Bedford-based Springfield Business Supplies is celebrating having clocked up a quarter century providing business products to companies throughout the region.
Frances and Jason Stephen bought the company in 1997 and have grown the business to become a leading provider of stationery and office interiors in the Midlands.
Innovation has been at the heart of their business plan and Springfield was one of the first to offer an online ordering system, that can integrate into customers’ back-office systems.
With a strong commitment to corporate responsibility, Springfield operates through a variety of initiatives to reduce the company’s environmental impacts and in turn helps its customers to meet their Net Zero Carbon objectives.
Frances Stephen explains: “With lots of products going through our warehouse each day, we generate excess recycled packaging which we divert to re-use. For example, local allotment holders use our cardboard as weed suppressant, and we were one of the first businesses in our industry to introduce electric vehicles to our fleet enabling us to reduce our fuel consumption by 38%.
The business has seen many changes over the years and its range of products has changed dramatically. Frances continues: “We certainly have fewer orders for paper clips and don’t receive requests for floppy disks anymore but despite digital transformation, we still sell lots of paper. Springfield has expanded its products and services to become a specialist in Office Interiors, Ergonomics, Workwear, and Education supplies.
The company supplies many of the region’s major players including Center Parcs, Unilever and Bedford Borough Council and Jason Stephen says over the years Springfield has had some interesting requests: “We once had a request to source 200 rubber ducks for a charity duck race and our largest order was for 600 desks to one location, but we can handle pretty much any request that an organization needs.”
As proud sponsors of Bedford Blues Rugby Club, the couple can regularly be seen at Goldington Road supporting the team. Frances Stephen says: “Working hard and playing hard is important to bring our team together. We are grateful to our customers, employees and partners for their support over the years and look forward to serving the region’s business community and making a positive impact where ever we operate.”
Springfield has ambitious plans to continue to grow and expand its product offering. The team is developing the interiors side of the business which provides designing lighting schemes and colours for impact and user wellness and design for improved office acoustics, whilst continuing to offer its ergonomic desk assessments.
