Office Club 2017 Award Winners

Office Club presented its prestigious annual awards at a highly successful conference in Stratford over the weekend, with generous support from Antalis and Vow.

Following relaxed networking at a tropical themed BBQ on the Friday, an inspirational business Saturday began with Chief Executive Toby Robins reflecting on the group that Mark Austen had set up twenty-five years ago, and how that business model has adapted to remain so relevant and successful today. Focused seminars and a busy exhibition followed with an increased number of both exhibitors and dealer delegates attending and placing large quantities of orders with regular and first time exhibitors. The weekend climaxed with the gala dinner and awards presentation.

This year saw the introduction of a new category recognising those members that champion the Office Club approved suppliers; measured by the range and number of suppliers supported, value of sales as a percentage of overall business and pro-activity in promoting the brands. There were three awards in the category, reflecting the diversity of members’ businesses with the awards going to:
Online Champion – Morgans Direct
Commercial Champions – Sudbury Office Supplies
Retail Champion – James & Owen

Additional dealer awards were presented for overall support and engagement with Office Club and its stakeholders; participation in the principles of brand support, collaboration and developing unique selling propositions to increase sales. The winners were:
Commercial Member of the Year: Wiles Greenworld
Retail Member of the Year: Colemans

Office Club supplier stakeholders were also recognised with Antalis winning Supplier of the Year for the exceptional service and support, in particular developing Office Club’s Cool Earth branded paper that has led to significant sales increases. The National Account Manager award went to Anita Glithero of Acco UK, a remarkable story with Anita having been the very first recipient of this award at the first Office Club conference some 25 years ago.

The presentation finished with another first for Office Club as John Coleman was awarded with a special Lifetime Achievement award. As the founder of the hugely successful chain of Colemans retail outlets and having been a member of Office Club since 1993, including sharing his expertise as a retail consultant to fellow members, the award was extremely popular amongst John’s peers as he received a standing ovation following a typically humorous acceptance speech. A fitting finale to a weekend that paid homage to the past 25 years, but maintained focus on the current, the future and the world of opportunities that exist.

Pictures: Photographs of the weekend are available, please contact Alan Calder for details.

Enquiries to: Office Club Telephone 01923 894000