LONDON, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Andy's industry knowledge, customer experience and proven leadership make him ideally suited to drive Premier Farnell's strategy for profitable growth through focusing on the global high service EDE segment whilst leveraging Premier Farnell's regional multi-channel capabilities.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080428/302310 )

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), the leading multi-channel, high service distributor supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals globally, has announced the appointment of Andy King as President of Farnell Europe and Global Head of EDE, with effect from 16th June 2008.

Most recently Andy was European Vice President of Sales Development at Arrow Electronics, providing strategic direction to the company's European sales drive, in particular addressing the various needs of different customer segments across EMEA. Andy's previous experience includes STC, Farnell and Arrow. He is an economics graduate with a proven track record for delivering results in both high service and volume distribution businesses. His broad industry experience in Asset Management, Product and Supplier Marketing, and more recently as Sales Director and Managing Director are perfect for Farnell.

"In line with our strategy to increase our focus on the global electronic design engineering segment, drive higher levels of business via the web and continue to internationalise our models into new and emerging markets for electronics, Andy is an excellent addition to the team to drive our strategy and deliver the results we need from Farnell," said Laurence Bain, COO of Premier Farnell. "We are truly excited about his appointment and on behalf of our employees, suppliers and customers worldwide we give him a warm welcome."

About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a leading high service, multi-channel distributor of electronic, maintenance, repair and operation products and specialist services throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. It goes to market with a differentiated value proposition, world-class marketing, a stocked range of 400,000+ products, and access to 4,000,000 more items from 3,000 top manufacturers. The company has group sales of GBP823.1m and 4,100 employees globally.

While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognizes the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalize its model accordingly, trading locally under different brand names. Its primary electronics businesses trade as Farnell in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Newark in the US, Canada and Mexico, and Premier Electronics in China. In Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Brazil the operation is known as Farnell Newark. For more information visit the website at http://www.premierfarnell.com

Contact details for publication and editorial enquiries: Jenny Peters Head of Corporate Communications Premier Farnell plc 25-28 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AN Tel: +44(0)207-851-4102 Mobile:+44(0)792-174-0548 Email: jpeters@premierfarnell.com Web: http://www.premierfarnell.com Issued by: Jonathan Roberts Account Director Pinnacle Marketing Communications Ltd, Prosperity House Dawlish Drive, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 5LN, UK Tel: +44(0)208-869-9339 Email: jonathan@pinnaclemarcom.com Web: http://www.pinnacle-marketing.com

Contact details for publication and editorial enquiries: Jenny Peters, Head of Corporate Communications, Premier Farnell plc, 25-28 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AN, Tel: +44(0)207-851-4102, Mobile:+44(0)792-174-0548, Email: jpeters@premierfarnell.com, Web: http://www.premierfarnell.com; Issued by:, Jonathan Roberts, Account Director, Pinnacle Marketing Communications Ltd,, Prosperity House, Dawlish Drive, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 5LN, UK, Tel: +44(0)208-869-9339, Email: jonathan@pinnaclemarcom.com, Web: http://www.pinnacle-marketing.com