The Advantia Story

Back in 1988, Frank Barson was working in an office products dealership in the East Midlands. He had an idea that if his buying power was combined with other dealers’ buying power, then they would be able to negotiate better prices with the manufacturers and wholesalers. He drove around the country, looking like anything other than a businessman, with his brown suit, sandals & socks and clashing ties, talking to different dealers about his idea. Over 60 dealers thought this was a fantastic concept, and so Fabree Holdings & Costs Consortium (Consortium of Stationery Trade Suppliers) was set up, owned by Frank. He found premises in Hinckley, employed staff and started negotiating on behalf of the dealers. A Purchasing Committee, comprising members and Head Office team members was formed.

The next stage in the development of the group was to bring the dealers together with the suppliers, at an annual conference, where manufacturers were able to showcase their products. Progression continued with the development of an own brand, exclusive to the dealers, called COSTS. Frank sourced the goods from Europe and the Far East and stocked them in a warehouse for onward distribution to the dealers.

A natural progression was to provide marketing material to the dealers. Alongside the Purchasing Committee, a Marketing Committee was formed. The first bespoke COSTS branded catalogue was produced. This was a weighty task, involving product selection by the Purchasing Committee, page layouts produced by the Head Office Marketing Team, days and days of proof reading, and finally everything on the printing press to be delivered to the dealers before the end of the year.

Frank decided it was time to move to pastures new, and so the dealers were given the opportunity to purchase the business. A new company was formed, Costs Consortium Limited, and a board of directors elected from the members. One of the first tasks of the new board was to find a replacement for Frank. Bob Geens was working for one of the key manufacturers in the industry. He knew the group well, threw his hat in the ring, and was appointed as CEO. Bob had a great capacity for providing a helicopter view of the industry and thinking outside of the box. A review of operations resulted in the business moving away from importing and stocking and instead becoming a shareholder in Europa Office, a company formed by 3 other dealer groups. Europa sourced, stocked and distributed the own-brand range of products, along with a white-label range.

Karen Nicholls was appointed as Marketing Director in 2002 the business changed its name to Advantia Business Solutions Ltd. At the beginning of 2004 the ‘Decision Maker’s Workshop’ was held, a 3-day training and development programme held at Cranfield Business School. The aim of the workshop was to give the business owners a toolkit to move their business forward and create value through their leadership by:

• Identifying what they want to achieve in terms of personal and business value
• Enabling them to build, change and empower their team to deliver this value
• Providing the tools to make their customers value them more

The workshop was a great success and was a great opportunity to network and share ideas and help overcome issues. A follow-up workshop was held 18 months later which focused on development and managing change.

n 2005, recognising that there was too much cost in the supply chain, Advantia struck out on its own again and had a ground-breaking deal with Spicers, branded ‘Supply Chain Fusion’, with Spicers sourcing, stocking and distributing the Advantia brand, the first time a wholesaler had this relationship with a dealer group

Frank decided it was time to move to pastures new, and so the dealers were given the opportunity to purchase the business. A new company was formed, Costs Consortium Limited, and a board of directors elected from the members. One of the first tasks of the new board was to find a replacement for Frank. Bob Geens was working for one of the key manufacturers in the industry. He knew the group well, threw his hat in the ring, and was appointed as CEO. Bob had a great capacity for providing a helicopter view of the industry and thinking outside of the box. A review of operations resulted in the business moving away from importing and stocking and instead becoming a shareholder in Europa Office, a company formed by 3 other dealer groups. Europa sourced, stocked and distributed the own-brand range of products, along with a white-label range.

Changes were taking place in the industry and one of the largest dealer groups folded. Advantia entered into discussions with a group of dealers, United, and a merger took place, and a new own brand was launched called Unique.

Never a group to standstill, Advantia considered how things could be done differently to take cost out of the supply-chain. After a full review and tender process, an agreement was reached with o2o to provide a sourcing, stocking and logistics solution, meaning that dealers could follow a stockless model, getting rid of, or freeing up space in their own warehouses, with o2o delivering directly to the dealer’s end-customer. Advantia, with their in-depth knowledge of the needs of end-users, worked together with o2o to bring process improvements that brought benefits to both businesses. EVO’s purchase of o2o, in the autumn of 2014, brought many challenges. In 2018, after a review and tender process, Advantia moved its business to Spicers.

Advantia and Spicers were working closely together to bring improvements when unfortunately, exacerbated by the pandemic, Spicers went into administration. Advantia rebounded back and has entered into a new trading partnership with Exertis Supplies. In addition, during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has worked hard to secure new and exciting partnerships with key manufacturers and service providers. Many of the manufacturers and suppliers are finding that our culture is very much one of working in partnership. Advantia’s belief is that strong supply chain partnerships are a must.