Workplace360: Give us the lowdown on your career and how you came to be here.
Mike Milward: I had a gritty start in life, having lost my parents when I was young. I ended up living in my uncle and aunt’s hotel, where I worked before and after school. This led me to my first passion – and my first career – as a chef.
I later moved into home improvement sales, where I had a fantastic run. Then, around 1988-89, I started a company manufacturing tailor-made furniture. After that, I met my beautiful wife, who was on a working holiday from Australia and transitioned into corporate life. I’ve been fortunate to spend half my life in Australia and half in the UK. I worked for an investment bank focusing on turnarounds. I then spent ten years working for myself, again specialising in turnarounds.
I was first introduced to Lyreco in 2013 when I was trying to sell it a company that it didn’t want to buy. As it turned out, they were looking for a Managing Director. I spent four and a half years with Lyreco Australia, which was interesting – we were chasing the competition, and in the end, they bought us.
W360: That was COS?
MM: Yes, correct. COS was founded by the late Dominic Lyone and his daughters now run the company. I went back into consulting after the sale but told Greg [Lienard, Lyreco CEO] that if anything interesting came up in Europe, I would be keen. One day, he called me and asked if I wanted to look at the WISE business.
W360: WISE being…?
MM: Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England – basically, our UK and Ireland operations. I initially came to write a report on the business, but after getting stuck here during lockdown, I stayed on and have been here for five years now.
W360: Give us a picture of Lyreco as it stands now.
MM: We have 28 offices across the UK and Ireland, with two central distribution centres and 72,000 sqm of warehouse space. We also have a warehouse in Northern Ireland and another distribution centre in Dublin that supports our Irish division.
The WISE business has been operating for about 35 years and has been profitable for nearly its entire lifespan. WISE became a powerhouse from around 1995 onwards. Over the past 30 years, we’ve consistently delivered solid profits. We own our site and are fortunate to be in a healthy financial position with a robust balance sheet.
Before the last two, our biggest year was 2008, when we had sales of €380 million (£320 million). We report in euros and for FY2024, our sales topped €405 million. I can confidently say our operating result is very strong and our cost management is excellent. We’ve had an incredible five-year trajectory.
Like everybody, we were in the doldrums in 2020 due to COVID. Fortunately, we had excellent PPE facilities, which helped us navigate that period. Our reference year was 2019 and by 2021, we had already surpassed it. Since then, we’ve continued to grow.
W360: Would it be fair to say you’re one of the two diamonds in the Lyreco family in terms of performance and size?
MM: We’re the second biggest subsidiary. France is the largest and the flagship of the group. There’s a bit of a gap between us – it’s probably €100 million ahead – but we’re growing rapidly.
W360: How has the business changed over the past five or six years?
MM: I think the market has changed just as much as the business itself. But I have a different reference point because I’m not an OP guy. While I run a workplace supplies company, I don’t spend much time at industry conferences – not for any reason other than wanting to maintain an external perspective.
It’s a much more commoditised market than it used to be. In the old days – and I think some dealers still operate this way – there was a ‘smash and grab’ pricing model, a cheap favourites basket and an extended proposition for random items. I don’t think that market exists anymore.
The biggest transformation since 2008 and the global financial crisis has been the impact of technology. It’s altered how people think about business, how things work, and how accessible everything is through digital platforms. Therefore, if you ask me about our biggest competitor, I’d say technology. But technology in workplace supplies? I don’t think it’s particularly advanced. When I compare competitor websites to ours, we’re all doing a functional job – but then we’re not launching aircraft or running banking systems.
We’re still salesforce-driven though, with a large team across inside sales, field sales and corporate, supported by technology. It’s a blended mix.
W360: You mentioned your relationship with the French team. Do you have full autonomy over WISE?
MM: As the local Managing Director, I work closely with the senior management team in France. We’re not left entirely to our own devices but supported in what we want to do.
At the end of the day, it comes down to profit, shareholder returns, giving customers what they want and making sure our staff are well looked after. As custodian, I’m largely free to operate as I see fit, as long as I align with the group’s strategic direction.
We’re also a bit of an ideas factory. Anyone who attended our recent conference will know this. We had over 140 suppliers at our recent event, the most we’ve ever hosted. The feedback was brilliant. Plus, the sales we’ve generated off the back of it have been fantastic.
At the conference, I spoke about how Lieutenant-Colonel David Stirling formed the SAS. Traditional warfare was all about generals on a hill, armies lining up in trenches and battles fought by the book. I’d argue that, sometimes, business rules are just as archaic.
The SAS changed the game. Instead of risking thousands of men in a full-scale battle, why not send in 25 or 50 highly trained soldiers to take out a town, destroy an airstrip and blow up a fuel depot all at once? Best case, they all come home. Worst case, the mission fails, but at a fraction of the risk. It was a completely new way of thinking.
This is how I see my team. We challenge the norm and think differently, which is how we’ve been able to come up with innovations such as Lyreco Interiors and Lyreco Goodness.
W360: Let’s talk products and services. Internally, you probably don’t describe yourselves as an OP business, do you?
MM: No, we don’t. We are moving away from being an old-fashioned direct sales company, which, incidentally, has been a fabulous success story for us. But in today’s world, with branding, media, advertising and the digital environment, you have to be increasingly visible and brand conscious. It’s a transitional shift and one we’re still going through.
Because we’ve been around for so long, we possess incredible stability, deep industry knowledge and customers that have stayed with us for decades. But sometimes the full depth and breadth of our offering is poorly understood. I was joking with some of the team recently that maybe we should all wear t-shirts saying: ‘We sell more than just stationery.’ We need to keep getting the message out there – stationery is only one part of our offering. Hygiene, PPE and catering are all fast-growing areas for us now.
W360: Why do you think our sector has found it so difficult to spread the word?
MM: The category has clung onto traditional sales methods and in some ways pigeonholes itself. I don’t have a 25-year history in office products, but I love this business because I love the company. I’m trying to lift it out of the old-school environment, but it is hard to do this when the rest of the industry isn’t operating in this way.
Working in Australia back in 1998, the office administrator would walk around taking orders for stationery, chairs and anything else the team needed. But that world doesn’t exist anymore. Many workplaces don’t even have a receptionist, especially since COVID.
Hybrid working means people are in the workplace maybe three days a week, and they buy in a completely different way now. They use apps. Supermarkets, Costco, high street stores, etc all compete with us. It’s a very different playing field. For a company of our size, we focus on those customers requiring a true service, not just making occasional, ad hoc purchases.
W360: What does your customer profile look like? What’s the sweet spot?
MM: I don’t think there really is a sweet spot. We recently conducted focus groups and it was fascinating to hear about the different and varied businesses and organisations we work with.
I want to make sure my sales team is equipped to help mid-sized businesses that would appreciate a little advice and support rather than trying to deal with everything themselves. Larger companies have procurement teams and we work well with them to provide big solution-based sales propositions.
Smaller companies might not employ purchasing managers but still face challenges. They’re looking for someone to help them consolidate spending, simplify invoicing, offer options and provide good ideas and plans with reliable, next-day service or timely delivery. And then, of course, we also cater to the ad hoc spenders – those who go on our website, open an account and buy what they need with fast delivery.
W360: When we were walking around, we passed the office where your bids and tenders team are. You called it the engine room.
MM: We handle a lot of government frameworks and large corporate national accounts. When you’re turning over €400 million, there’s always a constant flow of renewals and new customers – it’s a major part of the business and why we call it the engine room.
W360: What do you do better than the average independent reseller?
MM: Independent dealers tend to be small, family-owned businesses – typically 50 employees or less. They excel at providing a tailor-made service, often going above and beyond, offering a more personal touch and going the extra mile because of the close relationships they’ve built.
On the flip side, smaller dealers struggle to compete with the larger solutions we can offer, like private account services and national accounts. What makes us special – outside of the usual corporate nonsense – is how we manage ourselves. We are a community and that is what makes us stand out, above and beyond all else.
W360: Another factor is scale. Regarding your safety showroom, it’s clear how crucial it is in establishing credibility. It must give you a significant advantage over some of the competition.
MM: Absolutely. Our recent acquisition of Groenendijk in Europe will certainly strengthen our workwear activity too. Workwear is, in many ways, the ‘paper’ of PPE. If you’ve got strong workwear solutions and you’re providing solid PPE options, it really makes a difference. PPE is a big focus for us, with some nice flagship contracts and it’s growing fast, especially within our SME business.
W360: It took you a while to evolve the safety side, but once you fully committed, it seems to have been executed fairly well.
MM: Yes, the acquisition of Intersafe in the Netherlands was a pivotal moment and strategically, it’s become a key pillar of our operations. I have a member of our senior management team who solely represents safety and PPE; it’s fundamental to our growth.
W360: Talking of acquisitions, you bought two brands from Diversey at the end of February. What did the deal involve and what are the plans?
MM: Lyreco SAS Group – our parent company – recently acquired Zenith Hygiene and Shorrock Trichem, two leading UK-based hygiene product and service distributors, from Diversey, a Solenis company. This business is standalone and reports directly to the parent company, but as an overall Lyreco brand, our footprint has now increased (read Lyreco snaps up Diversey units on page 8 for more info on the announcement).
W360: Let’s touch on vendor relationships and category expansions. You mentioned 140 vendors earlier. Do you deal with a lot more than that?
MM: We have over 10,000 product lines and different tiers of suppliers and work strategically with key brands but don’t want to deal with thousands of them. We have a large, centralised buying proposition throughout the group, which drives our own branded and white-label goods. We also support local markets through a dynamic range.
Our focus is on servicing clients with products they actually need today. Historically, the manufacturer relationship in this industry has been one where a product is just given to you and you’re expected to sell it. I don’t like that system. My approach means working a lot closer as my sales teams handle a massive product range. I need to know how to leverage a supplier’s brand and what marketing support is on offer to help us sell the products. At the end of the day, customers choose what they want.
W360: Against Amazon’s endless aisle, yours is a much more curated choice. What do you think tomorrow’s consumer wants?
MM: It comes down to understanding what products are going to be used. With networks, VPNs, digitisation and wifi, people can work from anywhere. I’m not saying they shouldn’t go to the office – it’s good to be around others – but productivity-wise, I think employees get a lot more out of being back in the office environment as they come in for a purpose.
This is important when talking about choice and range. Take my office, for instance, it’s designed to be comfortable and all our rooms reflect this shift too. Customers don’t buy meeting tables anymore. They’re buying nice furniture, putting nice colours on the wall and choosing nice carpets.
W360: I wanted to ask about the contract interiors division and also link it to my earlier question regarding building credibility in new categories.
MM: Credibility comes through trust, reliability and partnership. We don’t just sell boring grey chairs. We offer concept fit-outs, managing and supplying the entire process. We’re not a contract fit-out company per se, but we work closely with others in that arena.
We’ve got some amazing success stories under our belt, delivering multimillion-pound deals to refit facilities from top to bottom, including everything from lighting and wall colours to the pens on the desk and high-tech equipment. If we don’t know how to do something, we bring in the experts. It’s all about having the right people in the right roles.
W360: Let’s finish the Amazon discussion. Is it fair to say our sector has been lacking when it comes to adopting more advanced e-commerce functionality?
MM: I think the industry has been a little bit sleepy. There was nothing wrong with video stores and DVDs in their day but Netflix spotted a gap and changed the parameters. We’re investing a significant amount of money into our e-commerce systems, so Lyreco is well-positioned moving forward.
W360: We cannot have a conversation without focusing on sustainability because it’s fair to say that you are regarded as one of the very few leaders and pioneers in this regard.
MM: We do it properly, with integrity and authenticity. Sustainability sits under our Lyreco Goodness umbrella.
W360: You mentioned it earlier. What does the programme involve?
MM: I love the Lyreco Goodness programme for its versatility; it can be woven into anything we do. It’s why we have a restaurant offering free breakfast and lunch, why we’ve got pool tables, quirky items around the office, chess sets, card games and coffee machines. While it’s not a fun factory, it’s a place where we want employees to feel happy. I’ve even started baking cakes once a month, and in summer, we have an ice cream van. There’s an incredible social club, too.
We also dedicate time to charity work and staff receive paid days to volunteer. We raise money by selling honey produced by the bees on our site. It’s all about creating a sense of community.
We don’t greenwash. We do things properly. We’ve got thousands of solar panels here, generating enough electricity to the point we no longer use gas central heating. A third of our van fleet is now electric, and most company vehicles are electric or hybrid. Plus, around 60% of our product range is sustainable.
When I joined Lyreco in the UK, the sales team told me they needed support with sustainability. I knew we needed someone with academic credibility to establish what this should look like in our business. It’s why we brought on board a professional and qualified manager as Head of Sustainability, and he does a fabulous job.
W360: Besides the looming NIC increase, what’s currently challenging you the most?
MM: Regardless of your flavour of politics, the government should provide stability, systems and processes that make companies and business leaders feel comfortable and confident enough to invest. At the moment, I cannot believe the global chaos.
During one of my speeches at our conference, I mentioned that if you look at 2024, over 50% of the global voting population took part in elections, with voters shifting dramatically from left to right and vice versa. It’s madness. We don’t have trusted world leaders guiding us at the moment. In the past, there were figures such as Mandela who people could turn to – leaders with wisdom and common sense. Today, I don’t see anyone standing out for the right reasons.
There’s a lot of instability presently – across Europe, the US and China. The two largest economies are at a standoff over tariff wars and the Eurozone is in a world of pain – Germany is in recession and France is having a tough run. We all get washed up in the knock-on effects of those waves as they hit the shore.
I consider myself lucky to have an amazing management team. We meet every week and talk frequently. I don’t have to be concerned about our decision-making. We act quickly and execute effectively. But it’s tough, and anyone claiming it’s easy is either working for a liquidator or asleep at the wheel.
W360: Last question. You’ve got a milestone birthday coming up. What advice would you impart to your 20-year-old self?
MM: I did a podcast with Rishad Tobaccowala called What’s Next? It’s on Spotify, though I recommend listening to Rishad, not me! Episode 55, to plug it. It was titled Change is Gonna Do You Good, and he asked me a similar question. For me, life is all about choices.
I come from humble beginnings, and I’ve done reasonably well for myself. I take pride in speaking at schools, particularly those with students going through their A-levels and I say the same to them as I would to my younger self: make sure you think about your choices, do your best to make the right ones and think about them before you jump in.
W360: Good advice. Do you think you would have chosen to get into this line of business?
MM: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this industry. If you take the analogy of a game of golf, I’ve seen successful friends that I really respect hit a golf ball which doesn’t go where they wanted it to and then blame the ball. They throw tantrums, swear and break clubs. The industry is the same – it will go wherever you direct it.
It might just be the management style you’re using. My approach leans towards leadership and trust rather than command and control. I like to walk around the building, engage with people, have fun and be kind. My religion is kindness.
When you run a company, if you show that kind of pastoral care, you stand a much better chance of success. If you also have a strategic plan and stick to it, revising and reviewing it regularly, you’ll get to where you want to go – like a game of golf.
When I was doing advisory work, I always started my conversations with three pieces of advice for prospective clients:
- Businesses only do three things – they go up, down or get sold. It’s not complicated.
- Never fall in love with what you do. If you do, you’ll make emotional decisions, and that leads to bad choices. Solicitors love it when you say: “On principle, I’m going to do this” – they just rub their hands together in anticipation.
- Understand the ebb and flow of cash.
If you wake up every morning and keep those in mind before you start work, you’ll already be ahead of your competition. It comes down to making the right choices.
W360: Thank you, Mike.
