Among the office suppliers, White sees larger, multi-national companies benefiting from a weaker dollar.

FORBES: Intelligent Investing Panel

On the issue of price points, White doesn't see stores like Wal-Mart taking too much market share from the traditional office suppliers.

FORBES: Intelligent Investing Panel

Tony Blair has rejected a backbencher's call for him to instruct officials to serve coffee and tea in his office only from suppliers who stick to "fair trade standards".

BBC: News | UK Politics | Commons stir over coffee

Rather than set up websites for specific projects, its software integrates the back-office systems of builders and suppliers, in the same way that modern supermarkets and their suppliers are linked.

ECONOMIST: Construction and the Internet

By creating what is commonly known as a "horizontal" marketplace, Intelisys brings together buyers from across a number of industries to purchase everything from office supplies to bed linens from an array of suppliers.

FORBES: The AOL of B-to-B

As companies evolve into loose bundles of alliances, suppliers and distributors, bound together mainly by communications, head office may re-emerge as the best place from which to run the show.

ECONOMIST: Lean, mean and has-been

The annual global summit, hosted by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), with support from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for Education (DfE), the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and several industry partners, examines where rapid progress is taking place in education and showcases effective education policies and strategies that are driving success.

UNESCO: head highlights education keys to success