OPI TALK

Leading office and business products vendor ACCO Brands recently reported its 2024 earnings. A few days after those results were published, OPI Talk's Andy Braithwaite caught up with CEO Tom Tedford for a look back at ACCO’s performance and for an update on some of the company’s initiatives to return to growth.   Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicToda...

OPI has just published its latest Influential Women in the Business Products Industry list. One of those featured is Kristy Howe, SVP at US workplace furniture supplier Safco, a Liberty Diversified International (LDI) company. In this podcast, Kristy talks about her first 18 months at Safco, the launch of a new LDI brand called Onsemble, return-to-office and channel trends, and the importance of s...

January 2025 marks Steve Hilleard’s 30th anniversary at OPI. To celebrate the occasion, Steve is the subject of the Big Interview in the forthcoming January/February issue of OPI magazine. As a teaser, here is an extract from that interview, with Steve speaking to Shaun Tidman, Head of Sales at Avery UK.

PBS Global Solutions (PGS) is a subsidiary of PBS Holding. It was formed following PBS’s acquisition of the former Staples Global Accounts Team in 2021. The business is led by experienced contracts exec Ian Kirton, supported by a team based in the Polish city of Gdansk. At the end of November, Kirton spoke to OPI Talk, shortly after PGS had held its first-ever in-person partner event in Amsterdam....

A few weeks ago, Brother announced it was the first print OEM to begin the remanufacturing of inkjet cartridges. To find out more, OPI Talk spoke with Craig McCubbin, Managing Director of Brother Industries UK, who is responsible for the company’s Recycling Technology Centre in the town of Wrexham in north Wales.   Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicTo...

Market research firm Circana tracks the office supplies category (excluding janitorial, breakroom and storage) at leading US bricks-and-mortar and online retailers. OPI Talk spoke to Ben Arnold, Industry Advisor, Office Supplies at Circana, to find out about latest category trends – with a focus on this year’s back-to school season, which was in full swing when the interview was recorded.   Episod...

In its capacity as an Official Supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Lyreco France is delivering tens of thousands of items of office furniture to dozens of locations. What has this meant in terms of organisation and logistics? What have been the main challenges? How is Lyreco France delivering on the project’s sustainability goals? What will it mean for the company once the Games are over? Eric A...

In March 2024, the US General Services Administration awarded contracts for its Commercial Platforms Programme. Along with household names Amazon Business, Staples and Grainger, four small businesses were also given awards. OPI Talk spoke with two of these: San Diego-based Pacific Ink, led by Jaime and Alex Mautz, and Glass Commerce, a Silicon Valley start-up founded by Paola Santana. Episode reco...

Leading consumer and business products vendor ACCO Brands recently reported its 2023 financials. In this episode of OPI Talk, Andy Braithwaite caught up with ACCO CEO Tom Tedford to discuss the 2023 results as well as some recent developments at the company – including its divisional restructure and some category exits. Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by...

A series of interviews from the show floor at Ambiente 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany. Mega consumer products show Ambiente took place in the German city of Frankfurt at the end of January. Following the demise of Paperworld as a standalone event in Frankfurt, this was the second year that Ambiente had included a special Working section for the traditional office products segment. OPI News Editor Andy...

OPI catches up with Mike Gentile shortly before he steps down as CEO of leading US dealer group ISG. Earlier this year, Mike Gentile announced he would be leaving ISG after almost 20 years at the organisation, most of that time as CEO. In this interview, recorded at ISG’s headquarters in November, Gentile reveals what his future plans are, looks back at the highlights of his tenure at the dealer g...

If you are an OPI subscriber, you should have seen or even received the latest issue of OPI magazine, which is our annual Green Thinking issue. In keeping with that sustainability theme, for this podcast, News Editor Andy Braithwaite spoke with Bernhard Cantzler, the Marketing and Sales Director for Mondi’s Uncoated Fine Paper (UFP) business in the EMEA region. While many are quick to point out th...

OPI’s first chance to speak with incoming ISG CEO James Rodgers. It’s all change at the top of ISG, the biggest business products dealer group in the US, with long-time CEO Mike Gentile set to retire in a few weeks’ time. Succeeding him is 44-year-old James Rodgers, who joins the organisation following a successful career charging up through the ranks in both the office and facilities products dis...

OPI Talk speaks to Ken Sweder following the closing of the transaction that has brought together leading US facilities and jan/san distributors BradyIFS and Envoy Solutions. The biggest deal this year in the jan/san distribution space is undoubtedly the one that has created a $5 billion group in the US – known, for the time being at least, as BradyIFS + Envoy Solutions. Leading the combined compan...

Andy Braithwaite is joined by OPI Director Janet Bell to look at the upcoming OPI Global Forum taking place in Chicago. It promises to be another excellent OPI Global Forum, with a packed and relevant programme awaiting delegates who will gather at the Swissotel in Chicago from 5-7 November. In this episode of OPI Talk, OPI’s Janet Bell discusses some of the Forum’s highlights, including the hot t...

On 9 August, ACCO Brands CEO Boris Elisman announced he would be retiring as CEO of the company effective 1 October, with COO Tom Tedford stepping up to succeed him. Elisman has been with ACCO for 18 years, the past ten as CEO, and has been a regular guest on OPI Talk over the past three years – indeed, no one has taken part more times than him. In this episode, recorded on 14 August, Elisman look...

As the US state of Arizona sweltered in temperatures exceeding 110°F (43°C), OPI Talk spoke to Ian Wist, General Manager of leading independent dealer Wist Business Products and Equipment – which is headquartered near Phoenix.   Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicToday80:  https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r... Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)  h...

OPI Talk catches up with Acme United CEO Walter Johnsen following the release of the company’s Q2 earnings. Johnsen gives his take on a number of market areas and trends, including this year’s back-to-school season, the state of the economy, reducing supply chain risk and the office products channel.   Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicToday80:  htt...

Jan Van Belleghem on why sustainability is core to the development of Interaction’s Q-Connect brand. European distributor alliance Interaction recently announced an initiative called Q-Conscious. OPI speaks to its Managing Director Jan Van Belleghem to find out more.   Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicToday80:  https://soundcloud.com/musictoday80/r.....

This episode of OPI Talk takes us to Canada, where we catch up with COPA President Sam Moncada. Sam tells OPI about a recent training initiative launched by the association and then goes on to talk about the role of COPA and current trends in the Canadian business products market.   Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicToday80:  https://soundcloud.com/...

The OPI European Forum is taking place in Amsterdam from 22-24 May 2023, but you can listen now to three of its keynote presenters. In this episode of OPI Talk, OPI Director Janet Bell goes through some of the highlights in store for attendees. You can also hear extracts of interviews with three high-level speakers who will be presenting and leading roundtables on key topics at the event: James Br...

With cleaning and hygiene taking on even greater importance since the COVID pandemic, one way of driving productivity and efficiency gains is through a better understanding of data. In this episode of OPI Talk, Nancy Farrell, Senior Product Manager, Tork Services & Solutions at Essity discusses how data-driven cleaning benefits both facilities managers and frontline cleaners. Episode recorded and...

OPI Talk spoke to Acme United CEO Walter Johnsen shortly after the supplier’s FY2022 earnings conference call. Johnsen gives his frank assessment of Acme’s performance in 2022, provides more details of an acquisition in Europe and discusses future acquisition possibilities.   Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite Music by: Extreme Energy by MusicToday80:  https://soundcloud.com/musictoda...

OPI Talk spoke with Boris Elisman straight after ACCO’s FY2022 earnings conference call. Last Thursday, 24 February, ACCO Brands published its Q4 and FY2022 earnings. In what was a year of two halves, the business products supplier managed to achieve organic sales growth despite a slowdown in consumer-related channels and a soft market for gaming products. In this podcast, Elisman, who is the 2023...

The March 2023 issue of OPI magazine will feature the inaugural Influential Women in the Business Products World list. To mark the occasion, the issue also includes a Big Interview with Beth Wright, Chief Commercial Officer at leading vendor, Fellowes Brands. In this Big Interview ‘teaser’ podcast, OPI CEO Steve Hilleard talks to Beth about how she got started in the business supplies sector, her...