Founded by André Guichard in 1966, Manutan was at the time the first French company to sell manufacturing equipment by mail order.

From the early 1970s, Manutan began to expand across Europe, with the creation of subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (Key Industrial Equipment – 1973), Belgium (Manutan – 1974) and France (Bott – 1977). In 1985, Manutan SA obtained a listing on the Second Marché of the Paris Stock Exchange.

In 1987, the Group embarked on its second phase of expansion, creating subsidiaries in Italy (1987) and Germany (1988) and acquiring WITRE AB in Sweden (1989), WITRE A/S in Norway (1989), and Overtoom, market leader in the Netherlands and Belgium (1995), and setting up a WITRE affiliate in Denmark via its Swedish subsidiary (1995) and Manutan Portugal.

In 1998 the legal status of the Group’s lead company was modified.

At that time, Manutan SA absorbed Manupar, the Guichard family holding company (Document E registered with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on 2 July 1998 under number E98-300).

In 1999, Manutan’s French B-to-B sales were spun off into a subsidiary called Manutan SA.

At that point, the holding company was renamed Manutan International.

During these years, the Manutan Group launched into the third phase of its European development.

• 1999: Plus s.r.o acquired in the Czech Republic, Fabritec GmbH in Switzerland, Euroquipment Ltd in the United Kingdom (1999); WITRE Oy company set up in Finland.
• 2000: acquisition of Metro Storage Systems Ltd of Ireland.

In 2000, the Manutan Group took the e-business path and mapped out its web strategy.

In 2001, a communication technology platform shared by all Group companies was launched.

The first merchant sites went live, with e-procurement solutions available for key accounts.

In 2003, the Group launched a 3-year corporate plan and created the first pan-European product and service offer.

In 2004, the Group expanded into Spain and also into a number of states recently admitted into the European Union (Hungary, Slovakia and Poland) under the Manutan brand name. The Hungarian, Slovakian and Polish subsidiaries are operationally overseen from the Manutan subsidiary (formerly Plus s.r.o.) in the Czech Republic.

The IpsoPresto SAS company – a 100% online concept – was founded to target small businesses.

In October 2006, the Manutan Group launched a 3-year corporate plan to 2009, which focuses on five “business” priorities.

The Manutan Group moved into Russia, opening in Moscow in February 2007. The first Russian-language catalogue was mailed out in October that year.

In 2008, Manutan International acquired Rapid Racking – the UK distance-sales specialist supplier of storage and shelving solutions.

As at 30 September 2008, the Manutan Group passed the 500 million euro turnover milestone, with over 20% of the total generated through online sales.

In 2009, the Group increased its presence in the public and private authorities market trough the acquisition of Camif Collectivités.

The Manutan Group embarked on a new chapter in its history. Putting in place an integrated organisational structure, strengthening its high ambition for its business, and sticking closely to human values will all be major cornerstones of the Group's development in the coming years. In august 2011, The Group opened the doors of its European Centre in Gonesse (France), which symbolises the Group's uniqueness, its ambitions and its business, human and environmental vision.