Rexel
Multiple ASM and KAM hires for Rexel across the UK — headhunting sector-experienced candidates in a competitive electrical wholesale market where the best people are rarely available.
Client Overview
Rexel is a global leader in the distribution of electrical products and services, operating one of the UK's largest electrical wholesale networks. The business serves electrical contractors, industrial customers and facilities management operators with a broad range of electrical wiring accessories, cables, lighting, heating controls and industrial automation products. Rexel's UK field sales operation covers ASMs managing branch-level contractor and trade relationships, and KAMs handling strategic national and regional accounts. The business operates in a competitive wholesale market alongside other major electrical distributors, with sales talent as a key differentiator in branch and territory performance.
The Brief
Sales Recruit UK worked with Rexel across multiple hires over the years, filling Area Sales Manager and Key Account Manager positions across UK territories. Each brief required candidates with strong electrical wholesale market knowledge — either from a competitor distributor background or from a manufacturer-side sales role targeting the electrical wholesale channel. Rexel needed people who could manage contractor and trade relationships effectively while driving the commercial performance metrics that matter in a wholesale distribution environment.
The Challenge
Electrical wholesale is a sector where the best candidates are rarely available on the open market — the top performers are employed, performing, and not actively looking. Filling roles with candidates who met Rexel's sector requirements consistently required active headhunting rather than a response-based approach. The electrical wholesale market is also relationship-driven in its recruitment — candidates considering a move are often weighing up one competitor against another, and the quality of the pitch and the approach matters in converting passive candidates to active ones.
What Sales Recruit UK Did
Sales Recruit UK ran targeted headhunt campaigns for each Rexel brief, mapping the electrical wholesale and manufacturer sales market for candidates with the specific sector experience and commercial profile each role required. Rather than advertising and waiting for applications, the approach was to identify, approach and qualify the right candidates directly — selling the Rexel opportunity to people who were performing well in comparable roles and who needed a compelling reason to consider moving. The SRUK Fit Score process assessed each candidate across electrical wholesale market knowledge, territory or account management track record, and commercial performance versus target.
The Outcome
Sales Recruit UK filled every role across the Rexel relationship, consistently delivering sector-experienced candidates through a headhunt approach in a market where reactive recruitment rarely produces the quality the business needed.