Facilisgroup said that 2018 was a banner year for its members.

The St. Louis, MO-based promotional products technology and partnering organization said this week that its distributor members increased year-over-year sales 10%, on average, in 2018. The surge, which outpaced promo distributors’ industry growth of nearly 5%, pushed Facilisgroup distributor revenue to $767 million in sales from industry suppliers.

Chuck Fandos, CEO, Facilisgroup

“We’re proud to celebrate our partners’ achievements and excited to be part of their continued growth,” said Chuck Fandos, CEO of Facilisgroup. “Every year, I’m proud of the community we’ve built with our partners.”

According to Fandos, Facilisgroup last year spearheaded infrastructure improvements, released new interactive marketing tools in its @ease software, and integrated a spec sample function into its Signature Collection websites – all of which contributed to members’ success.

Expect more improvements in 2018, the group says. In November last year, U.K.-headquartered private equity firm Elysian Capital acquired Facilisgroup and integrated the organization into the Pebble Group – a newly formed entity that will focus on growth opportunities in the promotional products sector. As a result of the capital and new synergies available through Elysian, Facilisgroup partners “will begin to benefit from accelerated investment and service enhancements,” the group said. Private equity firms have been increasing their investment in promo in recent years – a trend expected to continue.

Meanwhile, at its recent Top Achieving Sales Awards ceremony and celebration in Las Vegas, Facilisgroup honored 232 sales representatives connected with group firms as “Facilis Achievers.” Reps earn the award by reaching at least $750,000 in annual sales. “In addition to the honor, they will receive exclusive perks and rewards,” Facilisgroup noted in a statement.

Additionally, Facilisgroup announced that Top 40 supplier SanMar (asi/84863) was its Supplier of the Year for a second year in row. Utah-based Brand Makers (asi/145117), which tallied 20% annual growth, earned the distinction of “Partner of the Year” from Facilisgroup.