Seller engineers follow with hesitation (8)
I believe the answer is:
retailer
'seller' is the definition.
(I know that retailer is a type of distributer)
'engineers follow with hesitation' is the wordplay.
'engineers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'follow' becomes 'tail' (both can mean to chase or pursue).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound used when hesitating).
're'+'tail'+'er'='RETAILER'
(Other definitions for retailer that I've seen before include "One selling to public" , "Store-keeper" , "Seller, shopkeeper" , "Shop" , "Seller to the public" .)