Rapid Electronics

Rapid Electronics Ltd

Type	Limited
Industry	Electronics
Founded	1979
Founder	Mike Lee, Chris Stevenson
Headquarters	Colchester, Essex, UK
Products	Electronic components, cables & connectors, electrical & educational products
Number of employees	150
Website	www.rapidonline.com

Rapid Electronics is a UK distributor of electronic components and educational products, and supporter of science, engineering and educational initiatives, based in Colchester, Essex.

Rapid Electronics was established by Mike Lee and Chris Stevenson in 1979. The company at this time was based in a converted barn above a garage at Aylesford, Kent and held stock of around 200 products. Rapid started by advertising in the retail electronics press to generate sales and a small single sheet catalogue was mailed to customers. From 1981 the focus was developing sales into electronics departments at universities and colleges and this strategy was successful over the next 10 years. Due to expansion the company moved to Boxted in Essex in 1983 and continued to grow. Increasing sales led to a number of further moves to larger premises in the Colchester area, culminating in the building of the current 18,000sq.ft premises in Severalls Lane, Colchester. In late 2012 the company became part of the German-owned Conrad Electronic Group and by 2014 Rapid had increased its stock-holding to over 100,000 products. Employing around 150 people, the company is currently located in premises close to the A12 and the Colchester Community Stadium.

The company's core products are electrical components such as resistors, capacitors and LEDs.

Among the company's customers are electrical contractors, design engineers and assembly manufacturers, users of open source programming hardware such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi, makers of audio equipment, amateur radio and model railway enthusiasts..

Rapid Electronics is also a supplier to primary schools, secondary schools and further education institutions in the UK, specialising in equipment for the science, electronics and technology areas of the National Curriculum.