Soennecken Switches Sides

Originally written by Joshua Allsopp and published by OPI

Soennecken member jumps ship

One of Soennecken’s biggest members Plate has left the German dealer group in favour of rival Büroring.

Both groups confirmed the move – which is effective from 1 January – but declined to comment on the specifics.

It must come as a second blow to Soennecken after another large member, Kaut-Bullinger, left last year. The departure was at the time believed to be related to Soennecken’s decision to go direct to end users. However, it later transpired that the reseller was ejected due to financial difficulties.

Shortly after, Kaut-Bullinger partnered with wholesaling group InterES, which is also affiliated with Büroring through its membership of Büro Forum, a marketing subsidiary of the dealer group.

Family-run Plate – which is based in Lilienthal near Bremen, Germany – has annual sales of approximately €90 million ($106 million) and offers around 60,000 SKUs.