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DEALER PROFILE
Carving a path
to success
Phauré left school at 16 and talked
his way into a number of jobs in
the City. After the financial crash
resulted in the number of openings
for traders becoming fewer, and job
security more tenuous, he joined
a family-owned office supplies
company. He spent a year working
for the business, during which he
developed a passion for the sector,
which ultimately led him to take a
leap of faith and build something
from scratch.
“I had outgrown the company I was
working for, there was little room for career
progression, but the experience stood me
in good stead. What I liked most was the
fact that unlike investment banking and
trading, where you might close a huge
deal one month and nothing the next,
this sector provided a steady income
stream,” Phauré explained. “With smaller
deals being conducted more frequently,
the business ticks over quite nicely and if
customers get great service, then they keep
coming back.”
There were two key drivers behind the
decision to found Office Oracle, the first,
according to Phauré was his parents’ work
ethic and the second was his passion for
business. “My parents have always worked
hard and growing up I saw first-hand that
you have to work hard for things, they
aren’t handed to you on a plate. I also
have a true passion for business – I started
doing deals in the playground selling
sweets and such like!
“I love making deals, negotiating,
presenting and forging long-term
relationships, and decided to create a
company that would enable me to put my
talents to good use,” he added.
Phauré started from scratch, his first
step was to open an account with Spicers.
“Spicers took me on as a new start-up
and they have supported me from day
one,” he said. From a standing start, the
company achieved record sales figures,
attaining between 20-30 per cent growth
year on year. This year Phauré is targeting
£2 million.
Office Oracle today employs 21 people
and has office and warehouse space
in Charlton SE7. The company serves
customers in seven London postcodes and
counts a number of high profile brands
amongst its client base. “Location is really
important to us, we keep our geographical
reach tight, which ensures that we
can deliver on our promise to provide
outstanding customer service,” Phauré said.
The business was initially established
Aged 22, Matt Phauré started a business from scratch using his parents’
garage as a makeshift office. Office Oracle turned over £360,000 in its
first year of trading and achieved sales totalling £1.45 million at the
end of its fifth year
as a traditional office supplies provider,
however Phauré’s mantra to only conduct
business face to face has paid dividends
in terms of enabling diversification into
other complementary areas such as MPS,
franking machines and high-end furniture,
which has created additional profitable
revenue streams.
“We conduct a full business audit for
each and every customer, a process that
ensures we fully understand their business
and requirements. This enables us to tailor
our offer and provide them with the right
mix of products, services and solutions, on
time, every time. As part of this process,
we identified other areas where clients
required additional support, and made a
strategic decision to expand our offer to
deliver additional value-added services,”
Phauré explained.
Office Oracle chose to partner with
sector specialists as opposed to spreading
themselves too thin. “Last year, we
partnered with a large London-based
MPS provider and in addition to our core
business, we won an international office
MPS deal,” he said, adding that the
company is now in further negotiations to
formalise that relationship. Office Oracle
will also soon complete on the purchase
of a printing company, a move that will
further increase share of customer wallet
as well as group turnover.
People are at the core of the business.
Phauré said: “I have two key objectives
– to ensure my employees are happy and
to provide them with the opportunity for
career progression, and to listen to my
clients’ ensuring that we support them and
their business.”
Looking ahead to 2017, Phauré is
focused on growth. “The foundations
are laid and the business is in a strong
position. We will do some more work on
refining our offer and establishing distinct,
dedicated divisions such as office products,
interiors, MPS and printing, ensuring that
our clients continue to reap the reward
of our dedicated, bespoke service,” he
concluded.
Phauré’s
mantra
to only
conduct
business
face to face
has paid
dividends
Matt Phauré
