Print.IT Reseller
eseller
.co.uk
23
Spicers’ 5 Star™ Charitable Trust,
(registered charity number 1151151),
was formed to support charities
and organisations local to its dealer
partners across the UK and Ireland.
A proportion of profit from the sale
of every 5 Star™ product is donated
directly to the Charitable Trust fund.
The wholesaler has invited its reseller
partners to nominate which organisations
in their communities they would like to see
benefit from the fund. The trustee board,
which will meet on a three monthly basis
to review new submissions, comprises Alan
Ball, Spicers; Simon Drakeford, Euroffice;
Mark Penketh, Penkeths; and David
Langdown, XPD. They will sit alongside
Trustee Chairman, Lord Digby Jones and
Secretary to the Trustees, Sarah Jones also
of Spicers.
A new 5 Star™ website will launch early
in 2014, featuring the full 1,600 strong
product range, information on donations
made by the Charitable Trust, trustee profiles
and nomination forms for dealer partners
to utilise. A range of supporting printed
materials has also been created to assist
resellers in promoting the CSR message and
the benefits of choosing the 5 Star™ brand
to their customers.
Competing in the retail arena
Part of the 5 Star™ EOS range rebrand
involved the creation of new consumer-
friendly packaging. This is just one of the
value-added benefits open to partners
who sign up to the wholesaler’s recently
launched Brilliant Retail Programme, which
was set up to help independent stationery
retailers to proactively compete in this
arena.
The wholesaler says it ‘greatly benefited’
from the output and understanding it
gathered at a hosted retail-focussed forum
where a group of independent retailers
dedicated their time to share knowledge
and experience to help finalise Spicers’ retail
support offering.
One of the first initiatives offered by the
wholesaler, which will be uniquely available
to those signing up to the programme,
was across the 5 Star™ compatible range.
Spicers plans to roll out in-store marketing
materials, a branded retail-friendly extended
product range and tangible financial
benefits including a sale or return deal, all
of which recognise that the retail model has
different needs to a commercial dealer’s
proposition.
Spicers CEO Alan Ball said: “We
fundamentally believe in supporting local
retail business and our experience and
research has helped us refine the model. It
identified a genuine need for up-weighted
brand and marketing support and the right
product range offer to enable them to excel
in today’s tough retail climate.”
UK-based manufacturing
Ball said that the rebrand also significantly
raised the profile of the 5 Star™ inkjet
and toner cartridges range. “This in turn
led to us being approached by a number of
manufacturers who wished to be considered
as a route for supply.”
Spicers recently awarded the supply
contract of its 5 Star™ compatible and
remanufactured cartridges, across both inkjet
and toner, to UK-based manufacturer DCi.
“Selecting DCi is a major, positive move.
5 Star
™
compatible and
remanufactured cartridges
Spicers rebranded its 5 Star™ inkjet and toner cartridge
range at the beginning of this year, a move that has
resulted in a significant increase in sales volumes across
both commercial and retail channels. At the same time, it
launched the 5 Star™ Charitable Trust.
Spicers
We
fundamentally
believe in
supporting
local retail
business...
Alan Ball,
CEO, Spicers
Simon Wallis,
Business
Development
Director,
Spicers
They are ideal partners with UK production
facilities which help to reduce our carbon
footprint and provide greater flexibility and
immediate access to stock,” he added.
A brilliant recycling initiative
The partnership with DCi also gives
Spicers' Brilliant Partners access to DCi’s
comprehensive recycling programme.
“The cartridge recycling service provides a
solution to resellers who wish to assist their
customers in proactively recycling used ink
and toner cartridges,” explained Ball.
Resellers are provided with envelopes
and bins which they can distribute
throughout their customer base, allowing
them to easily return used cartridges free of
charge to DCi for recycling and re-use.
Spicers Business Development Director
Simon Wallis said: “Having a simple scheme
that reduces waste cost for an end user
business and offers a sustainable, cost-free
solution gives our resellers major benefit
when selling the whole EOS proposition to
their customers.
“Being part of Spicers’ Brilliant Partner
programme is all about having the ability
to tap into our suite of services that
provide added-value to resellers’ customers
and our cartridge recycling scheme
certainly does that.”
Katie Weyman of Officeworx, one of the
first dealers to use the service, said: “We’ve
been really impressed, it’s flexible and
collections are speedy. Previous solutions
we’ve trialled have meant we’ve had to sort
original cartridges from compatibles, but
that’s not necessary with DCi, making it a
practical solution for our customers and the
Officeworx business too.”
