Netstationers

History of the company

Gary Burns (Sales Director) launched the concept in February 2000 as ‘Netstationers’, the first on-line office supplies company in the UK.

Doug McLean (CEO) joined forces with Gary Burns shortly after launch and with his technology background, soon recognised the lack of ‘visibility’ and ‘control’ that business owners or finance directors have over the purchase of commodity goods such as office supplies, print, furniture, travel etc. This provided the impetus for what was to be a significant investment in developing a technology based e-procurement application for the acquisition of commodity products through software that delivers the ‘visibility’ and management reporting tools to deliver the ‘control’.

In 2002 the company delivered its first major software release aimed at providing clients with a complete managed solution via the web with the objective of giving every user, department and company a free to use customised experience. Later that year Office Canopy Group (OCG) was created as the ‘umbrella’ owner of the Netstationers business, with a board of directors and investors clearly focused on growth through innovative technology solutions which deliver compelling cost saving results for business. Richard Ingram was appointed as Finance Director in 2003.

The Netstationers business was first franchised in 2003, and there are currently 30 franchise ‘partners’ across the UK with average monthly sales is in excess of £25k and with net margins ranging from 15 to 20%. Our best franchise is achieving monthly sales of more than £120k, with a net margin of 20%. Neil Brassington was appointed as Franchise Operations Director in 2005.

Our technology

The Office Canopy Group e-procurement system leads the field in providing the finance and procurement functions with visibility of all transactions, enabling them to avoid wasting time and money buying commodity goods that are not required or being bought at inflated prices.

Particularly relevant to large multi-sited companies, it enables standard items to be ordered for every location at the lowest possible price, and helps overcome problems such as inconsistent pricing when employees lack professional negotiating skills.

The technology also enables the introduction of numerous product categories such as office supplies, print, travel, work-wear, signs & labels etc.

Through the Netstationers franchise the OCG system is available to support you build a sizeable business in the office products sector. Our franchisees have grown their businesses significantly during the last 2 years and now account for 52% of overall sales.

Who might be interested?

Franchise ‘partners’ are usually recruited from 2 business backgrounds;

1. Sales professionals who have a good understanding of what it takes to run their own business and the opportunity that the Netstationers model provides (see attached case study for Ross Edmonds).
2. Professional business people with no industry experience but who have developed a solid network of business contacts in their previous role, and can see how they can apply the Netstationers business model to create a profitable and saleable business (see attached case study for Phil Marshall). 80% of our current franchise partners are from this background.

What does it cost?

The franchise purchase fee is £29500 however; we also recommend that you have further funds available (up to £5000) to help finance you through the first few months as you get your business started

The franchise ‘partner’ package

The ‘package’ provided for Netstationers’ franchise partners includes the following;

• Initial classroom and on-going field training.
• Best of breed technology and unique e-procurement software.
• An initial tele-sales service is included in the price of the franchise purchase.
• Marketing materials.
• Hands-on support at appointments throughout the UK by a highly successful team of sales professionals with a good understanding of the technology USP’s.
• Business support and mentoring from a highly experienced team of executives.
• A fully trained customer support team who can give full ‘back office’ support including; order taking by phone or fax, customer returns, backorder queries, delivery queries and any other customer issues.
• Management of the relationship with all suppliers to ensure continuity of supplies and a highly competitive price file.
• Logistics management.
• Bill to pay service incorporating credit management and insurance.
• Provision of all required working capital – your business is cash positive.
• No capital expenditure required
• All relevant accreditations: ISO9001 and ISO14001
• Maintenance of business during holidays or sickness.

If you would like to know more about the Netstationers business opportunity please click the 'Request Information' button below, now.