RS Components

RS Components is a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc. The company supplies industrial products, electronic components; electrical, automation and control, and test and measurement equipment; and engineering tools, and consumables via e-commerce, telephone and RS Local stores. RS Components operates in 80 countries.
History.
J.H. Waring and P.M. Sebestyen founded the business in 1937 in London under the name "Radiospares", supplying radio repair shops with spare parts – replacement electronic components and mechanical components for radio receivers and transmitters. When television sets became popular, Radiospares' added television parts to their product list. By the end of World War II, the company had evolved into a large national distribution company. In 1954, the founders of Radiospares expanded the company's focus from shops and home users to the industrial sector and began selling electronic components to manufacturers. The company rebranded as RS Components in 1971.
Operations.
RS Components is part of the Electrocomponents group, and has historically traded in Europe and Asia. In April 2019, RS Components launched into North America with a focus on electronic components. Electrocomponents also has an industrially focused business in the Americas: Allied Electronics. The group distributes more than 500,000 products, including electronics, automation and control components, engineering tools and consumables, to over one million customers.
Electrocomponents has operations in 80 countries and ships over 50,000 parcels a day. The company has used a variety of channels to market including selling via e-commerce, catalogues, and trade counters. The group has distribution centres in some parts of the world.
In 2003, RS Components was awarded 'E-Business Strategy of the Year' by the UK National Business Awards. In 2011, the company was named 'Distributor of the Year' and 'Company of the Year' at the 2011 Elektra European Electronics Industry awards.
In 2012, both RS and Allied became two of the main manufacturers and distributors for the Raspberry Pi. The company provides free-to-use PCB layout software, DesignSpark PCB.