Sonepar Announces Retirement of François Anquetilas President of Sonepar Canada

November 23, 2023

Sonepar has announced the retirement of current President of Sonepar Canada, François Anquetil, after a successful 36 year career at the company.

François will remain as acting President through March 2024 as he transitions responsibilities to incoming President of Sonepar Canada, George McClean.

During his career at Sonepar, François has served as President of Lumen, Vice President of Vendor Relations, and Chief Financial Officer for Sonepar Canada. He was also President of two divisions at Sonepar France, CCE and Franco Belge (Sonepar’s very first acquisition).

Under François’ leadership, Sonepar Canada doubled in size while undertaking transformational projects which shaped the future of the organization. He led efforts that strengthened customer service and operational excellence, including state-of-the-art distribution center automation, implementing a new digital platform to accelerate an omnichannel experience, and creating specialty business capabilities to further diversify Sonepar offerings in the market.

“I am very proud of how we grew the business in Canada and in the development of careers for our associates. It’s very gratifying to watch someone who started as a sales account manager grow their career to lead a large functional area of the organization today. Sonepar has a strong entrepreneurial culture that allows associates to imagine many different opportunities for the work they do and their own professional development.”

François Anquetil

George McClean, former President of National Tire Distributors, has spent his career at companies like General Motors, and W.W. Grainger, where he worked for 10 years. George holds a BA in Social Science from Western University, a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School, an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, and is a CPA.

“Having worked in fast-paced environments where exceeding customer needs was a daily expectation, George is an ideal choice to lead the next chapter for Sonepar Canada,” said Rob Taylor, President of Sonepar North America. “George has deep expertise in developing strategic roadmaps, leading acquisitions, accelerating adoption of analytics and digitization within an organization, and developing talent. With François having led a very well-run operation in Canada, I expect a smooth transition.”

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