Our strategy is to build high-quality, scalable businesses for sustainable organic growth.
Organic growth is our priority. We drive organic growth in three 'buckets'. Complementary acquisitions accelerate organic growth at great returns.
Building effective scale is key. We develop our businesses and the Group to become better, not just bigger. This supports long-term delivery.
Our businesses are positioned for a transitioning economy and our sustainability framework, Delivering Value Responsibly, is embedded across our businesses.
Our strategy is focused on sustainable organic growth. We drive growth through our portfolio of value-add distribution businesses and make complementary acquisitions to accelerate organic growth. We balance ambition with discipline, driving sustainable growth at strong returns.
We have an exciting opportunity to access structurally high-growth end markets, such as renewables, datacentres, electrification, aerospace, industrial automation, in vitro diagnostics, and infrastructure. We have increased our exposure in these markets, but still have a very small share.
We remain focused on our core, developed economies of North America, UK, Europe, and Australasia. We have minimal market share – or none at all – in most of our product verticals across our core geographies and so we do not need to look to higher-risk, developing markets for growth. There is plenty to go for in our established geographies.
We expand our addressable markets by extending our product offering. We do this through continuous product innovation; coordinated cross-selling across different Group businesses; or, selectively, through building out material new product lines that fit our value-add distribution model.
We make complementary acquisitions to drive future organic growth, positioning behind fast-growing end markets, expanding our footprint in core geographies, or extending our product offering. The majority of our acquisitions are bolt-ons to existing businesses but, occasionally, we execute larger deals which provide a platform for accelerated growth. Occasionally, we divest businesses that no longer align with our strategy. We are long-term holders of businesses – but it is an important discipline in our effective deployment of capital.
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We have significant white space opportunity to expand our geographical reach and extend our product offering. In our core developed geographies, our penetration remains very small and there are opportunities to expand in all of these markets.
Our differentiators are our value-add business model and decentralised culture. As we grow, we must also scale our businesses and our Group to preserve and enhance those differentiators and ensure sustainable delivery for the long term.
Scaling is a journey that needs careful management in each business. Retaining the qualities which underpin their success whilst positioning each value-add business model to be successful at scale. In line with our decentralised culture, each of our businesses has its own scaling plan. Each plan includes the processes and core competencies that underpin it, and the capability – talent, technology, and facility – required to deliver it.
Our powerful decentralised model means our businesses are able to remain agile, close to their customers, with local accountability, decision-making and leadership. At the same time, they enjoy the benefits of being part of a large, multinational Group: networks, central expertise, collaboration, and best practice sharing.
As our businesses grow, they naturally become more complex. The teams, systems and process, and facilities that drove success on a small scale require conscious development to support ambitious growth plans. Our strategy supports the individual scaling journey of each business to make them better, not just bigger businesses.