W360: Give us a quick rundown of your career and how you came to be leading CPD Direct.
TB: Post-millennium seems like an appropriate place to start. I’ve spent the past 26 years in B2B services, joining Office Depot in 2000, shortly after it acquired Viking Office Products as its entry platform into Europe. I helped to build the UK and Ireland contract business, recruiting over 200 regional sales and key account execs. Those first two or three years were a bit mad: high energy, triple-digit growth and a lot of fun!
I then moved into an international role, building a pan-European sales and account management team and brokering relationships with existing Office Depot Corporate customers in the US towards creating ‘global accounts’. I later returned to Office Depot UK to lead the Contract business, which had become a sizeable operation by the mid/late 2000s.
From there, I joined Rentokil Initial as Managing Director of Initial Services UK and Ireland, where I took on my first major ‘turnaround’ role. Three years of very hard yards, implementing and executing a major change programme, with some inevitably difficult decisions; a different experience but one that taught me an enormous amount.
After that, I was recruited to lead another turnaround at Alexandra Workwear, which had been bought out of administration by the US business Men’s Wearhouse.
W360: Was that in Bristol?
TB: Yes – not exactly on the doorstep when you’re living in north-east England! It was another challenging three years: rebuilding the business, operationally and culturally, relocating premises and re-establishing the brand. By 2014-15, with my kids in their teens, I realised I’d spent the best part of 15 years away from home during the week and, to be honest, wanted – and needed – a more balanced lifestyle. So, I left corporate life and set up my own consultancy, helping SMEs to grow their profits by sharing experiences and applying the lessons I’d learned along the way – which is what brought me back into contact with CPD Direct.
The company had been a supplier to Viking-Office Depot in the UK, so I already knew the business and its reputation. The then CEO called out of the blue, asked what I was doing and whether I’d be interested in helping. I came to Hull for an exploratory conversation and started as an external consultant for a couple of days a week. The business had a few not insignificant challenges, but working closely with the management team, we quickly got the business back on its feet and its bankers back on side. It soon became clear that the owner wanted an exit, as he had other ventures and interests.
We came pretty close to a trade sale, but not close enough, so when that fell through, Supply Chain Director Ian Warvill, Finance Director Kirstie Lloyd and I undertook a management buyout as joint shareholders – a deal which was completed in 2015. The first few years were very much focused on paying down the money we borrowed to acquire; before, like everyone else, we found ourselves facing the Covid pandemic.
W360: What are CPD Direct’s origins and journey?
TB: CPD Direct was founded in 1988 by the entrepreneur we bought the business from. It started
as a local cleaning and janitorial supplier serving Hull and the wider Humberside region, delivering to SMEs on its own vans and supplying everything from the humble toilet roll and cleaning chemicals to whatever else was required. That local footprint gave the company a foundation on which to build the supply chain networks required to establish relationships with key brands and manufacturers.
A pivotal moment came in 2000, when the previous owner was introduced to a member of Viking Direct’s merchandising team, opening the door to one of the UK’s biggest resellers. The relationship grew quickly and it wasn’t long before others – including Lyreco, VOW Wholesale and Spicers – came on board. CPD Direct began to spread its wings beyond East Yorkshire and establish itself as a national supplier to some of the industry’s biggest resellers and wholesalers, mainly in the OP channel.
When we took over in 2015, those reseller relationships were already established, but the product mix began to change. CPD Direct originally specialised in cleaning and paper disposables – hence the initials in the name – but customers wanted a much broader facilities and breakroom offering. Companies such as Viking and Lyreco pushed us – in a nice way – into catering disposables, hot and cold drinks, breakroom snacks, milk, tea and sugar, etc.
Today, that’s our biggest category. Around half our annual revenue now comes from catering, food and beverages, while paper and cleaning products account for about one-quarter.
W360: You’ve touched on quite a few milestones, including Covid – were there any others?
TB: People tend to talk about the positive milestones, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. One month before Covid officially kicked off in the UK, in April 2020, one of our biggest customers, Spicers OfficeTeam, went into administration, leaving us with more than £1 million of debt. I’m not sure the timing could have been any worse, looking back. It was a journey of uncertainty, exploration and fear. We took up the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offer of £1 million interest free, and I’m pleased to say we didn’t use a penny of it and paid it back within the year.
Luckily, we were trading in products that everybody needed in key worker environments, such as hand sanitiser, face masks, disinfecting sprays and related cleaning supplies. It also created a more entrepreneurial environment. Rather than relying on our traditional range, we had to look for new sourcing opportunities and even developed a hand sanitising station with a local Hull business, selling hundreds into the market. It’s only a few years ago, but it’s hard to remember now what the pandemic actually felt like day to day.
W360: It does seem like a lifetime ago.
TB: It does, and I was glad to see the back of it, like everyone else. But it was a good learning curve. During that period, we developed more of a trading mentality – doing deals and thinking differently – and we’ve tried to carry those principles forward into the business.
W360: How much of what you learned is now being applied in the business?
TB: We’ve expanded our product range and are now stronger in some of the PPE essentials than before, as an example. From a people perspective, I’d like to think that we already had the right culture, but Covid reinforced the importance of recognising that everyone has things going on in their lives.
We’ve taken a much more relaxed approach to how people work. Certain roles lend themselves to working from home, and where possible, we’ve encouraged that. The bottom line is not to take anything for granted and to create a freer, more supportive working environment.
So, yes, there have been some positives to come out of Covid alongside the challenges. We managed to maintain a positive cash position, didn’t use the loan and came out the other side in reasonable shape. If nothing else, when Ian and I look back on the pandemic, that’s probably our biggest success: staying afloat. Given the timing, there was every risk we wouldn’t.
W360: You said that the business does around £20 million in sales.
TB: Yes. If you look at our turnover over the past 10-15 years, it fluctuates, and it always will. Around £3 million of that £20 million comes from the legacy part of the business – the 500 to 600 SME customers we have, mostly within a 50-mile radius of Hull, which we still serve using our own vehicles.
The other £17 million is predominantly trailers (or multiples of pallets), going into big sheds around the UK for our wholesaler, reseller and larger key account customers, such as Travis Perkins. The structure of the business hasn’t changed massively, but we’ve had to scale up in response to demand from larger customers. That’s helped to reshape our product portfolio and the categories that we offer.
We’ve talked about the emergence of catering and food and beverages over the past decade. Similarly, although the numbers are still relatively small, we’re seeing stellar growth in personal care and hygiene. Products such as nappies and period care wouldn’t
have been in our warehouse 15 years ago, so that’s really encouraging.
W360: How would you describe the business to
a layperson?
TB: We’re a facilities supplies distributor/wholesaler, although the depth and breadth of what we do are continually changing, which is largely market led. We’ve always taken the view that if we can source something that a customer wants, make them happy and make some money in the process, why wouldn’t we?
We’re pretty agile in our sourcing and handle a lot of specials, with all sorts of ‘random’ items passing through the warehouse. It’s about creating loyalty and a solution for customers. They tell us that we’re an easy company to do business with, but I’m under no illusion that the ticket to the game every new day is consistently good service levels and a competitive price file.
We know that we’re not going to be sharpest on every one of our 2,500 products, but over many years we’ve remained relatively competitive where it matters most. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it gives you a seat at the table. At the end of the day, if we can source something and sell it profitably, we’re interested.
W360: But that then causes SKU proliferation.
TB: It can do, yes, and I’m conscious that we don’t have unlimited warehouse space. The nature of what we do in distribution helps (and hinders!) in that regard. When the likes of VOW, Lyreco and Viking reach a certain sustainable volume with a product, why wouldn’t they go directly to the manufacturer? It makes absolute sense and we’d do the same. That’s why our turnover can be quite lumpy.
Around eight years ago, for example, we were doing a lot of coffee for one major client. They reached £2 million in sales and started talking directly to the manufacturer. They did a deal, rightly so, and we actively brokered and encouraged that, because we understand that it’s going to happen. We don’t want to be an inhibitor; we want to be a facilitator. We can lose £2 million of turnover quickly, but in the long game, it’s the right thing to do.
We’ve always operated very openly and transparently, but our role is particularly valuable when a reseller doesn’t have the volume to go direct and fill a trailer. We’ll aggregate customer demand and, in essence, buy in bulk on their behalf.
Then there’s what I call the “ugly stuff”. For example, a manufacturer might send us a pallet that’s 2 m high, but the customer can only accept 1.6 m into their supply chain. Someone has to take off a layer or two, so we’ll de-layer and repack it to the required height for different customers. There’s nothing scientific about it, but somebody has to do it – and it adds value to
the supply chain.
We do similar work with repacking. A product might arrive in cases of 12 when the customer wants a selling unit of two, so we’ll shrink-wrap and send them out in twos. Again, simple stuff, but necessary. We also do a lot of private label work for customers and, over time, have developed our own brands. Maxima is one that most of the OP channel will recognise, while Latis is our brand for 15-litre water bottles. We sell nearly half a million of those each year, as well as providing private label bottles for some of our customers.
W360: How do you meaningfully scale knowing that your customer might at some point disintermediate you and take a chunk of that business away?
TB: Great question. Before our MBO, I think there was a bit of a ‘chasing turnover for vanity’ mentality. What the management team now focuses on is maintaining (and ideally growing) gross margin cash at a certain level. We know the minimum we need and anything above that is great; we’ve done a pretty good job of that over the past ten years.
W360: Is that a lesson from your Office Depot days?
TB: Some of it, without a doubt. Taking a £2 million hit, even at a 7-8% margin, is still a significant amount of cash to lose. But for every one of those, another opportunity or two tends to come along, and we’ve been largely successful in replacing most of the margin chunks we’ve lost.
We’d rather maintain a £20 million business with a bottom line we’re happy with than chase £30 million that could dilute it and adversely impact cash flow. We keep a tight control on operating cash flow and Ian and I meet with the finance team every week. We know exactly where we are, what we can do and what we can’t; and arguably, that’s what matters most.
Pressure on commercial margins has never been greater and there are plenty of reasons for that. One fundamental change is the level of price transparency that we now have globally. In many ways, it’s brilliant. As a consumer, I love being able to search for a product and instantly see 15 options, perhaps with a 20% price variance, before deciding who to buy from and why.
That’s now happening in our market too and the wider B2B channel. And I can’t have this discussion without mentioning Amazon and the positive influence it’s had on so many things. The business and the solution it provides are phenomenal, despite its inherent, increasing dominance.
W360: Are you on the Amazon platform?
TB: We were. We sold 12- and 15-litre water bottles on it, but its supply chain model has recently changed. Anything above a weight of 12 kg now has to be drop-shipped, so we’re doing that for the water instead.
You have to stay competitive. We’re benchmarking prices across our fast-moving lines constantly, ensuring that we’re within an acceptable tolerance for the buyer. From there, it’s about what else you can offer and the strength of your relationship with that customer.
The way people trade online has fundamentally changed too. We might get a phone call or an email saying, “We’ve been offered £2.62 on this line. You’re at £2.92, so we’re giving you first refusal.” You’re trading all the time, literally hour by hour, on different items.
The key is retaining a sense of control. You need KPIs and reporting mechanisms that let you, as business owners, step back and think, “What’s the consequence of that?” Then see how it plays out in your sales and margin reporting.
We’ve had that discipline since day one. When I first joined, there were no KPIs or reporting – management were literally waiting for the P&L to come out and then trying to “manage the surprises”. That’s not the way to run a business, in my opinion. We have daily KPI reporting that gives us line-item sales and margin detail on every single transaction, stock turn, demand management, OTIF and more.
W360: You spoke about your evolving customer mix. It hasn’t escaped my attention that you popped up at a couple of dealer group events recently, exhibiting for the first time. Is that signalling a shift in direction?
TB: The honest answer is straightforward. As we all sadly know, Exertis Supplies disappeared earlier this year; it was a key customer, spending in excess of
£2.5 million a year with us – which pretty much vanished overnight.
Historically, we’ve been very respectful of our customers, whether wholesalers or resellers, and have never dipped down a level to sell direct to end users. Over the years, people have asked, “Why don’t you take your SME model and roll it out nationally?” It’s a big investment, but the real reason is that every one of our resellers is already selling into that market. We don’t want an open conflict of interest or to undermine what our customers are doing. Our integrity has remained very much intact.
Once Exertis disappeared, some dealers started approaching us for short-term support. If we’re going to operate effectively with dealers, we first needed to promote ourselves to their community – something we’d never really done. You wouldn’t previously have seen us at a trade show. We’re merely responding to market demand, but we’re not looking to fulfil everybody’s needs – far from it. With around 2,500 SKUs across facilities supplies, we’re a relatively small player in terms of range and we have no plans to expand any further.
W360: How does that micro-shift towards supplying smaller resellers impact your operating model?
TB: I haven’t got a definitive answer at the minute because we’re still finding our feet. The cost-to-serve model becomes even more critical with smaller orders than when sending a trailer with 26 pallets. We understand that model and its associated costs.
CPD Direct has always had the ability to ship a box, a pallet or a trailer anywhere. We used to do a lot of pick and pack for Exertis, for example, and we currently provide an outsourced pick and pack for one major reseller, with around 300 products listed online. We also do drop-ship to the end user.
Dealers are used to a certain cost model, so we need to refine our thinking and apply more science to what we do – whether we’re drop-shipping to end users or in some cases sending multiple parcels or a single pallet somewhere in the UK or Ireland. It’s an evolving story, but we’re acutely aware that it’s a different model and one in which we’ll need to be very competitive.
W360: We’ve seen some major changes in wholesale in this country. Does the model need to evolve?
TB: It has changed significantly over the past 20 years and I think it will continue to do so. I can see more “super-dealers” emerging to try to leverage scale. There are a lot of very good dealers and dealer groups, of course, but I think there’ll inevitably be further consolidation and that may change the way the commercial model operates. There are so many variables that one size will never fit all – flexibility and an implicit understanding of your cost to serve are critical.
It’s funny at the minute because, if we talk about sustainability and carbon footprint, the logic points towards two- or three-day delivery lead time, perhaps even once-a-week deliveries. But then you’ve got Amazon, where you can get almost anything delivered same or next day. We’ve now got a string of companies delivering fast food and/or fresh groceries to your house! Who knows where it will all end.
W360: In 20 minutes.
TB: Exactly. As consumers, we get some pretty conflicting messages, which create confusion in the marketplace. It’s a bit of a woolly answer, but I think some companies are quite clear on what they want and what their principles are. Large corporates typically have well-defined CSR policies and, to an extent, those drive their purchasing behaviour.
But smaller companies – and we’re probably no different – often operate on a just-in-time model. They don’t necessarily have time to build orders towards a longer-term, once-a-week drop, particularly when a customer suddenly needs something and expects a quick response.
W360: You mentioned dealer groups. Are you actively engaged with all three?
TB: Yes. Some of my colleagues spent part of the summer at the three recent shows, which has helped to raise our profile. They’ll only get a snapshot of what we do, but I think it’s a good precursor to getting more exposure within the dealer community.
W360: You supply VOW and evo Group. How do you think they feel about you essentially becoming a wholesaler as well?
TB: VOW has been a valued customer of ours for many years and hopefully that will remain the case. We are not doing anything differently from what we’ve done for the last decade and more – it’s just that now, in the void left by Exertis, we may have the opportunity to trade more directly with some dealers.
Furthermore, VOW is stratospheric in size, scale and capability when compared to us, so we’re not a real, credible threat in any sense. It is in an incredibly strong and enviable position and all credit to evo Group. Equally, there are some very good operators out there, such as CTS Wholesale and JGBM, and we’re simply another one of those. Competition is healthy and we all understand that customers will make their choices for different reasons and at different times. We’ve had zero competitive conflict with any customer historically and I fully expect that to continue – our integrity has always been of the utmost importance to us.
CPD Direct isn’t on any crusade to become the next Exertis. We’re just trying to do what we’ve always done: respond to market requirements, stay alive and diversify our customer base and product range.
W360: You’ve spoken about the core legacy product ranges and your expansion into breakroom. Are there other areas where you see fertile ground for expansion with your reseller and dealer customers?
TB: We’re in the early stages of a relationship with Beeswift, which has been excellent so far, and now have a PPE range to offer interested parties. We’ve also recently embarked on a relationship with Beaverswood, which specialises in warehousing accessories, racking and signage. I’ve already mentioned personal hygiene and personal care at work and the team will continue to look for adjacent opportunities in that category too.
W360: What does your sales operation look like, given all the new relationships you’re building with dealers and vendors?
TB: There’s the heritage of the business – the 500 SMEs or so I mentioned earlier – covered by three territory salespeople. They each manage a portfolio of customers and are tasked with growing those accounts, so it’s a fairly traditional sales model. Working alongside them are internal telesales/customer service teams, as we still get a huge number of phone orders from smaller customers that are yet to embrace e-commerce!
On the larger corporate, wholesale and reseller side, I tend to take overall accountability for those clients, supported – very ably – by a couple of internal colleagues. Following the change with Exertis, we recognised that we needed somebody with specific expertise and knowledge of the dealer market, and we were fortunate to bring in Kim Thurgood-Brown earlier this year on an outsourced, consultancy basis.
Kim is ex-Exertis, knows the dealers and the market very well and is helping us to build relationships and create greater awareness of CPD Direct. It’s still very early days and we are under no illusion that it’s a long road ahead to replace the business that we have lost.
W360: You spoke earlier about margin challenges. Another issue is supply chain disruption. How resilient is the business to some of the shocks that we’ve seen?
TB: We’ve not really had any material impact, partly because we don’t have much direct overseas sourcing. Yes, some of our manufacturers will use parts or materials that originate in other countries, but they’ve clearly got resilient supply chains themselves. In terms of assessing risk, most of what we source could be remobilised much closer to home, either here in the UK or in Europe.
The credit for this has to go to Ian; he’s established really good, long-standing, trusting relationships with manufacturers. While we know that doesn’t guarantee success, it certainly helps. Furthermore, with all our top 100 fastest-moving lines, we’ve got secondary sourcing in place as a contingency.
W360: We touched on sustainability earlier. What are you doing to be more sustainable, as well as a more attractive company to employees?
TB: On that latter point, we can’t be accused of being ageist! We have people at the beginning of their career journeys, including apprentices, as well as plenty in their 50s and 60s (including your interviewee!) – and a lot of long-serving, incredibly loyal employees.
More broadly, are we more conscious of our carbon footprint and do we have targets to reduce it? Yes. Have we invested in lower-energy lighting? Yes, we have. Are we looking more closely at product sourcing and checking the environmental/sustainability credentials of manufacturers? Absolutely.
It’s a long journey and part of it is educating people on the impact of doing things the way they’ve always been done. But it’s a journey you risk being left behind on if you don’t get on board.
W360: What does the future look like for you, your co-owners and the business?
TB: It’s a good question. I’m 60 next year, Ian is just on the other side and Kirstie is chasing us hard. Like a lot of business owners, we’d always had the ambition to eventually have an exit plan.
In 2024, we’d had some trade interest and explored various opportunities, but nothing quite worked out. Then ‘employee ownership trust’ was mentioned by our bankers. We’d heard of EOTs before, but none of us had really got into the guts of what one is. They explained it in more detail and connected us with people who specialise in them.
Between October 2024 and January 2025, the deal was done. It sounds far too simple, but an EOT is a very credible way of creating an exit and, in our case, doing so with the continuity of the business – its leadership, customers and people – very much in mind.
W360: On the face of it, it sounds simple, but I’m sure there’s a wealth of paperwork involved.
TB: There is, but I’ve done a fair bit of M&A in my time and, compared with a normal trade sale, it’s remarkably simple. The owners agree a value, which is independently verified from a couple of sources. The shareholders clearly have to be happy with the valuation and the bank (or whoever) comfortable with the funding. It’s structured similarly to an earnout: you get a proportion upfront and the rest subject to business performance.
Ultimately, we’ve got a vested interest in the long-term future of the company. Of course, we want to see the full valuation over time, but there are a lot of people here who deserve a secure future. That’s why succession is now a key part of our planning. Over the next 12-24 months, we’ll be looking for someone we believe can take CPD Direct forward.
W360: More of a senior exec?
TB: Yes. A general manager or managing director, as we’re conscious that the business needs some fresh thinking and energy and the timing fits our plans. Once the EOT process is complete – which will certainly take another few years – the ownership of the business will be in the hands of the employees.
If the business is eventually sold, they all stand to make a sizeable amount of money, which would be wonderful to see materialise.
W360: How does the EOT impact your ability to make strategic decisions?
TB: The thing that mattered most to us was ensuring that the EOT wouldn’t hold the business back or clog up decision-making with bureaucracy. We have an (external) Independent Trustee Director, an employee representative and Kirstie (representing the former shareholders), sitting on the EOT, and I can honestly say that the business has run exactly as it always has.
That said, if we wanted to make an acquisition or a significant investment, it would – quite rightly – need to go through the EOT board. The guiding principle is that, as long as it’s clearly in the best interests of the employees and we can demonstrate this, then it will be approved in most cases.
W360: Any final thoughts as we wrap up?
TB: We’re pretty humble people and don’t take anything for granted. Our ambition is simply to keep doing what we’re doing and keep CPD Direct as profitable as possible for as long as possible, and ensure that its reputation remains intact.
Consistently high service levels have been the platform for the company’s success since its inception, and we have some incredibly valued, long-standing relationships. You don’t retain demanding corporate and retail customers over many years unless you’re doing something right. But standing still isn’t an option. We need to keep evolving – whether that’s expanding our product range, embracing AI or exploring different services and solutions.
Thankfully, there’s nothing particularly scientific about what we do. We’re happy with where we sit in the market and, thus far, have successfully navigated the pressures facing both our suppliers and customers.
We never lose focus on trying to keep our employees and customers happy, because ultimately, if they are satisfied, shareholders tend to be too. It’s the old service-and-profit chain, but it still stands the test of time in my opinion.
W360: Yes, thankfully something does.
TB: [Laughs] Exactly.
