Here are links to the stories going back in time:
- BoS casts a light amid the gloom - The Scotsman - 28 July 2001
- Letts counts the days until digital diary paper launch - The Scotsman - 10 May 2003
- Weathering the storm during turbulent times - The Scotsman - 10 June 2003
- Small may be beautiful - but unusable - The Scotsman - 20 November 2003
- Red-letter day for Letts - The Scotsman - 15 December 2003
- Design for life - filofax - The Scotsman - 30 April 2004
- Hanging up on pocket assistants - The Scotsman - 10 June 2004
- Dunedin is ready to cash in on upturn - The Scotsman - 24 June 2004
- Letts Filofax sketches in plans for making acquisitions - The Scotsman - 8 January 2005
- Dear Diary, nothing much happened - The Scotsman - 5 January 2006
- Letts enters a £40 million takeover deal in its diary - The Scotsman - 6 February 2006
- Wolfson's tops - The Scotsman - 4 May 2006
- The filofax - The Scotsman - 18 November 2006
- Phoenix snaps up Aberdeen oil industry rental group - The Scotsman - 23 June 2008
- Diary factory is hit by fire - The Scotsman - 25 June 2010
- London Olympics 2012: Running rings around Scots - The Scotsman - 19 November 2011
- French firm in the frame as diary maker Letts goes up for sale again - The Scotsman - 23 September 2012
- Scottish Business Briefing – Friday 2 November, 2012 - The Scotsman - 2 November 2012
- Letts profits halved as diary maker admits tough trading will continue ... - 2 November 2012
- Stationery veterans buy Letts Filofax - The Scotsman - 20 April 2013
- Filofax bought out by chief executive - The Scotsman - 21 April 2013
- Diary publishing firm Letts changes hands again - The Scotsman - 22 April 2013
- Charles Letts, diary firm executive, dies at 49 - The Scotsman - 17 June 2014
- Obituary: Charles Letts, businessman - The Scotsman - 20 June 2014
What of the future for the company?
Well one thing not reported in the Scotsman was the departure of Gordon Presly, who stepped down as CEO of Filofax earlier this year after 27 years. I believe his departure/retirement was planned over two years earlier when he joined Harolde Savoy in partnership to form HSGP Investments Ltd to buy Filofax Letts Group in April 2013
He remains in place as a Non Executive Director and shareholder of HSGP Investments Ltd and FLB Group for the foreseeable future.
Well one thing not reported in the Scotsman was the departure of Gordon Presly, who stepped down as CEO of Filofax earlier this year after 27 years. I believe his departure/retirement was planned over two years earlier when he joined Harolde Savoy in partnership to form HSGP Investments Ltd to buy Filofax Letts Group in April 2013
He remains in place as a Non Executive Director and shareholder of HSGP Investments Ltd and FLB Group for the foreseeable future.
Wonderful article Steve, thank you for this excellent compilation of links! I wonder what will happen to Filofax now with the departure of GP. He held it together for so long, I'm worried what will happen without his continuity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on this one Laurie. However we will have to wait and see..
ReplyDeleteI had typed a lengthy comment and accidentally closed the window. I type far too slowly, but here is a much abbreviated version:
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting question for a business school seminar: What is it about the business models of Filofax, VDS and Gillio that allow the latter two smaller firms to be successful when the large, well-known, dominant firm, whose name is synonymous with the product, seems to be constantly struggling?
Fascinating question, I would love to know too.
DeleteNiche marketing rather than spreading yourself thinly and ending up with a weak diluted brand. LFG (and now FLB) has for years dived into yet another market - all guns blazing and with vast marketing expenditure - only to limp out again a couple of years later. Time Management, The Alice Temperley Collection, Flex by Filofax - there have been numerous examples. Meanwhile, poor quality overseas manufacture (ring gap, leather peal, dubious quality inserts and mechanisms etc. alienated the loyal customer base for their core product.
DeleteGillio, VDS and others don't try to do everything, or fob off poor quality items at inflated prices. What they do, they do well - and always with the customer at the forefront.
It would make a fascinating subject for a session at a management school.
Hi Tim, I couldn't agree more with your comment. What most big (stake holder) companies forget is always to keep a close eye on product quality rather then to cut costs on the wrong end of the market supply chain AND what they yet have to learn how powerful mouth-to-mouth recommendations within the consumer front are. Marketing has also to adopt a lot new understandings of the the todays internet era.
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