Going for gold: Europa reinforces commitment to providing top-tier product information
Posted by: electime 8th September 2025
Europa
one of the UK’s leading distributors of electrical components and smart solutions, has demonstrated its continued commitment to providing the highest-quality product information and images for its wholesaler customers by achieving the EDATA data pool’s Gold Standard.
The award-winning data pool was launched by the Electrical Distributors’ Association (EDA) in 2020 to drive higher standards of product data across the UK’s electrotechnical supply chain.
Manufacturers subscribe to EDATA, sharing their product information with EDA wholesalers and distributors, all of whom benefit from free access to the data pool.
Europa joined the EDA as an Affiliate Member in 2019, and in 2021 subscribed to the EDATA data pool.
Reaching Gold Standard means that Europa’s product information has passed rigorous quality checks, making it easier for wholesalers to list products online, and for contractors and electricians to filter, find and specify products quickly and accurately.
The journey to gold began in earnest in January this year, led by Project Manager Brett Shepherd, who oversaw a dedicated team focused on refining and enhancing the quality, structure and completeness of Europa’s product data.
“For the company, it was imperative we got Gold,” Brett said. “Our wholesalers and distributors will be told we are Gold, and it means we and our products are more visible.
“For customers searching for our products, they will have everything they need to know about them, giving them more confidence that they are buying exactly what they are asking for.”
Currently, Europa has nearly 4,000 products in the EDATA pool, with 66 per cent of its products now recognised as Gold Standard. Brett said the company’s aim is to get as close to 100 per cent gold as possible by the end of the calendar year.
“When we began the process, we had to understand the requirements, what the data looks like, understand the product range, and then develop that into a plan.
“The EDA’s EDATA team has been very supportive throughout the whole process, providing us with useful feedback and giving us a good steer on how we could improve what we were doing,” he added.
Brett also attended one of the EDA’s programme of data quality training workshops during the process, which provided additional guidance and practical support in reaching the Gold Standard.
Sonia Freed, Managing Director at Europa, said: “Achieving Gold Standard is a real milestone for Europa. It represents the hard work, collaboration and commitment of our team, and the incredible support we’ve received from the EDA.
“This achievement strengthens our partnerships across the electrical sector and helps us deliver better service, transparency and innovation to our customers.
“Even with a large product and SKU count, it illustrates reaching this level is achievable – and worthwhile.”
Richard Appleton, Head of Digitalisation at the EDA, said: “Congratulations to Europa. It has been a pleasure to support Brett and his colleagues in their journey to Gold and beyond.
“As Europa has recognised, there has never been a greater need for manufacturers to put in place a robust and integrated product data strategy because product information is your silent sales team, and is central to your own and wholesalers’ sales and marketing activity.
“I am a firm believer that this is best achieved through a combination of efficient project management, clearly assigned resources and with the full backing of senior management.
“Europa is living proof that this approach really works. We look forward to supporting them in the next phase of their data journey.”
