Inkjet supplies a complete range of re-manufactured Inkjet and toner cartridges that are compatible with all major printers.
The company has a head office in Birmingham, where its management and accounts team are both located. It sells its products through a nationwide chain of high street shops or from their 24/7 online shop.
The company was formed seven years ago by two of the three controlling shareholders
The current shareholding percentages of IWL are:
• Paul Farnon (managing director) – owns 40% of shares
• Victoria Dawson (sales director) – owns 30% of shares
• Anil Gupta (finance director) – owns 30% of shares
Two of the founding directors have previous experience in the printer cartridge sector. As a result of their knowledge they knew a strong demand existed for less expensive and more environmentally friendly products.
The main objective of the entity is to offer a facility where customers are able to exchange their used cartridges for a 10% discount against the price of a replacement cartridge. The next step is for Inkwell to send the cartridges to a small number of manufacturers to refill them. Inkwell strives for quality products and make clear to the manufacturers that the yield must be as good as the originals.
The company operates a Just In Time policy for their retail shops and holds enough stock in their online to shop to be able to deliver goods the day after purchase. These strategies are aimed to minimize inventory-holding costs.
In the period the company has been operating it has seen a stable growth. They currently have a turnover of more than £16 million. The number of employees is estimated to be around 180 and all of who are full-time.
Inkwell Ltd adopts a hierarchal or ‘tall’ structure (see appendix). A hierarchy is a series of level of people, which each level control by the level above it. These types of organisational structures are typical for a large company,