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Executive Magazine Article: Merger

Executive Magazine Article: Merger
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Highland Office Equipment has joined forces with award-winning Capital Document Solutions to become a national Scottish company with a strong local presence.

Highland Office Equipment multifunction printing devices inverness

The family-run firm based at Harbour Road, Inverness, has an outstanding reputation for supplying leading brands and supporting clients with first class service and after-sales care.

The same standards are shared by Capital, which acquired HOE at the start of February, to complement and expand its existing operations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Shetland.

Tom Flockhart, managing director and founder of Capital, said: “Collectively we are all passionate about providing clients with a choice of market leading brands and a truly outstanding national service with local support for the public, private and third sectors.”

Prior to the merger, HOE was excluded from supplying office equipment to public sector organisations in the Highlands and Islands, because as a regional company only, it did not meet the national coverage requirements of the government’s Office Equipment Framework Agreement.

Now, as part of Capital Document Solutions, it can bid for these contracts as Capital is already established as a major supplier to the Scottish public sector. In fact, it won the prestigious Best Service Award at the Government Opportunities (GO) Awards Scotland in October 2012, in recognition of the high level and quality of its services in this sector.

Alexander Main

Alex Main, sales director at HOE

Alex Main, sales director at HOE and son of founding director Bill Main, said: “Capital’s proven expertise and reputation in the major corporate and public sector markets will benefit our existing as well as new customers. We will continue to fully support businesses in the north with the additional capability and capacity of being part of a large independent Scottish company.”

The office equipment experts also specialise in delivering bespoke document solutions that complement their wide range of copy/print/scan devices to help customers make substantial reductions in the number of devices deployed throughout their organisation, free up valuable desk and floor space, reduce carbon footprint and deliver real savings.

Tom Flockhart said: “Both companies started out selling photocopiers when these were stand-alone devices. Now they are an all-in-one multifunctional device (MFD) that provides copy, print, scan and fax.

“Many established businesses still have a sizeable fleet and mix of devices in use that are largely uncontrolled and unnecessarily expensive to run. With modern technology and print management software we can reduce the number of devices needed and make some significant savings for the customer. This approach is increasingly important for businesses during a recession.

“Typically we are looking at a 70 per cent reduction in the number of devices deployed and a cost saving of 30 to 40 per cent.”

To put that in perspective, Capital recently conducted and audit for a local authority headquarters that has 190 devices producing 6.2 million copies/prints annually. After carrying out a detailed audit of all the devices, locations, colour and mono page volumes, Capital’s report concluded the client’s optimum device requirement was for only 59 MFDs and printers, which would produce savings of £43,000 a year.

Capital and HOE now have a combined workforce of 200 across the six regional offices. They are currently undergoing cross-training to ensure both new and existing clients receive the best information and service on the entire range of products. The merger will lead to additional employment and training opportunities at the Inverness branch.

“We have a track record of supporting the areas in which we operate by developing service engineer apprentices and creating new sales and technical support roles to help clients’ businesses run more smoothly,” Tom Flockhart said.

Article written and published by Executive Magazine April 2013.


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