Polyconcept, the world’s largest supplier of promotional products, announced the appointment of Neil Ringel as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective February 4. He is a deeply experienced B2B distribution executive who built his career at Staples, Inc., serving recently as its President of North American Delivery. Based in Pittsburgh, Ringel will assume full group responsibilities for Polyconcept including its primary operating divisions: Polyconcept North America (PCNA), PF Concept and other global operations. He replaces Gene Colleran, who served as CEO since 2015.
Polyconcept, a portfolio company of Charlesbank Capital Partners, is a leading supplier of promotional products. Operating on five continents and selling to more than 100 countries worldwide, the company offers a comprehensive product portfolio backed by best-in-class service. Polyconcept’s North American division includes the Bullet, Leed’s, JournalBooks and Trimark brands.
“We appreciate Gene’s many contributions to Polyconcept and wish him the very best,” said Josh Klevens, Managing Director at Charlesbank. “We are delighted to welcome Neil to the company and are confident that his impressive experience and leadership track record will allow Polyconcept to continue its positive momentum while finding new and better ways to serve its customers and forge an even stronger future.”
Mr. Ringel has 23 years of experience at Staples, where he held various executive roles with responsibility over the salesforce, digitization and M&A activity, as well as oversight for the Staples Promotional Products business. As President of Staples’ North American delivery business, he was instrumental in growing the company’s B2B division into a $10 billion enterprise supporting more than 1.5 million customers, from Fortune 500 to small and mid-sized businesses. Most recently, Neil headed Corporate Development, where he was responsible for executing and integrating multiple strategic acquisitions. He began his career as a General Manager at Hanson OP, a division of Hanson Industries.
“We are excited to welcome Neil to the Polyconcept family. His leadership and experience – both within the B2B domain and our market – will be an asset to the company. We are looking forward to working with Neil to build upon Polyconcept’s terrific foundation and to enhance our value to our distributor partners,” said David Nicholson, President of Polyconcept North America.
“Polyconcept is a market leader known for its innovation, global capabilities and strong customer service,” said Mr. Ringel. “I am proud to join this talented, passionate management team and look forward leveraging my experience to help the company strengthen its position as a market leader.”
Based in Boston and New York, Charlesbank Capital Partners is a middle-market private equity investment firm managing more than $5 billion of capital. Charlesbank focuses on management-led buyouts and growth capital financings, generally investing in companies with enterprise values of $150 million to $1.5 billion, and also engages in opportunistic credit investments. The firm seeks to partner with strong management teams to build companies with sustainable competitive advantage and excellent prospects for growth. For more information, please visit www.charlesbank.com.
Polyconcept is the world’s largest supplier of promotional products, operating on five continents and selling to over 100 countries around the globe. With main offices in the US, Europe, Hong Kong, Canada and China, the company supplies a wide range of promotional, lifestyle and gift products to several hundred thousand companies ranging from small enterprises to global corporations, through a network of advertising specialty distributors. For more information about Polyconcept, please visit www.polyconcept.com.
Polyconcept North America (PCNA), a wholly owned subsidiary of the world’s leading promotional products supplier Polyconcept, operates Leed’s, Bullet Line, JournalBooks, Trimark Sportswear and Humphrey Line, some of the most successful brands in North America. The PCNA companies provide recognized best-in-class services to the industry, ensuring the highest standards of reliability and quality. Highly complementary product ranges enable Polyconcept North America companies to provide the market with a very comprehensive assortment of products in all categories. Further information is available at www.pcna.com.
PF Concept is the leading promotional products supplier to the European market. PF Concept combines the widest product mix in the industry with a range of pan-European services that provide unique value to distributors. The company’s entrepreneurial spirit enables it to sustain and increase its leadership position in each local market. PF Concept is the preferred one-stop-shopping solution for 9,200 promotional products distributors in more than 60 countries. It is headquartered in Roelofarendsveen, near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and operates from 17 sales offices throughout Europe. Further information is available at www.pfconcept.com.