Electrical wholesalers began 2022 extremely optimistic and with a very positive outlook after the toll the pandemic took during the previous two years. A majority of EUEW members were anticipating two-digit growth for the wholesalers’ industry in their country, which was literally booming. Sales were going up, clients were back with new orders, all seemed to be going very well and follow the trends of a decent last quarter in 2021. Problems with the supply chain and logistics and transportation remained, but the industry seemed to be heading towards better times.
Then came the unexpected, the war in Ukraine began and all industries were impacted, electrical wholesalers not being an exception. The very positive estimates and outlook for 2022 were revisited and revised to more realistic (pessimistic) versions but the industry kept going. However, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and the global energy crisis generated by the war didn’t only bring hardship, it also brought unexpected opportunities.
The world was already struggling and striving for a more sustainable, circular economy and the energy crisis caused by a certain “monopoly” on fossil fuels brought the opportunity of accelerating the implementing of greener energy all over Europe. We even have some champions in this “game” already, the Nordic countries, with Norway paving the way for the other European countries to follow in its very ambitious footsteps.
By the end of the first half of 2022, electrical wholesalers were keeping the good numbers going, were conscious of the impact and role of inflation over the price increases that were driving some of their growth and were exercising more cautious optimism for the second half of the year while also aspiring to see Europe without armed conflict again soon.
As the months passed by, the industry came to terms with needing to consider a long-time conflict in Europe, with lasting consequences.
Pressed by the need on the market and motivated by the new opportunities brought by an accelerating growth of green energy, the electrical wholesalers’ industry as well as the entire ecosystem, started to focus more on the opportunities rather than the numerous challenges it had become accustomed to in recent years.
Having this consistent approach of embracing challenges, preparing for the worst scenario while pushing for the best possible outcome made it that the electrical wholesalers’ industry is ending the year much better than anticipated. A lot of EUEW countries still show two-digit growth for the whole year, which was considered highly unlikely with the conflict outbreak in February. This year end managed to keep the smiles on the faces of the electrical wholesalers as they managed to end 2022 with very good numbers and, again, they have cautiously optimistic estimates for the first half of 2023.
EUEW, the voice of electrical wholesalers, is always trying to keep the pace with the most relevant topics for the industry if not even be a few small steps ahead to provide the necessary support at European level.
At EUEW we also prefer to focus on the opportunities rather than the challenges we are faced with, so we are very happy to announce that the theme of the EUEW Business Convention 2023 is Energize transition: a key role of the electrical wholesaler. At the EUEW Business Convention 2023, the focus on the wholesaler will not only be in the general theme and the presentations, for the next event we will also be inviting the electrical wholesalers on stage to share their success stories with their peers.
I am sure most of you already have our Convention in your agendas for June 2023, but just in case you missed it, save the dates for June 15th and 16th 2023, for the EUEW Business Convention in Rotterdam.