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One of the largest independently
owned business services groups in
the UK, in its 22 years of trading
Cheltenham-based Commercial
Group has developed an enviable
reputation for challenging its market
place and spearheading innovation
and excellence to ensure its
customers, staff and suppliers remain
at the forefront of its development
and growth.
The business is split into four divisions
– Office Supplies, IT Services, Interiors and
Print – and has enjoyed consistent year
on year growth. Turnover in year one was
£400,000 and the Group is on track to hit
£40 million by 2015. According to Adams,
so far this year revenue is up by 27.7%.
Commercial sold business machines
right from the start and Adams admits
that he was not very good at selling
photocopiers the traditional way; “We
wanted to be viewed by customers as a
strategic business partner and we couldn’t
do that selling a copier.”
Transform the business
“My early frustration with the photocopier
market was the fact that we were giving
away services for free and it was very
difficult to really differentiate without
fundamentally changing the proposition.
As devices started to be connected to the
network, we committed to transforming
our business into becoming a credible
IT company, expanding the portfolio of
professional services to provide advice which
the marketplace is prepared to pay for.”
This challenging but rewarding process
has paid off. “In our IT Services division,
consultancy revenues are now at £1.1m,
which shows how we have moved from
being a commodity supplier to being a
business valued for its expertise,” explains
Adams.
Adams maintains that whilst MPS
offers new opportunities for customers to
increase staff productivity and reduce costs,
it doesn’t go far enough. “When competing
for a piece of business, you have to have a
differentiator and delivering the same print
management solution as other suppliers
isn’t going to help you win.”
Commercial’s managed service links
its Office Supplies, Print and IT Services
divisions by an invisible thread. By pooling
its collective expertise the company has
developed a service capable of delivering
even greater cost savings and control to its
customers.
Fastest growing
“This is the fastest growing part of our
IT business as we provide a genuine
alternative to traditional providers, using
our virtualised desktop and network skills
to integrate print management fully into
clients’ IT infrastructures,” says Adams.
Commercial’s MPS portfolio consists of
a distinctive set of options for clients, from
in-depth analysis of print costs, through
to ongoing support from its multi-vendor
Network Operations Centre. In addition,
the company offers solutions for the entire
print cycle, from marketing consultancy,
creative services and brand management
consultancy, to the ability to deliver printed
collateral that can be easily uploaded via a
web-to-print portal, proofed and printed,
before being delivered direct to the
customer though Commercial’s nationwide
logistics operation.
Adams claims there are lots of people
doing device consolidation but not many
that offer this type of managed service.
“We are not competing with the same
story; our offering is different and enables
us to have a different conversation with
customers. If there is no real qualitative
difference, the person with the lowest cost
will win and that is unlikely to be us.
“In the mid-market, we believe our
managed service is unique: it combines IT,
print, marketing and supply chain expertise
to create a single solution that’s delivered
in-house.
“It’s a Commercial managed service not
MPS. And it’s this that has provided us with
an opportunity to position ourselves as a
strategic partner to clients,” he concludes.
www.commercial.co.uk
Commercial Group Director Alastair Adams says Commercial’s managed
service is a very different proposition for the mid-market and one that he
believes will help the Group cement its position as a strategic partner for
clients.
Print.IT Reseller
01732 759725
34
managed service
It’s MPS but
not as you know it
Alastair Adams, Director,
Commercial Group
“We wanted
to be
viewed by
customers
as a
strategic
business
partner and
we couldn't
do that
selling a
copier.”