EXCLUSIVE: Corporate Express confirms redundancies

Being owned by a stationary company it was only a matter of time

Corporate Express IS a stationery company. The IT business was only ever a small division within it. Being bought by Staples didn't change the core business.

@Pricey thats what the common perception is. I was there when IT started and is was a small part and grew to a big thing and then started shrinking. Lucky for me I got out early, unlucky for my mates that are now jobless

It says 5%. ive heard it more like 20%.. can anyone confirm?

This company has declined, not just in IT, and what was once the jewel in the crown has very much gone from the penthouse to the outhouse.
I hear it is a greater percentage of the workforce as they have lost clients from every angle.
It is sad to see a success story become a shadow of its former self.
I once worked there, and it was nothing the new owners Staples did, more the staff and managers reluctance to change with the times.

The redundancies within the IT division (of Corporate Express) are a big cut that will change the face of the IT business and move it back to a transactional one instead of the SI and Managed Services business it was trying to evolve into. A real shame.

welcome back to the future(2007) try doing business with no service division in the current business environment, CE IT will be struggle town as they still have the same old suck arse management in place. This cut was only just the start, watch this space for more to come when the client's jump ship to total IT solution providers.

The IT business was a very successful one over the last few years
I work at a vendor that has grown with CE 3fold.

They had a great business with a great leader, good people and loyal customers.

My company (Tier 1 IT Vendor) has worked with the Corporate Express team for many years now and consider them to be one of the best Tier 1 IT Vendors in the IT industry. Corporate Express have a well educated and experienced sales force and will continue to thrive in IT through the changes. Thank you to the Corporate Express sales and management team/s for your professionalism and the ongoing support of our brand.

That was a happy and profitable top 5 reseller quietly building year on year until they lost the plot about 3 years ago and changed the management and messed up the sales teams. Hopefully it can be salvaged.

“@ unlucky”, I agree with you they were very much underestimated by the channel. They were quiet achievers in their hay day.

“@ not again”, I have heard that 40-50% of the IT staff have lost their jobs.

“@ CT” yes 3 years is spot on. The whole place changed when Marcus Heron left, the sales teams had a hard time with the new structure imposed upon them and managed services was a black financial hole. The sales people always seemed to be in “strategy meetings” instead of helping customers which they use to excel at.

They adopted a no service business model, wonderful for Government bodies and the like, not well recd by paying customers.

working at c/exp over the last few years has been a challange the company is in decline and the current management is to blame staff morale is at an all time low losing customers almost daily .management are more interested in their pay packets than looking after staff and customers with recent changes to try and make budget to get bounses by falsifing the books this company is in trouble and im only there waiting for my redundancy package .staples bought a company but have failed to replace the existing managers or senior staff in any of the branches thats the problem or their running the company into the ground