Workplace 360

Latest news

BOSS Awards 2023 sold out

The BOSS Federation has announced that tickets for its annual awards have sold out.

Badgemaster diversifies product offering with acquisition

Manufacturer Badgemaster has acquired the business and assets of Corporate Insignia, expanding its range of name badges.

APSS Group expands furniture offering

Lincolnshire-based APSS Group has acquired furniture supply and installation business TPS Office Furniture.

Noble joins Nectere

Well-known UK office products exec Adam Noble has taken on a full-time role at dealer services group Nectere.

Chris Marshall passes away

Workplace360 is saddened to learn of the passing of UK stockless dealer pioneer Chris Marshall.

Final call for EOPA entries

There’s less than a week left to submit entries and nominations for the 2024 European Office Products Awards (EOPA).

Talking point - Rolling back the years

The UK government has reneged on some key environmental targets – what will this mean for the business supplies industry?

Event - A catalyst for change

The Office Power Dealer Growth Summit provided plenty of food for thought for competing on a bigger stage.

Steve Hilleard is CEO of OPI, Workplace360’s parent company. A former dealer owner himself, Steve has worked in the office supplies since 1987 – since 1995 as a media guy at OPI – and has been acclaimed for his services to the sector. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award, the highest accolade bestowed by the UK office products industry’s trade association, BOSS Federation.

Steve Hilleard

Publisher & CEO

Michelle Sturman is the Editor of Workplace360, having joined OPI as News Editor in 2014 to manage the online and magazine news service. In 2015, she was made Deputy Editor, working across both the digital and print side of OPI, covering the magazine, website, social media, digital newsletters and podcasts. Passionate about sustainability, Michelle wants to promote ESG as much as she can throughout the various Workplace360 platforms.
Michelle has over 20 years’ experience in B2B and consumer publishing, reporting on topics as varied as business, IT, marketing and lifestyle.

Michelle Sturman

Editor

Andy is News Editor at Workplace360. He has been writing about the office and business products industry since 2003, first as part of the IS-Guide/Sourcing Days team in Europe and then with OPI, where he has been working since 2008. Since then, he has built a reputation for providing a fair and balanced approach to editorial content, covering stories from around the world. Married with two grown-up children, Andy has been living in France since 2000 and, before that, lived and worked in the Middle East for almost ten years. He has been working from home since 2008, well before WFH became an acronym.

Andy Braithwaite

News Editor

Chris joined OPI – Workplace360’s parent company – in 2006 as VP North America and UK and for almost 12 years was responsible for the management and development of customer accounts in North America, the United Kingdom and Australasia. In 2018, he was appointed Head of Media Sales and now has full responsibility for all print and digital media sales worldwide.

Chris Turness

Head of Media Sales

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is exactly what Joel does with amazing creative flair. Joel’s experience in media graphic design started in 2008, and he is responsible for making everything at Workplace360 as beautiful as can be – including the print magazine, logos and marketing materials, along with anything else that gets thrown at him.

Joel Mitchell

Designer

After taking a career break to raise four children, Kelly returned to work in 2011. Following a successful stint managing a large portfolio of schools and colleges for a UK firm specialising in catering for the education sector, Kelly joined OPI – parent company of Workplace360 – as the company’s Finance Manager. Six years on, that role has expanded to cover HR, H&S and Operations. In January 2022, she was appointed Vice-Chair of the BOSS Business Supplies Charity, raising funds by rolling out an innovative Patronage programme, managing events and driving new marketing initiatives.

Kelly Hilleard

Finance & Production Manager

Janet has been working in the office products sector since 2000 when she joined OPI – parent company of Workplace360 – to run its international events across Europe, Asia and the US. She became a Director in 2006 following a management buyout and now, in addition to events, oversees Workplace360’s operational activities, online presence and lots more besides!

Janet Bell

Director

Chris Exner is what you might call an office products veteran, working in the industry since 1995. During his OP career, Chris spent 17 years with Esselte, now part of ACCO Brands, where his most recent position was VP Sales Asia Pacific. Prior to that, he held several senior roles at the manufacturer, including VP Sales Europe, VP Western Europe, Managing Director UK and VP European Accounts. Chris has worked as Chief Commercial Officer at OPI since 2018. Read more

Chris Exner

Chief Commercial Officer

Heike is the longest-serving editorial member of OPI – Workplace360’s sister publication – having been with the company since 1999. During that time, she has developed an extensive knowledge of the industry, understanding and analysing – and hopefully through her writing helping others understand too – what makes it tick.

Heike Dieckmann

OPI Editor

Lisa has been with Workplace360’s parent company OPI since 19998 and is well known to industry members. Lisa has organised dozens of international conferences, forums, awards dinners and networking events in Europe, Asia and the US.

Lisa Haywood

Events Manager

Debbie was the first ever full-time employee of Workplace360’s parent company OPI, back in 1993, working as an assistant and then PA to the firm’s founders for ten years. Having gained experience in the property, legal and faith related sectors, she returned to OPI in 2017, and now provides flexible administrative support to Workplace360’s Directors and other members of staff.

Debbie Garrand

Executive Assistant

Chris joined the Workplace360 team in January 2023 to support the launch and help deliver on its mission to be the only magazine dedicated to advancing the UK business supplies sector into a workplace solutions industry.
He brings 14 years of management experience in the office supplies sector with EO Group (Euroffice and Office Power) and UK dealer group Superstat having previously worked in diverse industries such as textiles, telecoms, IT and power supply.

Chris Armstrong

Commercial Development Manager

Kate Davies is the newest member of the OPI editorial team, joining in June 2023 as Assistant Editor. Kate will be involved in producing OPI magazine and its UK-based sister publication, Workplace360. She will also be a core contributor to all of OPI’s online output.

Before joining OPI, Kate worked on the student newspaper at her university while studying for a master’s degree in journalism. During that time, she developed skills in news writing, proofreading and shorthand – the latter arguably a dying craft in the digital age but a good challenge nevertheless. Read more

Kate Davies

Assistant Editor

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