Osbornes The Stationers In Administration

Osbornes the Stationers the latest casualty. When will our bloody Government do something to save our businesses instead of messing about with a corrupt Chinese Government with an appalling human rights record.
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/loc...s-falls-6367530

I used the one at Sheldon for many years after I started self employment.
Eventually my visits were wasted because they didn't carry in stock anything I wanted . The catalogue would come out on the counter and I would have to order in the shop and then return a few days later to collect.
Just down the road was Staples who had everything on display. Then when they discontinued my favourite items I started shopping around on-line. I haven't set foot in a stationery shop for ten years.
I still haven't found a supplier I would go to twice though.

I have just tried Osbornes on line for laser toner.
After clicking on all the choices to narrow it down to my precise model I was presented with a page that started ......

"Sorry, we could not find that product.
If you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to contact us below with a brief description of the product you are looking for. We'll try to find the product from one of our suppliers and will get back to you."

Well with service like that they are getting what they deserve.

I also looked up the price of the type of paper I use (100gsm) and found the price to be £10 plus VAT
It is listed at Staples for £7.16 plus VAT.
Companies can only list prices excluding VAT if their target audience is trade. In which case I would expect a trade price not a 30% increase.

This isn't anything to do with the government that the people voted for, nor is it down to the Chinese, it is down to overcharging and inefficiency, the death knell of any business.