Linian
Supporting Linian's UK expansion with multiple sales hires — finding commercially sharp electrical wholesaler relationship managers as the business secured terms with national and independent wholesalers.
Client Overview
Linian is a UK manufacturer of innovative cable cleat and cable management products used in electrical installation across commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects. The business has built a strong reputation for product quality and technical compliance in a market where cable management is a safety-critical specification decision. Linian sells through electrical wholesale distributors — both national groups and independent merchants — with a field sales team managing these wholesale accounts and driving product range adoption and sales through the wholesaler network. The business has grown consistently, expanding its geographic coverage and wholesale relationships across the UK.
The Brief
As Linian secured terms with a number of national wholesalers and independent merchants, the business needed to expand its geographic coverage with both field-based Area Sales Managers and internal sales support. Sales Recruit UK was tasked with finding people to manage wholesale customer relationships in the Midlands and the South of England — territories previously undercovered — as well as supporting the internal sales function from the Linian office.
The Challenge
The electrical wholesale sales market has a persistent quality problem at field sales level — a large proportion of candidates going through the motions in account management roles without the commercial mindset or the drive to actually develop business and move the needle on sales performance. Finding candidates who could genuinely develop wallet share and drive range adoption through the wholesale network, rather than just maintaining existing activity, required careful filtering of a market where mediocrity is common and high performers are rarely available.
What Sales Recruit UK Did
Sales Recruit UK mapped the electrical wholesale and building products distribution market for candidates who could demonstrate genuine commercial impact in comparable wholesale account management roles — growth in wallet share, successful range introductions, evidence of converting resistant or dormant accounts. The SRUK Fit Score process assessed each candidate across wholesale relationship management, commercial drive, product knowledge depth and the personal attributes needed to develop business independently across a wide territory.
The Outcome
All roles were successfully filled. Sales Recruit UK recruited across multiple hires for Linian as the business continued its expansion, providing consistent delivery across field and internal sales positions as the company grew its wholesale footprint nationally.