Asking price: £170,000

Sales revenue: £460,000

Net profit: Undisclosed

Fixtures value: Undisclosed

Stock value: Undisclosed

Business description
Office Supplies Business – Office Machines, Office Furniture and Office Stationery

Established for over thirty five years and servicing a local customer base located in the South East corner of England, this business is a complete "one stop shop’ for all office needs supplying a wide range of office stationery, office furniture as well as the sales and service of Canon office machines – photocopiers, printers and faxes - from the most basic machines right through to total digital office solutions.

Within its stationery range, operating in conjunction with one of the UK’s leading stationery wholesalers, this business has same or next day access to over 16,000 stationery products – from everyday items such as photocopying paper, envelopes, folders and paper clips through to much more obscure items such as book racks, book ends and magazine files. The range of office furniture is no less impressive direct from the factories with a wide choice of chairs through to Reception, desking and work station solutions as well as storage solutions to meet every requirement – filing cabinets, storage cupboards and bookcases.

With turnover split almost equally between the three product areas, the sales and service of office machines represents approximately 37% of total turnover. Focusing on repossessed machines and the Canon brand in particular – the business has approximately 150 currently placed with customers, operating a ‘cost per copy’ pricing structure to include servicing and maintenance, leasing the machines to its customers with the machines returning to the business at the end of its three year contracts.

The cornerstone to the success of this business is its high levels of customer care and in particular high levels of personal customer contact by long term employees with many years experience. All customers receive regular courtesy calls generating repeat purchases. This business has the knowledge and experience to provide first class advice and a level of service that is rarely matched. Consequently it can boast an extensive Client base covering the whole spectrum – from people working from small, medium and large sized businesses, charities and a number of educational institutions, many of which have been customers of this business since Day One.

In the office machinery division responses to maintenance calls are no less impressive. With high levels of in-house product knowledge, many problems are solved on the phone. Call outs are managed by highly skilled, fully trained technical personnel providing high levels of back-up and support, and with a comprehensive kit of spare parts carried, the first time fix rate is very high.

This business has maintained a consistently steady progress throughout its thirty five years or so of operation. With turnover for the financial year ending January 2009 of approximately £460,000 generating gross profits of over 50%, this business represents an excellent acquistion opportunity for a new entrant to the market or for an existing operator to acquire a major regional player within this sector.

Key strengths:

Witth the widest range of stationery and office furniture available and dealing in top quality office equipment, this is a very well established business with an excellent reputation for high levels of cusstomer service within the local marketplace in which it operates – built upon the firm foundations of high levels of personal service and a ‘can do’ attitude which permeates throughout the organisation. Staff are very knowledgeable, highly trained and well motivated with good sales rapport with customers. As a result this business enjoys high levels of awareness and can boast an extensive customer base – with many customers having been with this business since Day One.

This business has a wide array of customers – all sizes and from all sectors. Within the office machinery division this business has approximately 150 machines in place representing a significant proportion of turnover – providing good levels of predictable income in to the future. The machines are very well maintained resulting in minimal call-outs and low operating costs.

Key opportunities:

With an enviable reputation and renowned for always meeting if not exceeding Client expectations there is an outstanding opportunity to build on the existing products and services and customer base of this company. With strong demand, combined with a capacity to increase turnover, a new owner contributing fresh ideas, motivation and enthusiasm will have every advantage of building on an excellent platform.

A new owner would generate a very healthy return on investment simply by farming the existing customer base. The business however could certainly benefit from a much more pro-active and dynamic focus on sales – particularly with the knowledge and experience of linking document solutions into IT networks which could significantly impact on turnover and profitability.

Financial information:

The business is offered for sale as a going concern. All financial discussions will take place directly between the vendor and the interested parties under the auspices of Turner Butler.

Turnover for the financial year ending January 2009 was slightly in excess of £460,000, generating gross profits of £234,000 and profits available to the Owner of the business of approximately £100,000.

The Asking Price of £170,000 is for a sale of 76% of the shares.

Employees: The Owner is repsonsible for the machines and furniture sales and in the day-to-day operation of the business is supported by experienced staff with many years combined experience working for the company – an Office Administrator, a qualified Engineer fully trained in Canon office machinery and a Manager responsible for buying and selling and deliveries within the Stationery division.

Relocatable: This business can be relocated.

Property: Leasehold

Lease terms
Rent is approximately £7,875 per annum. Rates are approximately £2,850 per annum.

Location
This business currently operates from an imdustrial unit on a small business park with easy access to its customer base via excellent road links. The unit incorporates a workshop for the service and maintenance of office machines together with racking for storage on the ground floor – augmented with additional storage nearby - with office accomodation on the mezzanine floor. There are four car parking spaces.

A new three year lease has recently been granted on the property – which has yet to be signed. As such the business is easily relocatable. Rent is approximately £7,875 per annum. Rates are approximately £2,850 per annum.

Competition / Market
Having been established for so long this business has little need of advertising. The customers are aware that this company can supply all their office needs. What marketing the business undertakes is limited to highly targeted direct mail and sponsorship of local amateur sports. The business is also in the process of upgrading its website but benefits most from the most cost effective form of marketing, repeat business, word of mouth and recommendation. Its stationery catalogue, as would be expected in this marketplace, is a ‘tailored’ version of its supplier’s main print run maximizing impact whilst minimizing costs supported by mini special discounted catalogues on a regular basis.

Support & training
The owners will be happy by agreement to assist in the familiarization of the business to ensure a smooth transfer to new Owners.

Reasons for selling
This is a genuine retirement sale.