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Insider The write stuff Neil Cleere founded The Pen Warehouse in 1999 with partner Mandy Warren. It’s grown from modest beginnings to become one of the leading names in the UK promotional gifts industry. PPD caught up with Neil recently to talk about his roots, his business – and much more. The year was 1969 – not exactly the most auspicious time for a Republic of Ireland teenager to move to Belfast. “I had moved from a very peaceful rural setting to a very troubled part of the island,” Neil Cleere remembers. However, against the background of what became known as “The Troubles”, there were other big changes happening for Neil. “My college education took on a much more technical bias. I attended the Londonderry College of Technology and the NI Polytechnic before ultimately gaining a degree in mechanical engineering at Queens University, Belfast.” After university, Neil’ moved into production management, followed by a spell in technical sales. “All of this experience was in surface finishing and decoration.” And behind it all, a plan. “I decided quite early on that my long-term goal would be to build a manufacturing business and in 1987 I started Graphitec Designs, primarily involved in the design and manufacture of cardboard engineered displays and promotional items.” Neil sold the business in 1994 for personal reasons but continued to manage it for another five years. Then came The Pen Warehouse. “When we started the business, we were very lucky to have the support of Leccé Pen, based in Italy. “Their range was extensive and value for money but like many European manufacturers of the time, they were only interested in supplying large volume orders. “We therefore had to make a commitment to a significant UK stockholding and this enabled us to produce small orders with a quick turnaround. This allowed us to grow quite quickly.” There was another key ingredient in this success – people. “There was no shortage of ideas that would grow our pen business but recruiting staff that could make it work proved to be pivotal to our success. “I consider myself very lucky to have surrounded myself with hard working, flexible, self-motivated staff.” So what makes The Pen Warehouse stand out from the crowd Two words, says Neil – “technical expertise”. “Many of our products are designed in-house and this allows us to supply products to a standard and design not available elsewhere. “Several of our machines have been redesigned with unique motion control that enables us to provide high quality print at very high speed and large print areas not normally available elsewhere. “This combination of unique design and the economies of scale associated with bulk purchasing and high speed printing enables us to produce great quality products at very competitive prices.” As the company’s name suggests, The Pen Warehouse hasn’t been tempted to diversify beyond writing instruments and accessories. “Firstly, we feel we would lose our identity in the eyes of our distributors, because we are regarded as a specialist supplier. “Secondly, we have an agenda to develop and extend our range of writing instruments way beyond current levels and this will require a great deal of focus. Other, unrelated product development would be an unwelcome distraction.” Talking of distractions, there’s little that seems to divert Neil’s attentions away from his business. “I am totally absorbed in The Pen Warehouse – it’s difficult to say where my private life ends and my working life begins.” He does, though, admit to a passion for photography. “As I shoot many of our publicity images and all of our product images I can justify my indulgence in what is a fairly expensive hobby,” he jokes. Ask him to choose his favourite Pen Warehouse product and he’ll find it a tough question. “My favourite product is always the one I am working on at the moment.” “I am totally absorbed in The Pen Warehouse – it’s difficult to say where my private life ends and my working life begins” Right now, that means evaluating the first production samples of a new range of display boxes. As far as past achievements are concerned, he particularly singles out the space pen (“which required the input of four different manufacturers in three separate countries”) and the company’s Biofree range, which has a special additive that kills known pathogens. “Both of those products took years to bring to a successful completion, and a great deal of negotiation.” But as always with Neil, his eyes are very much on the road ahead. “With rising costs of raw materials, particularly brass, the need to evaluate alternatives is always high on our agenda. “The evaluation of composite materials that have the same characteristics as brass in terms of weight and feel will remain an ongoing and important project for us. “Another very important project is the development of both flat and round pens suitable for full colour printing.” Of course, 2008 has brought its own exceptional set of challenges for commerce around the world, but Neil remains bullish about his company’s performance. “We’ve been exceptionally lucky, as we have seen no decline in sales over last year. We were anticipating growth of about 22 per cent in the last 12 months, which was not realized, so it could be argued that is a form of loss in itself. “Personally, I don’t look at it that way, because we didn’t scale up our infrastructure by 22 per cent and therefore did not incur the associated costs of growth.” Of course, that doesn’t mean the company is untouched by the effects of the credit crunch. “We’re seeing much higher levels of bad debt in recent months than in previous years and we expect this to continue for some time yet, as the weaker distributors run out of time and money. “This factor, when combined with the overall downturn in business, compounds the problem for suppliers. “Very weak balance sheets are characteristic of many distributors and as the recession runs its course some of the weaker distributors will be pushed over the brink. “Much greater depth is to be found in supplier companies and I would expect a much lower percentage of failures at that end of the supply chain.” One thing that comes over strongly when you talk to Neil is his passion for education, a passion reflected in The Pen Warehouse’s Story Sacks project. Teachers are supplied with a small sack of themed contents, normally a book and some props to bring the story to life. Neil says: “I come from a background where it was totally unheard of for children to leave school without being able to read and write. “To my astonishment, I discovered that in our local primary schools here in Aldershot up to 52 per cent of pupils have special needs.” As for Neil Cleere, his story is far from over – he’s busy right now, writing the next chapter. 37
Page 1: JULY 2009 ISSUE 14 Showing the way
Page 4 and 5: News Diary Dates Dates correct at t
Page 6: News Show business pays off for LSi
Page 9 and 10: Features Careful choice is the key
Page 11 and 12: Insider Flash of inspiration Six ye
Page 14 and 15: Products Newcomer is a timely help
Page 16 and 17: Products Innovative drink idea puts
Page 18 and 19: People Best man for the job as Chri
Page 20: Regulars More than ever, it’s all
Page 23 and 24: Regulars Define what you do properl
Page 25 and 26: Regulars Minority retort: Opportuni
Page 27 and 28: Why the devil’s in the detail whe
Page 29 and 30: Sleek and silvery is a hit - and no
Page 35: Features Perfect finish Its time to
Page 39 and 40: Retro gaming: Firebox’s Sega Mega
Page 41 and 42: Features Making gifts special makes
Page 43 and 44: News Success stories: Jose Thomas w
Page 45: Two days out of the office will hel
Page 48 and 49: collection 61192 61003 61188 btcact
Page 50 and 51: PCD Fruit of the Loom offers new ha
Page 52 and 53: PCD Sock it to them with fun, festi
Page 54 and 55: A F F O R D A B L E P R O M O T I O
Page 56 and 57: The Trade Only National Show 2010.
Page 58 and 59: Tittle Tattle Where are they this w
Page 60 and 61: Supplier Directory To feature in th
Page 62 and 63: Supplier Directory To feature in th

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