Independent Paper at your service

Independent Paper, although not the largest stockist merchant in the UK, offers a firstclass service to its main customer base of sheetfed colour printers. We aim to provide a superior, knowledge-based, proactive service to an increasing customer base, says marketing manager, Paul Cassidy.

Many companies talk about good service, often combined with other marketing jargon, but it is the actual day to day implementation that Independent believes makes the real difference.

The value of quality products and service has been at the heart of the company’s ethos since its humble beginnings when it was first set up in Erith, 15 years ago.

More recently, it became part of Denmaur Papers plc which is the largest independently owned paper group in the United Kingdom.

Denmaur Papers and Media Paper Management, who are the other companies in the group, concentrate on the publishing sector and are also recognised for their service, systems and paper trade knowledge.

Independent’s main focus is on the top tier of sheetfed printers who require, alongside top-class service, quality, reliable products.

Independent has recently centralised their distribution warehouses to two locations – Swanley in the South and Coalville, North of Leicester, servicing the Midlands and the North.

The Coalville location, which opened in 2006, is truly a 21st-century distribution facility a mile or two from the M1.

The new site is now the central stocking point handling an increasing tonnage of sheeted and reel paper for those customers with Cutstar or pre-press sheeting devices. Other stock is held ream-wrapped, presented as the customer wants it. This attention to detail is all part of the service.

“We like to be partners to our customers,” says Cassidy. “We aim to offer people a real choice by offering a highly professional and more personal level of service. People buy from people.” The staff have all worked for other merchants in the trade so have tremendous depth of knowledge and the majority of the 50-strong team are in front line positions. This means that the voice at the end of the phone can talk with real authority about the paper that the printer wants to discuss. However, says Cassidy, being in face to face contact with customers is also a crucial part of the service, at a time when others are reconsidering the way they approach sales representation.

“A lot of customers dealing with us like to do so because we have that depth of knowledge. If they are looking for something and are not quite sure what this is, we will be able to locate it either from stock or from our extensive range of contacts.”

That list of contacts received a boost with Independent’s acquisition by Denmaur as Independent gained access to the lifetime’s supply of contacts that Mike Gee, group managing director, has. “It means we can supply pretty much any kind of paper that a printer would want,” Cassidy continues.

More of this will become apparent later this year when Independent unveils a redesigned website. Construction is underway at the moment as part of a group wide initiative. The new site will be more interactive than the current offering, Cassidy explains. “By the end of this year the site will be able to showcase all the products and changes to the stock ranges we have implemented.”

The two ranges stocked in great depth are the Amadeus Coated range and UPM’s UPM Fine, a quality woodfree uncoated range. Demand for both these qualities has been extremely high and Denmaur and Independent’s relationship with both mills has ensured an increased supply.

Both of these core brands are excellent papers that fit the requirement for grades which will perform well on press. But it is when the printer has a request that goes beyond the standard that Independent’s service kicks in. The crucial thing here is that the merchant is aware that should the printer win the business, then it will win the order for the paper. Consequently there is great store set by its sample and dummy service. “All our salesmen can point to examples where they have won business because of the dummy service. It wins us orders because it wins our customers orders,” Cassidy says, providing an example of his own. “We can turn a dummy around in 24 hours, whether folded, stitched or perfect bound from a department at the group head office. I sent a request for a couple of A5 products folded in a particular way at 3pm and they were with the customer the next morning. We are trying to help our customers win business.”

Independent stays open until 6pm each evening and can dispatch the next day or same day in some instances, either on its own vehicles or those of distribution specialists it works closely with.

This level of service has built Independent a client list of quality four-colour sheetfed printers, who also share the longterm outlook that the merchant has. This is deliberate. “We target those companies that are forward thinking and we aim to form partnerships with them,” he explains. This gives the company a good feel for the currents in the print business. As a result, on the one hand it has trimmed its costs in the last year to minimise the impact of price increases and on the other it has increased the papers it provides. One instance of this is on papers from managed forests, both FSC and PEFC accredited. Independent is just weeks away from receiving its certification as an authorised dealer in these grades. “It’s something that is very much end user-driven where a lot of corporates want to use FSC. And there’s a call for recycled coated papers as well. That will always be the case we believe. We carry ranges of FSC and PEFC grades, enough to cover the needs of both the ultimate customers and the printers as the environmental issue increases in importance. What we are aiming for is a good coverage of stock and quality products so that our customers have a portfolio to offer.”

Mike Gee, Denmaur’s group managing director, sets great store by the contacts he has made worldwide in 37 years in the paper business.

He believes, with increasing consolidation and only two major groups emerging, with the yet to be approved merger between Antalis/McNaughton and Premier imminent, printers and mills are increasingly looking at other distribution channels. Consolidation does sometimes reduce costs, but history tells us it often reduces service and quick decision making, and often is not best for people’s sense of humour.

Mike Gee says: “We aim to give our customers real choice backed with knowledge. If one looks at the general expertise in the paper industry I know and love, it is regrettably diminishing.

“Our aim is to remain an independently owned group, trying to give all our clients the best professional service, in a modern, challenging world.”