BOSS Members' Day gets great support
The day started when BOSS President Geoff Betts took us through the first and most formal part of the day: "It's been an exciting year for BOSS," he exclaimed "and we have more credibility than ever before!" Certainly, its 113th AGM proved that, despite these turbulent times, BOSS was thriving: Treasurer Robert Jenkins's financial report showed that the association had made an £18K trading surplus and had retained significant capital funds. BOSS CEO Phil Lawson continued the positivity by walking through the initiatives and impacts that BOSS had made during the previous year: more members, greater engagement with manufacturers, resellers, sub-groups, young leaders and government, and a raft of services for members to draw upon when needed.
Graeme Chapman MBE - Chairman of the BOSS Business Supplies Charity explained that over the previous year the industry's charity had made 170 grants and helped over 70 families in need. The funds to pay for these, he explained, came from those who were fortunate enough to be able to help, and he applauded the commitment and generosity of the BOSS North and Midlands Committees, the Climb Of Life walkers, the attendees of the BOSS Awards and Charity Day and the Society Of Old Friends. Chapman concluded by thanking Roger Murphy and Stanley Vaughan for all their hard work on behalf of the charity over many years.
Before lunch, Proficiency Group CEO Peter Frost talked about the changing competitive environment facing the UK business supplies industry by focusing on developments in the US: Amazon, he claimed, was forecast to reach $250bn sales in 2018, with 20% of this coming from business supplies, while Amazon UK, he suggested, would reach $5bn in 2018. However, Frost believed that Amazon ‘could be beaten', citing the example of WB Mason who, he felt, by ‘standing with' the wholesalers and thereby implementing a stockless and same day personalised delivery service across 14 business supplies categories, had grown from sales of $50m in 1995 to a projected $2bn in 2019.
The afternoon session saw BPIF CEO Charles Jarrold take on that most shapeless of looming dark clouds - Brexit. "What does a post-Brexit Britain mean for our industry?", he asked, but explained that "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future!" Certainly, things had changed since the referendum: paper prices have increased; access to skilled labour is tightening; confidence levels have yo-yo'd. However, despite this, Jarrold pointed out, the industry has survived and will continue to do so as long as we stand together: "BPIF and BOSS will continue to engage with government to represent the industry's interests and we remain fairly optimistic."
Specialist business supplies industry market researcher Martin Wilde put the UK market in the context of global industry trends, with a whistle-stop tour of some of the key findings from his recent "State Of The Industry Report" produced in association with OPI. While the traditional core OP market was declining at a steady 3-5% worldwide, he explained, survey respondents had in general been able to outperform the market, mainly by diversifying into new products and services. Showing the product categories that were most widely seen as both declining and growing, Wilde pointed out that such was the optimism remaining in the industry worldwide that intentions to acquire other businesses were - if anything - expanding, particularly into non-core product and service areas. Another example, of course, of businesses looking to stand together in tough times.
A panel discussion followed, chaired by Steve Bilton, MD of Fusion Plus, and comprising BOSS Young Leaders Matt Stanley (Accounts Director, Coast To Coast Direct), Paul Simpson (Sales Manager, Renz UK), Katie Metcalfe (Marketing Director, Office Friendly Dealer Association) and Emily Jones (National Accounts Manager, Fellowes UK). Taking questions from the floor, the panel offered their insights into a variety of topics, including:"What would you change about the industry if you could?" (Answer: remove the obsession with lower pricing; do what Amazon can't do; improve the participation of women at leadership level) and "Is social media still an integral part of what we should be doing?" (Answer: yes, of course, but it is a vital full time job that needs a skilled person, not a school leaver!).
The final speaker of the day was Simon Drakeford, CEO of EO Group, whose talk was entitled "Industry In Transformation". At his iconoclastic best, Drakeford covered a lot of ground: current and future changes in channels; price instability; the state of the wholesale channel; Amazon Business; dealer groups; mergers and acquisitions. What, he asked, are the characteristics of the winners in such a changing environment? The answer: flexibility, knowledge, scaleability, focus and efficiency.
Above all, it was outgoing BOSS President Geoff Betts who neatly summed it up at the end of the day in his valedictory speech: in turbulent times we have to stay together, and being part of the BOSS family is a great place to start.