Anglia Components sets sights on European market

We discussed the idea with our key suppliers and they were keen,” says Steve Rawlins, Anglia CEO.

Karen Ward (pictured), Anglia Commercial Director, who has been the driving force behind this initiative commented, “Anglia can compete on price, availability and delivery with any of our competitors, and we have identified there is a gap in the market for a Europe-wide digital distributor offering a competitive service from locally held inventory. Invited by major franchises to bring our service to Europe, it was an opportunity we simply could not say no to.”

Anglia has made a multi-million pound investment in the launch including the hiring of 16 software engineers and extra warehouse space, where it holds inventory worth £60 million.

Ward added, “We invest heavily in inventory supported by smart AI algorithms which have been developed by our team of in-house software engineers.”

Engineers in EU countries will be able to buy products from the distributor’s linecard and have a choice of paying in Euros or US dollars. Orders placed before 17.00 Central European TIme (CET) Monday to Thursday and 12.30 CET will be despatched the same day. The orders will be delivered in two days, shipped by FedEx through its Paris hub, where paper work is processed, and then on to the customer. Orders over €50/$60 will have free DDP (delivered duty paid). Orders below these values will have a €20/$30 service charge. There is no minimum order value.

Is there a maximum order value? “We’ll have to think about that,” responds Steve Rawlins, now back on top form following his serious illness. “Product pricing will be equivalent to high service distributors, not too cheap, not too expensive.”

“Site language will be English, if there is a demand for other languages we’ll address it,” he adds.

Customers will be able to view stock availability in real time, and stock due in, which is not already committed, “something some competitors are unable to do,” remarks Rawlins.

Other features are a comprehensive parametric search engine, industry standard cross-reference and all product change or termination notifications (PCN / PTN). Products have full lot traceability back to the manufacturer’s pack, even in broken pack quantities such as cut tape and ready reel formats.

It will be a no frills platform. “We won’t be hosting videos, podcasts, I’m not sure engineers have the time for them,” is Rawlin's opinion.

He does not rule out establishing offices in Europe when the Anglia Live platform business makes it worthwhile.

Anglia has enjoyed phenomenal growth under Rawlin’s leadership. In 2018, company’s sales were £61 million, and he set a target of £100 million revenue within five years.

In a difficult market, Anglia revenues has grown 10% this year to £95 million. "Without Covid we’d be there,” says Rawlins.

The strategy now is to grow organically by 50% in the next five years, excluding acquisitions, which Rawlins does not rule out. The recently unveiled £2 million expansion of its UK distribution centre and European initiative gives Anglia the opportunity to grow its customer base from 10,000 to 150,000.