LAUNCH: From left, Canotec’s David Newman, Ian Smith, Mark Allen, Steve Weir and Gary Paradise with the digital copier specialist’s trademark paper jet outside the Royal Crescent in Bath

Canotec has opened up a South West dealership in response to increasing demand from companies keen to improve paperless documentation.

In a new venture with imaging solutions giant Canon UK, Canotec acquired the staff and customers of BEST.

Canotec South West was established following rising levels of enquiries from local firms about how green office technology can increase efficiency and reduce running costs in the recession.

Canotec founding directors Steve Weir and David Newman, based at the company’s headquarters near Southampton in Hampshire, were looking to open in the region for two years.

The company already services a growing client base in the South West in the legal, education and financial services sectors.

David said: “It is important to stress that we are building on an existing client base of nearly 400 customers and a dedicated and award-winning service and IT support team. 

“It is our intention to deliver exceptional service, real value and measurable business improvement to both existing and prospective customers as we grow our South West team, client base and offerings, and Bristol is an important area for us because of its regional weight.”

Canotec South West is headed up by Mark Allen and Gary Paradise, both formerly of BEST, with David Newman and Steve Weir as co-directors.

Mark said: “This is an exciting stage in Canotec’s growth plans and we are building on a solid footing of well-established local customers and our existing local team for continuity, support and that personal touch and care.”

Clients include well-known legal firms Osborne Clarke, Lemon & Co and Wansbroughs and significant employers such as Bath Building Society, Western Power Distribution and Norland College.

The latest clients, in February 2010, include Bristol-based Chartwell Group, a financial solutions specialist.

Chartwell signed up after attending Canotec South West’s recent Bristol Planetarium roadshow, an event which highlighted the bottom-line benefits of the new Canon imageRUNNER Advance range.

Working with Mark is a team of four account managers and 10 technical and field-based service and support engineers.He said: “A typical office of 100 staff in the regional will spend up to £400 per

employee on document creation, a figure that could be halved with our less-paper office approach.”

Andrew Thomas, Canon’s sales development manager (Canon Partner Channel), said: “Canotec is a tried-and-trusted partner of Canon’s, which repeatedly delivers for clients, and we have no doubt that our new venture will prove a winner in four ways - for Canotec, Canon, clients and the environment.”

Paper usage in UK offices is a growing environmental concern.

Figures from Canotec show that 100 office-based staff will typically use 112 trees every year in paper, based on 8,333 sheets sourced from one tree.

 Despite the environmental implications, paper usage is reportedly increasing some 20 per cent a year, mainly due to compliance, data protection and audit trial requirements.

Canotec deploys solutions, using licensed software, which harness digital scanning power to capture and convert paper-based documents into electronic files for seamless digital capture, distribution and retrieval.