ accolade was awarded to Esselte for its amazing design, creativity and execution which really took centre stage at the show. Florence Wong, Trade Marketing Manager, Esselte Ltd said
"EFTOS is one of our few opportunities to engage with the wide dealer community across the UK so we wanted to ensure to maximise our potential outcome from this opportunity. It was important for us to communicate and celebrate the 115 years of Leitz Lever arch File being King of the office. The "Royal" look of the stand with the throne and the red velvet drapes where dealers could take a photo with the crown gives the dealers a "Royalty" experience and added some fun to the 2 days of exhibition! The show was very good to increase brand image, communicate latest promotions and key products, networking and getting qualitative leads."
Other awards included:
• Best Promotional Support / Activity 2011 – ACCO Brands
• Best Supplier for Service - Brother
• New Supplier of the Year - Safescan
• Overall supplier of the Year - Hamelin
The awards were judged by Inventory,
Merchandising and Marketing Teams from Spicers.
Jeanette Bresitz, Director of Marketing Services, Spicers UK says, “The show was a huge success, as evidenced
by the fantastic feedback we’ve already had from manufacturers and dealers
alike. We were delighted with the huge effort
the suppliers had gone to in making the stands so interactive. Our aim was to give dealers the
support and products to help them really understand what it takes to become
everything for the office – with an expanded product focus on the
exhibition-floor and Spicers initiatives that will help our dealers to strive
for business growth despite tough market conditions.”