COS was established by their father Peter Emery in 1968, then trading as Celtic Office Supplies from a garage in Dinas Powys. Following the acquisition of competitor Cardiff Office Supplies in 1997 the business changed its name. In its first year of trading, the company employed four people and achieved a turnover of £30,000. Today it has a workforce of about 50 and revenues of £7.5m.

COS’ main business is in supplying office products and stationery, as well as specialising in business interiors – including fit-out, refurbishment and furniture. In 2003, COS diversified into marketing and promotional products, with the formation of its sister company, The Pitch.

James Emery, eldest son of Peter and current managing director, joined the family business in 1989 straight from college.

James and his brothers have identified areas where they see potential for expansion and where they can use their expertise and knowledge to take advantage of a growing market. Take the company’s environmental arm – Natural Power Wales. It has exploited a growing market for renewable energy, specialising in the supply and installation of renewable energy systems.

“We are targeting a turnover of £760,000 in Natural Power Wales’ first full year,” explained Mr Emery. That target is part of a wider strategy for COS to reach a turnover of £10m “as soon as possible”.

The fact that it is growing through a recession is testament to its strategy, Mr Emery said. He went on: “We have seen the recession biting and we have seen lots of our customers making redundancies.

“Make no mistake, a recession is going to hit a business-to-business provider such as COS. But what we have done is pitch for new business and we have done that very successfully.

“We have recently re-secured two historic customers of ours – the Principality Building Society and Dow Corning – in addition there are plenty of accounts that have been added in the last 18 months.

“We have been aggressively going for new business, looking at what customers want from us.”

Mr Emery pointed to the “major opportunities” a recession can present to a well-run business.

“If you do a good job for somebody in one area, then you have every right to look at other areas of business to get new opportunities. My brother David has a cautious approach to spending and a cautious approach to the cost base of the company, I’m far more gun ho and I think that mix is appropriate – caution and good business sense allied to an element of positivity.

“We have approached the recession looking to develop the strategic relationships we have with our business partners and I think it is all about recognising how we can assist these companies and how they can help us.”

Mr Emery said it is difficult to see when the recession will bottom out, with many of COS’ clients still looking to control costs. But despite the gloom surrounding the economy, COS is continuing its ambitious outlook and expansionary agenda.

“We are absolutely ripe for acquiring other businesses,” said Mr Emery.

“There are respected competitors out there that may not be enjoying the best of times and we would be more than happy to talk with them about merger or acquisition.

“Better that happens than a company goes out of business and people are out of work.”

As well as acquisitive growth, COS is looking to grow through diversification, having seen its Pitch and Natural Power Wales businesses perform solidly after they were established.

“You have to have the right degree of comfort, for example with Natural Power Wales, renewable energy fitted within our existing business. “Whatever we do down the line there has to be the right element of linkage but we have to be alive to ideas.”

Keen to play his part in the community away from his company, Mr Emery has become a trustee of the charity Major Music. And he has also taken on a role with the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, acting as chairman of its Cardiff council. He was a member of the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce before its demise, as well as NGB2B which subsequently took control of chamber services in the capital and established the south Wales body.

The South Wales Chamber is in talks with its sister organisation the West Wales Chamber of Commerce over a merger, with a super chamber encompassing a region from Fishguard to Chepstow likely to be established by the autumn this year.

Mr Emery says that such bodies are vital for the future health of the private sector in Wales. A passion of his, he says, is getting Welsh businesses to work together.

“Welsh businesses have to get better at doing business with each other. Cardiff, Swansea and Newport are getting closer together and as a Barry-based business our market covers all of south Wales.

“It is quite exciting to be the chairman of the Cardiff committee, we are trying to get away from the tried and tested chamber model and if you are going to have a South Wales Chamber of Commerce, to stop west of Bridgend makes no sense at all.

“We have to incorporate Swansea and the West as well. Swansea is an incredibly vibrant and exciting city and Newport is growing fast as well while Cardiff is the hub of south Wales business.

“We have our own government and if we are going to attract inward investment, increase our exports, and attract new sporting events then we need to think big. A larger chamber body gives us the opportunity to overcome parochialism.”

Aled Blake, Western Mail