January 2017, Mayflex the distributor of Converged IP Solutions, is celebrating a significant milestone this year, its 100th anniversary! The company was founded on 17th March 1917 as Mayall & Co as a distributor of Swan Kettles by John William Mayall and stayed in the family for three generations.
The Mayflex brand name was introduced in 1985 and became the name of the company shortly afterwards. Around this time the company entered the communication cables market launching a range of coax, voice and RS232 cables. This new venture rapidly gathered momentum and led to the ongoing development of network cabling in the form of copper twisted pair and fibre optic cables as they grew in popularity.
In January 1997, Mayflex introduced the Excel brand, a move which in just 20 years has revolutionalised the structured cabling and rack market, setting new standards in product choice, performance, support and availability, underpinned by a ‘fair price’ strategy. Since its launch Excel has grown to become an award winning brand sold in over 70 countries and holds the number 1 position in the UK, based on the volume sold.
Over the years Mayflex has forged many successful relationships with some of the industry’s most prolific vendors across networking, infrastructure and the security market and has been recognized with numerous awards for high service levels and performance.
In April 2015 Mayflex was acquired by Sonepar, an independent family-owned company with global market leadership in B-to-B distribution of electrical products and related services. Sonepar has €20.2 billion of revenue and is represented by 245 entities operating in 44 countries on five continents and provides Mayflex and its partners unrivalled long term stability, consistency and sustainability.
Andrew Percival, Managing Director at Mayflex comments, “This important and exciting anniversary marks the longevity of our business and demonstrates our adaptability as market conditions and technology have evolved. Mayflex now employs 300 plus associates, from staff that have been in the business for 15, 20 even 30 years, along with newer recruits, bringing a great dynamic to the business. We are active across EMEA and will extend our reach further in the coming months. . A huge thank you goes out to the teams across the business that strive day in day out to provide the best service possible to our customers.”
Andrew continued, “Our business continues to develop, our key financial measures are improving, customer numbers are growing and we are expanding our geographical reach and entering new vertical and technology markets. We continue to expand our Converged IP Solution, adding new vendors together with new products to the Excel range.
Andrew continued, “Of course we could not have reached this milestone without the support of our loyal customer base, many of whom have worked with us for 20 plus years. As we’ve evolved our converged and cabling product offering, we hope that we’ve also helped our partners to develop their businesses too. I’m pleased to say that many of our customers have become great friends , we value these relationships far more than a simple thank you can express, We are extremely grateful for the support, loyalty and ongoing business given to us. We will continue to work hard to earn this in the future.”
Andrew concluded, “Looking ahead we will maintain our investment in people, systems and technology. We have lots of ideas, growth and improvement opportunities. Times have certainly changed through our 100 years of trading, but there is one constant within Mayflex, ambition, this is alive and kicking within our business and will underpin our development over the years to come – we have enjoyed the past, but are excited about the future”
There will be both staff and customer events taking place at intervals throughout 2017 celebrating Mayflex’s 100 years, look out for #Mayflex100years in social media and in the industry press.