Exertis Enterprise puts final nail in the coffin of combined business with Hammer rebrand

The return to the Hammer name was about clarity, explains MD Jason Chibnall

As Exertis Enterprise has rebranded back to its original name, Hammer Distribution, the infrastructure distributor looks to reaffirm its independent identity and sharpen its positioning in a shifting global group.

The move comes after a round of corporate reshuffling at parent company DCC Technology and Exertis, which has seen several units, including Exertis Supplies, Macro EV and Exertis Ireland, carved out for acquisition by German private equity firm AURELIUS.

Exertis Enterprise and Exertis Cloud in the UK, along with a handful of European AV and infrastructure arms, remain under DCC ownership.

Hammer, which has operated as Exertis Enterprise since 2018, has long been at pains to stress its independence despite the Exertis badge.

MD Jason Chibnall said the return to the Hammer name was about “clarity” after years of explaining how the unit differed from its UK namesake.

“It’s been an honour to be part of a global brand that the industry recognises, but with that recognition came assumptions - that we operated and delivered in exactly the same way as Exertis UK,” Chibnall said.

“The reality is that Hammer has always done things differently: our methods, our ethos, and above all our people-powered approach.

“Time and again we found ourselves explaining who we were not, until the words ‘we are Hammer’ immediately transformed perception.

“Today we are making that truth official once again.”

Chibnall previously told CRN the carve-up of DCC’s distribution empire presents an opportunity to double down on Hammer’s strengths in value-added services and technical expertise.

“We’re a trusted advisor to our customers, not just a company that takes and processes orders,” he said, adding that significant investment made under DCC ownership would continue to shape Hammer’s standards and ethical practices.

What’s changed?

The distributor continues to ply its trade as one of Europe’s largest enterprise component houses, spanning storage, networking, GPUs, and CPUs.

But since Hammer last traded under its original banner, it has expanded its portfolio to include power protection, cyber, cloud platforms and a specialist networking division supporting datacentres, telecoms, and AI workloads.

It has also stretched its footprint from a UK-centric base to six trading offices across Europe, added a European warehouse to cut cross-border costs, and invested in a production facility for ready-built datacentre solutions.

Chibnall said the Hammer of 2025 is “not about nostalgia” but about signalling to partners and customers that the distributor intends to be a long-term player in powering AI, cloud, and modern infrastructure outcomes.