office2office plc, the managed procurement and business critical services group is pleased to announce an exclusive contract with Advantia to supply and distribute office products. The contract, which is for a minimum period of four years commencing 1 January 2012, is anticipated to generate revenues in excess of £25m per annum. It is not expected to impact o2o's results in 2011. Advantia is a non profit organisation established to buy services on behalf of its 55 members who are all independent dealers in office products.
This contract forms part of o2o's new strategy to gain market share among SMEs, and provides Advantia Dealers with a credible alternative to the traditional wholesale model.
As part of this new and important market expansion strategy, o2o will provide a full logistics service to Advantia and its members which:
- sources and delivers office products direct to the customers of the individual Advantia Dealers enabling them to reduce supply chain costs significantly;
- makes the cost of services more transparent through o2o's open book model, which works on a pre-agreed margin; and
- takes advantage of o2o's existing logistics and supply chain service which guarantees next day delivery nationwide utilising existing warehouse capacity
o2o believes this is a sound basis for building market share and is confident that this is a unique service proposition compared with existing industry wholesale providers. The UK office products market is estimated to be worth £3.8bn of which £2.6bn is served by 3,000 independent dealers many of whom are members of dealer co-operatives similar to Advantia. Approximately £1.2bn is channelled through the large contract office product providers of which o2o's Banner Business Services ranks number 3 in the UK.
The Advantia contract has the potential to increase significantly as other dealers may also choose to become members, looking to enjoy the benefits from the growing scale, competitive procurement abilities and cost efficiencies of o2o.
Bob Geens, CEO, Advantia commented: "As an organisation we exist to strengthen the competitive advantage of our independent dealers making sure they have access to the very best products at the most competitive prices. Our partnership with o2o marks an exciting time for our members and the industry and presents significant opportunities to grow in these challenging times".
Simon Moate, CEO, office2office commented: "In considering our decision to expand in this market sector, we recognised the importance and influence of Dealer Groups and engaged early in our planning with Advantia to develop this new proposition. Our established and increasingly important open book managed procurement model is at the heart of our relationship with Advantia with which office2office shares the common values of responsible, ethical and sustainable trading. We warmly welcome all Advantia members and look forward to supporting them in the years to come".
Further Enquiries:
office2office
Simon Moate
01603 691 102
Tim Robertson/ David Roach/ Georgina Hall
0207 930 0777