The Electrical Distributors’ Association (EDA) has announced changes to the EDA Data Services Board, the group responsible for the strategic direction of the EDATA data pool and elected by the 27 EDATA manufacturer and wholesaler sponsors.
Richard Baxter, Edmundson Electrical Ltd’s Director of Systems and Procedures who has been on the Board since 2022, has taken over as Chair following the retirement of Edgar Aponte, former CEO at Rexel UK. Two new faces have also joined the board this year: Marcus Leek, Chief Commercial Officer, representing Rexel UK Ltd, and Nick Edwell, Managing Director, Rapid Electrical Distributors, representing the Fegime UK buying group.
“It is my privilege to take up the role of EDATA Chair and work alongside my industry colleagues to help make our supply chain more efficient,” said Richard Baxter, adding “EDATA is nearing its five-year anniversary, and has had significant success in providing high quality product information to members and their customers. My message to manufacturers is clear: Please keep the creation of high-quality and complete product data high on your agenda. The industry depends upon it, and gaps in the information you provide to EDATA can create a negative impression of products that we, as wholesalers, purchase from you. The availability of rich data with up-to-date details ensures adoption of, and trust in, your products, and helps to drive increased sales.”
The EDA Data Services Board is a mix of volunteer representatives from leading wholesalers and manufacturers elected from the 27 businesses that sponsor the data pool, alongside representation from the EDA secretariat, currently Margaret Fitzsimons and Richard Appleton. A new manufacturer representative will be elected in February 2025 to fill the vacancy left by the recent resignation of Ian Hunter, formerly of Electrium Sales, until then the Board comprises:
-
Richard Baxter, Systems & Procedures Director, Edmundson Electrical Ltd - Chair
-
Mark Ashworth, Director, ABM Electrical Wholesale Ltd
-
Nick Edwell, Managing Director, Rapid Electrical Distributors
-
Marcus Leek, Chief Commercial Officer, Rexel UK Ltd
-
Sean Jordan, UK & I Data and Commercial Analytics Director, Schneider Electric Ltd
-
Andrew Pegrum, Senior Technical Manager, Deta Electrical Company Ltd
-
Michael Wright, Product Development Manager, Aico Ltd
-
Vacant position
-
Margaret Fitzsimons, CEO, EDA
-
Richard Appleton, Head of Digitalisation, EDA
The EDATA data pool continues to expand since its 2020 launch: to date over 90 leading manufacturer brands have signed up to share their high-quality product data with wholesalers. Every EDA wholesaler business has free access to comprehensive high-quality information on over 270,000+ products to:
-
Filter and search to resolve technical product queries quickly and efficiently
-
Bulk data downloads to drive business systems and ecommerce
-
Download PDF Product Data Sheets in a consistent format for quotes, tenders, submittals, and Operation & Maintenance Manuals