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DEALER PROFILE
44
Hines and Murrall had been
colleagues for a number of years
when the printer reseller they
both worked for was bought by an
American organisation. Worrying that
the sale might reduce its presence in
the Midlands, Panasonic approached
the duo to see if they would be
interested in setting up on their own.
This was too good and opportunity to
pass up, and in the summer of 1993 Office
Options began to trade as an authorised
Panasonic dealer from newly acquired
offices in Redditch. The young company
rapidly established itself as one of the
leading Panasonic resellers in the Midlands
and the following year relocated to central
Birmingham.
According to Director and Co-founder
Tim Hines, the company went from
strength to strength by focusing on service.
“We were very successful at selling in to
companies and we grew our customer
base and revenue consistently year-on-year.
The first eight years saw us double in size
every two years,” he said.
“From day one we have focused on
service delivery and we strategically over-
manned our service function, investing
heavily in engineers, whilst tactically keeping
sales and support staff to a minimum.”
Ten years ago, the firm was one of
the first to sign up with DSales when
Managing Director Jonathan Whitworth
set up the Develop distributor. “We knew
Jonathan back when he worked for
Panasonic and we were, I believe, his first
dealership when he joined Muratec some
years later. The Develop range is really
strong and we’ve got a superb relationship
with the DSales team, so much so that
although we also carry HP printers and are
a UTAX reseller, the bulk of our deals are
won using Develop kit,” explained Hines.
In recognition of its outstanding sales
and service, Develop named Office Options
as its ‘Dealer of the Year’.
Acquisition trail
The new millennium saw the company
embark on a series of acquisitions that
have significantly boosted both its MIF and
customer base in line with its ambition to
become a national business.
Its first buy in 2000 was the
Wolverhampton-based Ricoh reseller Atlanta
(UK) Ltd. The combined business traded from
Wolverhampton for a number of years until
it was merged into the company’s purpose-
built head office in Dudley, which Office
Options secured in 2005.
The acquisition of network printer
Twenty-three years ago, Tim Hines and Paul Murrall were encouraged by
Panasonic to set up an independent dealership. The rest, as they say, is history
It’s all about the timing
solutions specialist Colour Business
Solutions Ltd followed in 2002, and
in 2005 Office Options extended its
geographical reach into Gloucestershire
and the surrounding areas with the
acquisition of Butec Business Machines
Ltd, a Panasonic and Konica Minolta dealer
located in Cheltenham.
Early in 2009, Office Options made
its largest acquisition to date, Photofax
Systems, a Northampton-based business
with a long history and reputation for
quality and service.
Office Options has successfully
integrated its acquisitions and now offers
customers a nationwide service from two
established bases – its head office in Dudley,
housing administrative offices, a customer
showroom and the service division, and its
Northampton office, which accommodates
sales and service. The firm also has
warehouse capacity close to its Dudley HQ.
“Each of the businesses we acquired
were carefully selected for their reputation
and quality of service,” said Hines. “They
were all strong businesses and the
acquisitions have without a doubt played a
key part in our growth.”
Today, the company has a turnover of
more than £4 million, achieved through a
combination of acquisitions and organic
growth. “We have always been consistent
in winning new business and securing
additional revenue from existing customers
through the provision of MPS and software
solutions,” explained Hines. “I’d say that
it’s a fairly even spilt to date.”
He added: “We’re absolutely in the
market to complete further acquisitions
and are always interested to hear from
dealer principals who are perhaps looking
to sell up and retire.”
Whatever future acquisitions Office
Options makes, one thing’s for certain;
the company’s priorities will always be to
deliver excellent service – all eight Office
Options engineers are fully trained by
Develop and spread out geographically
to ensure service call-out response times
are kept to a minimum – and to build
enduring relationships with customers and
employees.
“Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity,”
explained Hines. “We strive for longevity
in customer relationships, and that same
mantra applies to the people who work with
us. Most of our team have been with us
since day one; I think the newest member of
the team joined us fifteen years ago!”
We were very
successful at
selling in to
companies and
we grew our
customer base
and revenue
consistently
year-on-year.
The first eight
years saw us
double in size
every two
years.
