The partnership was launched on 17 March after a negotiation period of around six months. EBB will be distributing Canon’s Yellow Label, Black Label and Red Label papers from around nine warehouses in the UK, all available for next day delivery.

The entry-level Yellow Label comes in 80gsm reams, the Black Label is a mid-level range, available in reams of 75gsm and 80gsm and the Red Label A-grade product is available in a broader range of 80gsm, 90gsm and 100gsm.

EBB sales and marketing director Chris Sandwell said: “We don’t have an OEM product within our portfolio and in the cutsize market there are a lot of OEM brands sold in the UK. We wanted to have an OEM brand of our own and felt Canon was a fantastic fit for us, it really complements our existing portfolio. 

"A simple characteristic of the products is that they get whiter as they go through but they also have other characteristics like bulk and smoothness, that improves through the ranges as well.”

Sandwell added that EBB expects to bring in a colour digital product from Canon in the second half of the year, which should cover a larger grammage range of around 90-350gsm.

“The fact it’s Canon is huge for us, the fact that the brand is owned by Canon and sold by Canon and they control the whole product," he said.

Dominic Fahy, Canon group manager for display graphics systems and imaging supplies, said he was delighted to partner with EBB.

“Our branded products coupled with their stock and distribution network will be a winning combination,” he said.

Other cutsize products sold by 280-staff EBB include Navigator, Eclipse and International Paper’s Rey range. 

The £135m-turnover outfit shifts around 180,000 tonnes of paper a year, operating from headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire. It has a number of sales offices and warehouses across the UK.