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Company History

 
Recent History
 
In July 2009 a refinancing deal led by Endless LLP was completed, securing the long term future of VOW.
 
An ambitious investment plan followed the refinancing which included the commissioning of a a large scale distribution centre and centralised Sales and Service Centre in the north to improve customer service.
 
Acquisition of Kingfield Heath and ISA
 
In June 2007 Electra Partners completed the acquisition of Kingfield Heath and ISA to form what was described as the UK and Irelands first Super wholesaler of business supplies. The new organisation delivered a combined turnover of 500 million.

Following this the organisation was split into two companies with the larger of the two becoming the wholesale business who combined the massive expertise and product ranges of both Kingfield Heath and ISA Wholesale to create a one-stop shop for office products and computer consumables.

The next stage of the integration included the investment of several million pounds into increasing stock levels and the scale of joint operations in the UK and Ireland offering the widest range of computer consumables and the highest service levels from a single source within the industry.
 
The business was renamed VOW on the 1st June 2008.


Kingfield Heath Management Buyout 2004

 In December 2004, in a transaction valued at approximately 85m, Kingfield Heath concluded a management buyout backed by Legal and General Ventures. This followed the successful re-engineering of the business to deliver industry leading service levels from 2003 onwards. The company has developed a sophisticated but highly cost effective distribution network to service customers throughout the UK and Ireland. With an experienced and committed team of staff, the focus for the company continues to be on developing sales in the office products, computer consumables, business machines and facilities management markets.


Kingfield and Heath merger

 
Kingfield Heath was formed in October 1999 by the acquisition of John Heath and Co, the oldest office products wholesaler in the UK, by Kingfield Wholesale Office Supplies.

Between 2000 and 2002 the company set about an ambitious integration of the two companies. The transition included relocation to a new purpose built headquarters in Sheffield and the investment of 20 million in a new 11,000,000 cu ft. Distribution Centre at the heart of the UK motorway network at Magna Park in Leicestershire. During this time the branch network was cut from 17 sites to the 9 that are in operation today, with a reduction in staffing from 1,500 to less than 1,000 employees.

The histories of John Heath and Kingfield are distinctly different, although both companies enjoy a common heritage of building success on strong customer service and a flexible approach to business.
 

John Heath

 
John Heath established his stationery business in 1852, delivering office products around the Birmingham area and later into other parts of the country.

According to a trade press article in The British & Colonial Printer and Stationer, 1892,

" John Heath was the originator of a plan of displaying the miscellanea of the stationery trade that has contributed more than any other that we know to the fostering of small sales, with consequent profits. Gradually other houses adopted the same method of showing their wares."

In February of 1993 John Heath acquired Neville and Gladstone, another national wholesaler of office products. Neville and Gladstone had themselves previously acquired Pilot Stationers, Brady and Hunt and Beaumonts Furniture. N & G also introduced their own Punchline brand subsequently adopted by John Heath. This was later replaced by Kingfield’s house brand Q Connect as part of the Kingfield Heath integration.
 
Kingfield Wholesale Office Supplies
 

Kingfield began as "Kingsbury Press" in 1969, a wholesale stationer in Sheffield. By 1976 the company had changed its name to Kingfield and had added a further warehouse in Nottingham.
In 1983 Kingfield was purchased by Kaye Office Supplies, a holding company owned by Sir Emmanuel Kaye and family.

Over the next 16 years the company grew rapidly, a process accelerated through the acquisition of a number of regional wholesalers including Trafford Wholesale, County and Kimberley, Brian Tolley, Cotswold and Duncan & Taylor.

With sales approaching 100 million per annum and with the seven regional warehouses almost at capacity the integration with John Heath was the logical progression.