7 June 2022

Better, faster, stronger

When things change, some things stay the same – and that’s never been truer than with the enhanced partnership, improved distribution and new brand name just announced by Sappi and EBB 

As many UK printers will already be aware, there’s a new-but-familiar paper on the market with the rebranding of Sappi’s GalerieArt range as Sappi Magno. The change is significant not only because it brings the Sappi/EBB woodfree coated fine paper offering into line with the global Magno brand, but because it marks an enhanced level of cooperation between these two leading industry players.

“It’s a logical step for us,” says Chris Sandwell, sales and marketing director at EBB. “The Sappi message – Europe-wide and global – about their woodfree coated offering is now consistent across the UK and in-step globally. We’re delighted that customers will be buying the most recognised woodfree coated product in Europe.

“Magno is a known name with a strong reputation. And the product and availability haven’t changed – which are the two things that are key to our customers.”

That dual emphasis on product and availability is something that has been at the heart of the single-source arrangement between EBB and Sappi since the UK’s leading family owned, independent paper and board supplier decided to move from three coated paper suppliers to one back in 2018.

“For the past four years, the partnership between us and Sappi has been all about creating efficiency – which, at the end of the day, drives value for our customers,” continues Sandwell. “We believe that the critical thing for the UK market is to consistently provide the largest range of products with the deepest stock – with availability being absolutely key. 

“What we’ve been able to do with our partnership with Sappi is to continue to drive the internal benefits that allow us to be very competitive in the marketplace while maintaining the highest stocks possible to support the UK market.”

Sappi UK managing director Jonathan Hunt is another firm believer in the value of this partnership – both for driving mutual efficiencies and for standing firm in the face of the tough difficulties that have beset the market since 2018.

“We are fully aligned with the EBB philosophy around availability of stock for their customers,” says Hunt. “We've had to weather a good few storms since we came together in this partnership. Brexit was about continuity, Covid was about scaling back and then ramping up ahead of demand, while the transport shortage and the recent paper supply issues made us look together at how we organise and build contingency.”

Through it all, EBB have been well positioned to serve their customers and maintain good stock levels thanks to a partnership built on cooperation, information sharing, planning and, most of all, close communication.

For Hunt, “the next step in enhancing our partnership” is the introduction of Magno. “We have this huge brand in Europe, but not in the UK, and that brand comes with strong global marketing activity. As market leader, Magno benefits from the resources that a company like Sappi can provide. All this will benefit EBB and allow them to pass those benefits on to their customers, many of whom will already recognise the product. Magno is a much stronger, more recognisable brand.”

For Sandwell, this latest development is part of a continuous pattern of incremental improvements that EBB and Sappi are constantly working to implement for the benefit of the market as a whole. 

“The commercial print market is very much a just-in-time market,” he says. “Reliability of availability is absolutely paramount to customers – making sure that they've actually got the material every day of every week. That's the bit in the background that we work on very, very hard with Sappi. Some of the things that we do together, the customers don’t necessarily see – but it's the reason we're able to carry on providing the service levels that we do.”

And there’s one more aspect that Sandwell believes shouldn’t be underestimated. “Ultimately, we've got to build a sustainable future,” he says. “And the closer our links with Sappi, the more touch points that we can take out of the supply chain and the more efficiencies we can drive, the closer that sustainable future becomes.”