Roger Little to Lead Rexel US and Rexel / Canada Cluster

Last week Rexel announced a change to its North American leadership structure after Brad Paulsen left the company to become CEO of Rentokil Initial’s US division (the parent of Terminix).

Roger Little,  CEO of Rexel Canada since 2014 and a member of Rexel’s Global Executive Committee since 2019,  was promoted to CEO US / Canada cluster.

Rexel Promotes Little to Rexel US CEO and USA / Canada Cluster Leader

According to a Rexel press release:

“Rexel today announced the appointment of Roger Little as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the USA and leader of the USA-Canada cluster, effective December 18, 2023.

Roger Little has been CEO of Rexel Canada since March 2014 and will succeed Brad Paulsen as CEO of Rexel USA as Mr. Paulsen leaves the company to pursue another career opportunity. Mr. Little will bring to Rexel USA his extensive experience of the electrical materials industry and in particular of the industrial automation space.

Reporting to Mr. Little, Jeffrey Moyle will become CEO of Rexel Canada. Mr. Moyle joined Rexel Canada in 2016, where he held successive positions in the cable and utilities businesses as well as in supplier relationship and in digital.

Led by Guillaume Texier, Chief Executive Officer of Rexel Group, the Group Executive Committee will include the following members as of January 1, 2024:

• Pierre Benoit, Chief Executive Officer Belgium – Luxembourg and leader of the Benelux- Nordics -Pacific cluster
• Grégoire Bertrand, leader of the UK – Ireland cluster and Europe Chief Financial Officer
• Laurent Delabarre, Group Chief Financial Officer
• Guillaume Dubrule, Group Chief Digital and Marketing Officer. Guillaume has succeeded Nathalie Wright who has left Rexel to pursue new projects
• Sabine Haman, Group Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer
• Isabelle Hoepfner-Léger, General Secretary, Secretary of the Board of Directors and Sustainable Development Director
• Roger Little, CEO USA and leader of the USA – Canada cluster
• Thomas Moreau, Chief Executive Officer France and leader of the France – Italy cluster
• Robert Pfarrwaller, Chief Executive Officer Austria and leader of the Austria – Germany Switzerland – Slovenia cluster

Guillaume Texier commented: “The appointment of Roger Little as CEO of Rexel USA will allow us to continue and accelerate our very successful transformation in the Group’s biggest country, which has translated in recent years in market share gains, increased profitability, higher digital conversion and value-creating M&A activity.

I’m extremely proud of Rexel’s executive team, which brings strong experience and expertise to drive Rexel’s Power Up 2025 growth strategy. I’m confident in their ability to pursue the Group’s mission of offering electrifying solutions that make a sustainable future possible. With our wide range of electrical products and energy-efficient solutions, we’re in a stronger position than ever to deliver excellence and help drive the global energy transition.”

Observations 

• Roger is an experienced electrical industry veteran, having joined Westburne, which was eventually purchased by Rexel, in fall 1995.
• Given Roger’s age, 61, this is not an interim appointment. Rexel is putting an experienced electrical leader into position to run one of the most important regions for the company. This is very important given the challenges that many comment about regarding Rexel US.
• A number of people I spoke with spoke highly of Roger. He is well-known to many in the manufacturing community. The “challenge” will be learning the differences between the US and Canadian markets.
• Given the structure and Jeffrey was named CEO for Canada,  a much smaller market,  with no corresponding appointment for the US, it’s assumed that there would be a US CEO role in the future.  Possibly an existing Rexel person based upon Roger’s evaluation,  maybe someone from the industry or they search outside again.
  • Prior to his promotion, Jeffrey was Rexel Canada’s VP Supplier and Digital Strategy for the past four years and before that ran their wire and cable business. Another experienced electrical veteran with extensive supplier exposure.
• With Roger already on Rexel’s Global Executive Committee, this keeps the leadership structure focused, with no need to add someone new.

Congratulations to Roger and Jeffrey.