Exertis Supplies picked up by evo

The reshaping of the Exertis portfolio continues, with the Supplies operation being sold off to evo to come under the latter’s Vow business.

There have been reports of redundancy programmes and staff consultations over the past few weeks, as Exertis UK continues to readjust the business following its sale to private equity player Aurelius last August.

The latest move sees Exertis UK selling the trade and stock of Exertis Supplies, with the new owners consulting with staff to secure future employment where possible. The transfer of the stock is seen as an opportunity to provide the supplier with “a sensible settlement”.

Adrian Butler, managing director of Vow UK, said the priority was to ensure there was no disruption to customers and that staffing issues were dealt with sensitively.

“Vow’s immediate focus following the consultation period will be to work closely with our new colleagues and to ensure any stock transfer is completed in quick order to enable our customers to be serviced at the highest levels possible. Vow’s success is measured by how well the independent dealer channel performs, which has shown year after year how resilient and adaptable to change it is,” he said.

“I make no excuses for focusing on what’s important to our customers – base service and a set of commercial terms that help them thrive. If there are specific requirements that would help this, please do not hesitate to contact myself direct or one of the Vow team,” he added.

Andrew Gale, evo CEO, added that the deal was a good outcome for the Supplies business. “This is a sensible and pragmatic outcome. I would commend Exertis UK for their approach to this transaction, and I would like to thank Dan Taylor, evo commercial director, and Leanne Gregg, evo people director, for their outstanding work to enable this transaction to be completed. Steve Forde and Louis Dobson, the evo Stock team, worked tirelessly, and we were advised by Walker Morris LLP and DLA Piper.”

A statement circulated by an Exertis spokesperson provided the distributor’s view, confirming that the deal had emerged over the past couple of weeks.

“We have now signed an agreement with evo, the UK and Ireland’s leading multi-channel supplier of business supplies and personal needs products, based in Normanton, West Yorkshire,” the spokesperson stated.

“As a result, all employees of Exertis Supplies who have not applied for voluntary redundancy will move to evo’s Vow subsidiary when the transaction completes, which we expect to happen within about two weeks. We are delighted for colleagues who will now be continuing their employment with evo/Vow,” they added.

Aurelius picked up Exertis in July 2025, in a transaction that put a total enterprise value of £100m on a cash-free, debt-free and normalised working capital basis. In the year ending 31 March 2025, the business recorded revenue of £2bn.

This year has seen the distributor generating headlines for the wrong reasons, with reports of significant downsizing emerging in recent weeks adding to the uncertainty surrounding the business. Posts on social media have also exposed the frustrations of senior leaders who have had to put talented staff on notice of redundancy.