Premier Farnell Appoints Tom Hudak to Lead North American Distribution Business

Premier Farnell (LSE:PFL) a leading high-service distributor of electronic components has today announced the appointment of Tom Hudak to president of Chicago-based Newark element14, its North American distribution business, with immediate effect, succeeding Paul Buckley who will be retiring at the end of December.

For the last five years Tom has been president of Akron Brass, a Premier Farnell company and worldwide marketer and manufacturer of high performance life-safety, fire fighting and emergency rescue equipment. Having driven the transformation and internationalization of the Akron Brass business, Tom is ideally placed to drive growth in the North American high-service distribution space. He will report into Premier Farnell CEO Laurence Bain.

Sean Tillinghast, who is currently vice-president of Weldon, a division of Akron Brass which specialises in lighting and electronic solutions to the education, speciality vehicles and the emergency services, has been appointed to the role of president of Akron Brass. Sean has spent the last 17 years with Weldon and will now report directly to Laurence Bain.

Speaking about the appointments Premier Farnell CEO Laurence Bain said: "I am delighted to appoint Tom to lead our Newark element14 business. He has done a fantastic job at Akron Brass turning it in to one of the leading companies in the Premier Farnell Group. In Sean we also have someone with vast experience and understanding of the Akron business and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity. I am particularly pleased to be making these appointments from within the company, demonstrating the strength in depth across our management teams.”

Paul Buckley, who has a long career in the electronics and distribution sector joined Newark element14 in 2007 and took over as president of the organisation in February 2012.

Mr Bain added: "I would like to personally thank Paul for all he has done for Newark element14 and the wider Premier Farnell team since he joined us in 2007. He has built a strong platform for Tom to build on and I wish him all the best in his retirement.”

ENDS

About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:PFL) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, maintenance and repair. Its differentiated proposition includes 29 local language transactional websites, and the critically important element14 Community for design engineers – an industry first (www.element14.com). With sales last year of £952m the Group distributes its comprehensive portfolio of products and services throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, supported by a global supply chain of over 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.

While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognises the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalise its model accordingly. It trades locally as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and Mexico and Farnell Newark in Brazil. Across Asia Pacific the business trades as element14.

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