5 Trends That Are Shaping Our Market

We see five key trends that are shaping the markets we operate in. As we execute our strategic action plan, we must continue to be agile to react to the ever-changing market demands and future proof our business, while remaining focused on our long-term vision.

1. Ease of doing business

Our B2B customers are expecting a personalised, seamless experience mirroring the B2C online experience. Our suppliers want a partner that understands their technical, specialist products and that can bring their products to market successfully.

Our strategic response:

• Digitally enabling more globally aligned and data-driven solutions offering that builds on our core strengths, while helping us move up the value chain with both customers and suppliers.
• Continue to invest in our supply chain networks and distribution sites infrastructure to increase capacity and local sourcing capabilities.
• Continue to develop our digital platforms to simplify procurement for our customers, making it easier to do business with us and control their spend.

2. Providing solutions

Offering solutions is a key differentiator for any organisation and our customers are increasingly expecting solutions to solve their immediate problems and predict problems before they happen.

Our strategic response:

• Shifting our global focus towards MRO to exploit fully our digital channels, increasing our inventory holding and leveraging our global presence.
• Developing digitally led solutions offering.
• Targeting specific industry verticals with service solutions that resonate with our customers’ needs.

3. One-stop shop

Our customers are seeking to simplify their supplier base, leverage spend and realise greater value. Receiving products and services from one provider saves time and generates cost efficiencies.

Our strategic response:

• Maintaining our unique broad offering of readily available products for industrial customers.
• Deepening our core industrial product category of A&C and related product categories to enable industrial electrification.
• Continuing to develop our new product introduction capabilities to develop further a curated, expanded product range and elevate the specialist product ranges of our acquired businesses.

4. Consolidation

The industrial distribution market is consolidating at pace increasing two-fold over the last ten years, driven by globalisation and digitalisation. This will accelerate scale and lead to improved efficiencies.

Our strategic response:

• Ensuring we maintain a strong balance sheet to provide the support to drive consolidation.
• Clear and disciplined criteria set to focus on potential acquisitions which will provide operational excellence, solution capability expansion, new or adjacent product range extensions and geographic opportunities.
• Strengthening our corporate development and integration teams to support a pipeline of potential acquisitions and integration.
• Acquisition of a bolt-on business in Australia in April 2024 to strengthen our geographic presence.

5. Increased focus on sustainability

ESG has fast become a priority for all our stakeholders and increasingly we have seen greater focus on more sustainable products, distribution and service solutions, responsible supply chain practices and inclusive culture.

Our strategic response:

• Robust ESG action plan with four global goals to achieve by 2030.
• Launched the Better World products claim-based framework - a clear and robust industry precedent, enabling our customers to purchase sustainable and responsible products they can trust.