STEP into almost any large office in central Scotland and the chances
are that you'll see the work of OEP all around you. OEP have furnished
thousands of offices all over the country and they're not even open here
-- yet.
The Essex-based firm don't officially open their first Scottish base
in Livingston's Dean Industrial Estate until the beginning of December.
Yet they already supply the majority of desking for the Scottish Office
and many other offices throughout Scotland in addition to UK-wide
contracts for DSS offices, Inland Revenue, British Telecom and the
National Savings Bank.
James Silvestro, the Scottish sales manager, explained why, at a time
when most firms are struggling to keep afloat, OEP are making a firm
commitment to an expansion which has already been estimated at more than
#500,000.
''OEP are already a successful company even without any representation
here. We have all these contracts without having anyone selling here.
''We wanted to expand and to improve services for our customers, who
were being supplied from a firm more than 400 miles away.''
Scottish customers from as far afield as Inverness and the Western
Isles will benefit from the proximity of the new base. ''There are two
ways to buy office furniture in Scotland,'' said Mr Silvestro. ''You can
either buy from the manufacturer who can give you a good price but
doesn't offer back-up services -- or you can buy from a dealer who
offers the services but who will be more expensive.
''OEP combine the advantages you would expect from both -- we can
offer good prices and good service as we are both manufacturer and the
dealer on the doorstep.''
Most of the manufacturing is done at the 60,000 sq. ft Waltham Abbey
base but there are plans to extend this too, so that seating will be
manufactured at the new Scottish premises.
The desks are supplied to the Livingston plant in component form to be
assembled there. Around 600 can be stocked at any time and this allows
greater flexibility for customers -- in some cases making 48-hour
delivery possible.
One customer has already seen even greater benefits of the new OEP
location, as operations manager Peter Slater explained: ''A customer in
Inverness had forgotten to place their order in time. They only managed
to give us 24 hours' notice but within that time 70% of their order had
been despatched as we had most of the equipment in stock.''
With the bulk of orders ranging from 150 to 520 work stations, the
installation is a major operation and one which operates best when the
layout of the furniture has been worked out in advance between OEP and
the client.
''Occasionally clients do place their own but we know the best way to
utilise the equipment. And it is best if we have planned the
installation in advance,'' said Mr Slater.
Each OEP ''package'' is tailor-made to suit the individual needs of
clients. There is the Alpha range, TX1000 executive range and the new
Beta range, a wire-managed (which allows wires from VDUs, telephones and
other desk-top equipment to be incorporated into the desk structure) and
very flexibile desking system.
And while the core range of desking, seating, screens and storage
units is comprehensive, at times further adaptations are made to meet
individual requirements -- a large JobCentre contract meant a special
batch of green desks.
''We are sensitive to the market and do change products to offer
tailor-made contracts. There are fashions in colour and design but oak
is still the most popular for desking in the UK,'' added Mr Silvestro.
''We're not the cheapest or the dearest: what we provide is a very good
quality desk at a reasonable price.''
Although OEP prices are certainly competitive -- OEP beat firms from
all over Europe to win the Scottish Office contract -- there are other
important considerations for firms who are re-equipping offices. Apart
from the durability and design of the furniture, the comfort and safety
of those who will use it should be a priority -- and it is with OEP.
''We have always been very conscious of this side of our business and
have always complied with all British Standards,'' commented Mr
Silvestro, who added that OEP also comply with the EC directives on
office furniture standards which will come into force at the end of the
year.
In addition, he is organising an Ergonomics at Work seminar, to be
held in Edinburgh and hosted by the Scottish Office, in an effort to
make office managers more aware of the changes required to keep the pace
with the changes in office technology.
The increased use of VDUs has major implications for office practice
and inappropriate furniture or a badly planned layout can have high
long-term costs for any company and its staff.
Inadequate working environments and things such as noise from
inappropriately placed copiers, printers and fax machines can also add
to the stresses of modern-day living and can be a factor in high staff
turnover. A badly planned office will be inefficient in other ways, too
-- perhaps staff have to make lengthy and frequent journeys to reach
vital pieces of equipment -- which is why attention to detail at the
planning stage is vital.
''We can advise on where the problem areas are and how they can be
dealt with effectively, perhaps using screens or relocating certain
pieces of equipment to another part of the office,'' said Mr Silvestro.
''Staff safety and comfort are vital to the efficiency of the office
and we take this into account in the design of the furniture and the
layout. Again, this is where OEP has the advantage over firms who are
simply dealers -- we are in control of the product. No manufacturer
dictates standards to us, we know that we are offering the customer the
best product -- we know because we have it made ourselves.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article