News in the Channel - issue #14

EXERTIS

Building on success Exertis experienced strong growth in 2023, and there is optimism that the company will build on it in 2024, thanks to investment in its infrastructure and processes – but also its people and sustainability.

For Exertis, the new year period sees the business return to normal, after the peak of December, when orders ramped up as the clock ticked closer to Christmas. For the company, it marked the end to a successful year. “The market was challenging in 2023, but from our perspective, we’ve seen growth in key areas, which has been really encouraging,” says Tim Griffin, CEO of Exertis IT. “We’ve had a very solid peak and we’re planning for a fast close to our year end in March. It will be a satisfying year in many respects, but there is plenty more to do. “Everything is relative to the market. It’s not been the easiest of years for the wider channel with a lot of challenges in the supply chain that we saw in 2022 still unwinding over the course of the year, compounded by some of the economic challenges that we’ve seen in the wider society and economy.” But these factors were largely expected, as were the impacts on the consumer and B2B markets and resellers have responded to that, Tim adds. “The way the channel has

reacted is pretty similar to how it has done previously,” he says. “When challenges come down, everyone tries to do the prudent thing and manage their costs, and you’ve seen that in vendors and there has been press coverage around unfortunate redundancies, and I think everyone does the same. There are also moves to try and improve their margins.” Benefits of investment Exertis too has been careful to be as efficient as possible in its operations, especially at its National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Burnley. “We’re beginning to see the benefits of our investments into our NDC and the SAP system there,” says Tim. “It’s created a world class facility and operating capability that’s second to none and it’s delivering service levels that are best in class in the industry. But it also allows us to deliver flexibility at scale, for instance with dynamic bundling where we can virtually pull together skus for retailers where they don’t have to physically bundle items themselves. We can do that at

Tim Griffin CEO, Exertis IT

exertis.co.uk

We’re beginning to see the benefits of our investments into our NDC and the SAP system there... It's created a world class facility and operating capability that's second to none and it's delivering service levels that are best in class in the industry. “

The vast pick tower at Exertis’ NDC

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