Spotlight On
A spotlight on RS Components
This month’s spotlight shines on electronic and industrial components distributor, RS Components. Amy Wallington, CIE editor, talks to Mike England, UK country manager and head of region for Northern Europe, about his career leading to RS Components
Spares almost 80 years ago in a lock-up in north-west London to the £1.29 billion global distribution business of today, RS has responded to changing markets, technologies and the way business is done. The consistent factor throughout this time has certainly been the unwavering determination of our people to put the customer at the centre of everything we do. It’s in our DNA. In our 1937 Autumn Catalogue issued to the market, we gave an ‘unconditional guarantee – the customer is always right’. And from these origins, we have strived to continue in the spirit of our founders, listening to our customers and evolving our service to their changing demands and needs.
Mike England M
ike England, currently the UK country manager and head of region for Northern Europe at RS
Components with responsibility for the UK, Ireland and Scandinavian markets, has 20 years of B2B experience within the electrical and industrial distribution sector and holds a masters degree in engineering and business management. Previously, he was sales director and key account director at Brammer UK Limited, a leading value added industrial distributor, and a member of the UK board for 10 years. Prior to this, Mike held a number of senior commercial and operational roles over 10 years at Hagemeyer (now Rexcel), a market leading electrical distributor.
For many decades now, RS Components has been an ever- present force in the industry. What do you think is the secret?
The longevity of RS is a clear example of a successful business that has learned to evolve: from the founding days of Radio
32 October 2016 Components in Electronics
www.cieonline.co.uk
RS has long played a powerful role in the supply chain as a link between the suppliers of electronic and industrial products and components and their customers, ever fostering these relationships. As the digital age has advanced upon us, RS has risen to the challenges and opportunities this has proffered, creating a vast online product portfolio as part of its multi-channel strategy to cater for a broad cross-section of customers. And today, more than ever, we need to continue to respond to the changing demands of those customers, whose increasing expectations of speed, availability, convenience and value, combined with a more personalised experience, present us with the exciting challenge of finding new and different ways to operate and innovate.
What changes is RS putting in place to address key markets, including the UK?
Much like the global market, the UK market is a highly fragmented one, and
also a key one for RS given our long- standing history originating in London. While we remain a market leader, with a modest 10 per cent share this still leaves plenty of scope for growth. To exploit this opportunity we need to ensure that the path from supplier to customer is as smooth as possible – and sometimes this means going back to basics. A distributor must be easy to do business with, have the right products available, and be able to consistently deliver on time. In addition, our new and internationally diverse management team has brought a revitalised energy that is truly focussed on the experience of the customer, and the company has also been re-structured to introduce a higher level of accountability and to simplify how we work. One practical example of how we are investing to connect suppliers and customers is our RS Live initiative, which involves a 35-tonne articulated truck full of technology that is touring the UK and Northern Europe over the next 12 months. Customers are able to engage in a personal experience and gain valuable
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