01732 759725
DEALER PROFILE
42
Back in 1990, Hollis Office Solutions’
Managing Director Garry Thompson
was a student in Wolverhampton
when his friend and former copier
engineer Keith Davies set up Hollis
Office Solutions with co-director Mike
Harris and asked him to help out.
“It was a small start-up business with
quality after-sales support as the primary
objective, and I very quickly got involved
in everything, from doing the accounts
to assisting in machine installations,” he
explained.
When Davies decided to move on eight
years later, Thompson bought him out and
became joint shareholder with Harris.
Today, Hollis Office Solutions serves
customers across Mid Wales, North Wales
and the West Midlands from a ground floor
office in Oswestry, which includes space for
the company’s 12 employees, stores and
the technical department.
Thompson explains that the company’s
geographical reach is dictated by its strong
focus on customer service and response
times.
“We operate predominantly in rural
areas and so our geographical reach is
pretty tight. We tend to stick to areas
within a two-hour commute; any further
means we’re squeezing our response times
and that goes against everything we stand
for. It’s this approach that ensures we
meet our customers’ SLAs and are able to
get an engineer on-site within the agreed
timescale,” he said.
A complete offering
Hollis specialises in business support
solutions and has two dedicated IT
specialists who work alongside the
company’s MFP engineers. As well as
document and print management services
and solutions, it offers IT security solutions
to protect customers and their valuable
corporate data from cybercrime.
“We first got involved in IT services
at a basic level back in 2001/2002,”
explained Thompson. “That move was in
direct response to customer demand, but
we really ramped it up about six years
ago. IT integration has become much
more relevant and we’ve had to upskill
to ensure that we’re ahead of the game
and providing the best service to our
customers.”
Four years ago, Hollis expanded its
offering further with the establishment of a
stationery supplies arm.
“The move was designed to secure
a new revenue stream and to help us
get a foot in the door with businesses
who weren’t in the market for print and
copy devices at that time, but who would
perhaps view us as a potential partner in
the future,” explained Thompson.
Hollis recently enhanced this part
of the business with the addition of an
e-commerce website (
.
gb.com) where customers can order the
stationery and office supplies they need,
at the best possible price, often with free
same-day, local delivery.
“Opening up an online ordering facility
makes life easier for our customers,”
Thompson explained, “and will also help to
increase revenue within the office supplies
division.”
Steady growth
Hollis Office Solutions has enjoyed steady,
sustained growth throughout its 25-year
history, including an 8% increase in turnover
last year, and a similar rate of growth
forecast for 2015. Going forward, Thompson
is targeting a growth rate of 10%.
Customer service remains the key focus for Oswestry-based Hollis Office
Solutions as it celebrates its silver anniversary.
Silver service
“That’s a realistic figure. We’ve got
room to expand without recruiting,
especially on the service side. And once
we push forward on the sales side, we will
look at getting an even bigger team in
place,” he said.
Thompson added: “We are Shropshire’s
best kept secret, and we’re now actively
raising our profile through a newly created
sales and marketing strategy.”
To this end, Hollis Office Solutions
has recruited a new Commercial Director
and invested heavily in its infrastructure,
including the latest service management
systems, so that it can continue to provide
a rapid and effective onsite response to
every call for assistance and minimise
equipment downtime. The support it
offers customers also includes pragmatic,
practical and impartial advice to help
customers reduce running costs and
increase productivity.
“We make a margin but we don’t
believe in ripping people off,” explained
Thompson. “We want them to stay with
us and place repeat orders. Customer
retention levels are really high; we may
lose one or two customers per year, but
that’s largely down to the fact they’ve
been bought out or their circumstances
have changed. We’ve never lost an account
because of poor service delivery.”
We are
Shropshire’s
best kept
secret, and
we’re now
actively
raising our
profile.
