Graham Carlin joined Blake Envelopes as operations director in August 2015, following the demise of former employer Robert Horne, and was promoted to the position of general manager last month. 

Carlin said: “For me, this is very much an opportunity to work with a business that very much reminds me of my time at Robert Horne. That feeling of being within a family business, a strong business with a passion for what it is doing.

“Having come from a business that had failed, this is an enormous opportunity and a challenge that I didn’t feel I could walk away from.”

Carlin was with paper merchant Robert Horne for 29 years, working his way up from the shop floor, and was ultimately responsible for overseeing around 500 employees. 

The business became a Paperlinx merchanting brand in 2007 and was rebranded under the Paperlinx banner in 2013 along with Howard Smith and PaperCo. Most of the Paperlinx Group went into administration in April 2015. 

Before his appointment to his new role at Blake, general manager responsibilities were divided between managing director Michael Barter, who was responsible for overseeing sales, marketing and purchasing, and director Tim Browning, who was responsible for HR, IT and finance.

Barter said: “From my point of view, I saw in Graham skillsets that I don't have in relation to the managing of people, training and improving other people’s skills.

“We are entering quite an exciting phase now. We have a lot of the fundamental plans in place to progress forward with opening new hubs or branches around the country and we couldn’t have done it without Graham’s expertise in taking control of the general manager position and enabling us to push on."

Barter did not reveal more about what he called Blake’s new “hubs of excellence” but said the first should be rolled out in London in early 2017 with Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester earmarked as other potential locations.

"We have 1,400 products available from stock for next day delivery into this country and 48-hour delivery into Europe but many people wouldn’t be aware of that. We tend to be a very well kept secret,” added Barter. 

“It’s not that the supply chain changes but it’s making decision-makers aware of what is available instantly. These new offices will clearly help with diversification as we will be closer to the action."

Last January, former Office Depot sales director Gary Rowan joined Blake as sales director. 

Yeovil-based Blake employs 58 staff and has a turnover of around £24m.