One month into 2011 and already Konica Minolta have 7 Independent Office Product Awards under their belt! - 20 Jan 2011 - Mark Lloyd - Director of Indirect & Channel Sales It's a fact - Konica Minolta has the best Multi-Functional Products on the market.   “Time and again, Konica Minolta’s line has proven itself in the areas that matter most to end users – reliability, ease of use, productivity and image quality”.    “With outstanding performances in these key areas….. it became readily apparent that Konica Minolta is the vendor to beat for 2011”.    That’s not just what Konica Minolta say, it’s what BLI (Buyers Lab), the leading global independent Multi-Functional Device testing laboratory said after awarding Konica Minolta the 2011 BLI Line of the Year Award: A3 MFP Line of the Year (covers both Colour and Monochrome MFPs).   As well as the winning the ‘Line of the Year’ award Konica Minolta have also won six ‘Pick of the Year’ awards for their mono devices. This achievement is significant and recognises that their long-running expertise in colour technologies is now also reflected in our mono range:   2011 BLI Pick Of The Year Awards     • bizhub 423 - Outstanding 41- to 50-ppm A3 Monochrome MFP    • bizhub 363 - Outstanding Energy Efficiency Award for the bizhub 363    • bizhub 363 - Outstanding 31- to 40-ppm A3 Monochrome MFP    • bizhub 283 - Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3 Monochrome MFP    • bizhub 223 - Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3 Monochrome MFP    • bizhub 20P - Outstanding A4 Printer for Small Workgroups     This now means that over the last 12 months, Konica Minolta have won BLI awards for every category of colour and half of their mono devices.   And it doesn’t just stop there! Konica Minolta also secured a BERTL’s Best too!     Following the launch of the bizhub C35 last year (the first A4 device sharing many of the innovative features of the award-winning A3 MFP series), Business Equipment Research & Test Laboratories (BERTL) has awarded the C35 with the ‘2010 Best Feature Rich A4 Colour MFP’ Award.     BABY BOOM AT HOE - Congratulations 5 baby boys have been born to 5 male team members during the past 19 months - we're beginning to wonder if there's something in the water!!   Alex with Jamie George with Cohen Ewen with Rory                 More pictures soon! Mike with Oliver Steven with Max    VETERAN STRIKER TURNS SIGHTS ON NEW GOALS - Aug 2010 A well-travelled Caley Thistle legend has made the latest move in a glittering career - into a suit and tie as a full-time sales executive.  Barry Wilson has turned out for eight different clubs as a professional footballer, including hundreds of games for Caley Thistle. As he nears the end of his playing days, his latest transfer is a pivotal one.  The 38-year-old, who has just signed a six-month contract with Scottish Third Division side Elgin City, his ninth team, has also gone on the books of an Inverness-based office digital printing company.   The veteran forward is now working as a sales executive for Highland Office Equipment which he described as "a new chapter" in his life.  Specialising in systems including copiers and scanners, Barry will be travelling around the Highlands meeting with customers for the Harbour Road firm which supplies digital printing and office equipment.  His new career is timely as he accepts the final curtain on his footballing days - which also included successful stints at Ross County, Livingston and Raith Rovers - will fall soon.   Now based in Dingwall, he has found it increasingly hard to recover physically after matches.  "This will definitely be my last season" he said "I have been lucky in my career that I haven't picked up too many major injuries and I think that's helped me play this long.  I'm assistant manager at Elgin so that will be two nights training Tuesday and Thursday and then Saturday so it's now going to be a six-day week.  I'll need my Sundays!".  Having completed his football coaching qualifications he admits his first option would have been a full-time position with a club but was realistic about his opportunities.  "My location limits me because there are only two full-time teams here but I'll still be playing part-time with Elgin".  Barry, who made 353 appearances and scored 83 goals during two spells with Caley Thisle, was awarded a testimonial against Liverpool in 2008.  He said he had a lot to learn about his new career but was looking forward to getting the shackles off in the next few months.   July 2010   Putting customers first has kept HOE here for 38 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