Putting customers first has kept HOE here for 36 years   Bringing the world's leading office solutions to customers across the north of Scotland, Highland Office Equipment is celebrating its recent appointment as the only Canon dealer in the Highlands.   The Directors Alex Main, Willie Main and Steven McLennan revealed their delight in being able to offer customers the Canon brand.   “We’re really excited about this, as Canon is one of the biggest names in the world for imaging products and solutions,” Alex Main explained. “They are very particular about choosing their dealers, so it is a prestigious appointment for us. Canon has not had a commercial outlet in the Highlands for more than 15 years. Customers living in the Highlands who wanted equipment from the Canon range had to buy from down south. Now the brand has a local presence with all the benefits this brings.”   read more >>   INVESTORS IN PEOPLE YET AGAIN! Tuesday 3rd February 2010 We would like to thank all the members of our Team at HOE for helping the company achieve the Investors in People Award for the 4th time. CONGRATULATIONS!   £250K DEAL BUILDS OFFICE FIRM'S IMAGE Inverness Courier - Tuesday May 19th 2009   An Inverness company has beaten off competition from across the UK to secure a £250,000 contract to supply and maintain digital photocopiers to schools across the Highlands.  The success marks another milestone for Highland Office Equipment (HOE) of Harbour Road, which has seen business increase in the first few months of 2009 despite the recession.    "It underpins what has been a very good start to 2009 for us" confirmed director Alex Main.  "Our figures are actually up on the first four months of last year.  This has been helped by large office furniture contracts throughout Scotland, plus significant work in Fife for a major whisky distiller.  And in Inverness we have just completed the furnishings for the Centre for Health Science at Raigmore Hospital."   The latest contract has been awarded by Alpha Highland Schools PPP through Morrison Facilities Services.  It will see HOE install Konica Minolta photocopiers in Millburn Academy, Drummond School, Inshes Primary and the Inverness Gaelic Primary.  Equipment is also being supplied to Dingwall Academy, Resolis Primary, Culbokie Primary and Cawdor Primary, plus Portree High School and Kinlochleven High and Primary schools.  The colour copies can print up to 65 pages a minute.    "We were bidding against companies in London so it is encouraging to be successful" Mr Main said.  "This award has the potential to continue on a rolling basis".   HOE was established in Inverness in 1974 by Roy Maclennan and Willie Main, moving to its existing custom-built premises in 1998.  It employs 33 people, including its own team of engineers.  In 2006 the firm was named by Konica as its leading distributor of new machines in Scotland.   The latest contract has been awarded by Alpha

HIGHLAND CASHING IN ON NORTH OFFICE BOOM

New office developments springing up around the Highland capital are helping to propel an Inverness supply company to new heights. Highland Office Equipment (HOE), based in the city's Harbour Road, has seen sales of its photocopiers, printers, fax machines, furniture and other equipment soar amid increased activity within the office sector. Director Roy McLennan said the business was on course for another strong increase in annual turnover - which came in at £4 million last time - in the trading year to the end of May. He added that HOE had seen annual turnover growth of about 12% in recent years. The expansion is also being driven by new technology and a trend for companies to ditch their old black-and-white photocopiers in favour of colour. Extra business for the 32-year-old firm has seen its workforce grow to 34 recently. Chairman Willie Main said: "A huge slice of the new sales is repeat business from companies that are upgrading or expanding and it's nice to see so many of our long-estabished customers growing and developing. The key trend we're seeing is that black-and-white copiers are going the way of black-and-white televisions." With a client base stretching from Moray to the Western Isles, communication is all-important and the firm's service engineers are all being issued with handheld computers to help them to speed up response times. Mr McLennan said: "The customer logs a call via the (HOE) website and gives details of the problem. Within a minute our nearest engineer will have the details and nature of the problem, plus a service history of the digital photocopier machine involved. We'll automatically e-mail the customer confirming their call has been logged and an engineer has been dispatched." HOE's increased sales have earned it an accolade from equipment maker Konica, which has just rated the company as its top distributor of new machines in Scotland. Keith Findlay, The Press and Journal, May 2006