Work out your true cost per page
Add machine cost, toner and the click charge, the per-page fee in a managed print contract, together into one figure per page.
Run the true cost calculator →See what your business supplies actually cost
For office managers, practice managers and owner-operators handed the buying without a trade background. Work through the pricing, the contracts and the compliance rules with the figures set out in front of you.
Read the buying guidesSee what you actually pay
Put your own figures in and watch the total move. Both tools show their formula, and the result is illustrative arithmetic, not procurement advice or a guaranteed cost.
Compare a contract against buying as you go
Enter your monthly volume to see whether a supplier contract or ad-hoc ordering costs less once admin time and storage are counted.
Run the contract comparison →Where these numbers come from
Both calculators use the pricing mechanics a dealer applies to your account, set out with worked figures in the pricing guide.
Read how pricing works →The number on the quote is where the negotiation starts
List price is the figure a supplier prints on a catalogue, website or standard quote before any account terms are applied. It exists mainly as a starting point for negotiation.
Take a box of A4 paper listed at £28. A new account with no order history might be quoted close to that figure, while an account buying the same box every month on a negotiated rate could pay £19 for it, with no change to the product. The difference is the dealer margin, the amount a supplier builds into its price above what the goods actually cost it to source and deliver, and how much of that margin gets discounted away depends entirely on the size and history of the account asking.
For a buyer setting up a new account, or reviewing one that has been running unchecked for years, that gap is the thing worth chasing before anything else. A quote that looks reasonable in isolation can still be a long way from what a comparable business is paying for the same items, and there is no way to see that from the list price alone.
The pricing guide works through where that margin sits and what typically moves it.
Know which body enforces the rule
Each guide names the UK body that sets the requirement and links to its own guidance, so you know exactly whose word to check.
Chairs, screens and DSE rules
HSE sets the requirements for display screen equipment in the UK. See what a DSE assessment means for chairs and monitors.
Read the DSE guide →What an eco claim must prove
The CMA's Green Claims Code sets what a recycled, biodegradable or carbon-neutral claim has to stand behind in the UK.
Read the eco claims guide →Food-contact supplies and the FSA
The Food Standards Agency sets the boundary for food-contact packaging and catering supplies in the UK; checking a supplier against it is for the FSA.
Browse buying guides →What the date next to a supplier's name means
Each entry in the directory carries a date: the day its trading status was checked against its record at Companies House, and the source used for that check. A trading-status check is a look at whether a company is still registered and active on that record, done on a specific date.
That date matters because status can change between one check and the next. A company can be dissolved, merged or simply stop trading without anyone updating a website that still lists it. The entry tells you when the status was last confirmed, not that it holds today, so for anything beyond a small one-off order it is worth checking the current record yourself before you commit.
Inclusion in the directory does not depend on a supplier paying for a placement or a listing fee. An entry describes what a supplier is set up to sell and when its status was last checked. The basis for including a supplier is set out on the About page.
Two ways to see where your money is going
One shows you what drives the price on a quote. The other lets you put your own numbers in and see the result straight away.