Pete Malpas heads the EMEA operations of RS Group, a leading industrial and MRO distributor that is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the business products channel.
For more on Pete Malpas and RS Group, click on the stories below.
2023
Spotlight: A European perspective
2022
Background information
2022: Pete Malpas, President EMEA at European distributor RS Group (formerly RS Components), is a new entry in this year’s Top 100 – and another example of channel convergence as customers increasingly seek a one-stop solution for business products purchases.
RS Group’s background is firmly in the industrial supplies and service space. Indeed, it claims to be the world’s largest distributor of electronics and maintenance products, with operations in 32 countries and annual sales of around £3 billion ($3.6 billion). However, the company is now a significant seller of office, safety, jan/san and PPE products – and, as such, was a reseller partner at OPI’s 2022 Partnership event in Amsterdam.
In November 2022, the RS Safety Solutions division was formed. This is a specialist provider of PPE, safety and hygiene products, and is a combination of two UK-based businesses, Needlers and Liscombe, that were acquired in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Malpas has been with the company since 2016 and become President of the EMEA region four years later. He has a strong background in the industrial B2B space, having held senior roles at Brammer Group, IMO Precision Controls and Festo over the past 20 years.
