A Leeds-founded distributor of electronic components and development kits, formerly Premier Farnell and now part of Avnet, with a long history in the UK electronics industry.
Farnell is a distributor of electronic, electrical and industrial products, with a particular focus on engineers and developers. According to Wikipedia it stocks about 950,000 products from 2,000 suppliers and specialises in development kits, the boards and tools engineers use to try out new circuit ideas. It reported in 2024 that it sold about half of the Raspberry Pi computers distributed worldwide. Its engineering community, element14, is described as a global online hub and forum for electrical engineers. Farnell says it ships over 30,000 products a day.
Alan Farnell and Arthur Woffenden founded the business in Leeds in 1939 as A.C. Farnell Limited. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1966, and in 1996 it bought the US distributor Premier Industrial Corporation and renamed itself Premier Farnell. From 2006, under chief executive Harriet Green, it moved from catalogues and trade counters towards e-commerce. From 2010, the Farnell and Premier brands became Farnell element14 in Europe, a name that refers to silicon, the 14th element. In 2016 it was bought by the US firm Avnet, and in 2019 the brand was simplified to Farnell, with the legal name still Premier Farnell Limited.
Farnell's own heritage page says its roots lie in two start-ups, Newark Electronics (1934) and A.C. Farnell Limited (1939), both set up to help customers get the parts they need when they need it. Its 2016 proposition, called "The Development Distributor", puts an emphasis on supporting customers, their businesses and the next generation of engineers. We did not find a written mission or values list on the pages we read.
Premier Farnell has been headquartered in Leeds. Wikipedia records that it was earlier near Wetherby railway station, then on the Sandbeck Industrial Estate, and from 1995 in Armley. We did not find a current UK street address, a UK headcount, or a list of other UK sites on the pages available to us, so check Farnell's site for those. The brand is now described as "An Avnet Company", but it still trades as Farnell.
A distributor of this size needs a wide mix of people: product and supplier managers, technical sales and support staff who can talk to engineers, warehouse and logistics teams, web and data specialists, marketing and community managers, and finance and customer service. Because the business sells to engineers and hobbyists, it is a good fit if you enjoy electronics and explaining it to others. The heritage page speaks of supporting the next generation of engineers, which gives a clue to its attitude. Look at the Farnell site for current vacancies.
Website: uk.farnell.com
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