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.

Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite

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

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.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

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 Avril, Managing Director of Lyreco France, answers these questions and more, just three weeks before the Games are due to begin.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

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 recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

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

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 Braithwaite spoke to a number of exhibitors to get their impressions of Ambiente Working and for a general business update. The podcast concludes with the thoughts of Messe Frankfurt’s Julia Uherek.

The exhibitors featured are: Acme United, Novus-Dahle, Durable, Djois, Hopax, Tesa, and Edding.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

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 group, and gives his thoughts on some of the key issues impacting the independent dealer channel in the US.

Episode recorded and edited by Andy Braithwaite

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 the environmental benefits of paper, this podcast covers some of the thornier issues related to papermaking, including the use of recycled versus virgin fibres, processes such as de-inking and bleaching, and the use of carbon offsetting to achieve sustainability goals.

More on Mondi UFP’s sustainability initiatives can be found here.

Episode recorded and produced by Andy Braithwaite