Premier Farnell`s New CAD Tool Interface, DesignLink, Allows Altium Designer and OrCAD Users to Specify Components from within the Design Environment

Design Engineers CanSee and Use Component Parametersand Enjoy Local Price and
Stock Availability
LONDON--(Business Wire)--
Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), the leading multi-channel, high service
distributor supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals
worldwide, announces Altium and EMA Design Automation™
have integrated Premier Farnell`s DesignLink, a new web service
environment that provides an electronic interface to major Computer Aid Design
(CAD) tools. DesignLink allows electronic designer engineers to immediately
search and find parts from within their CAD design environment, without ever
having to leave the program.

Altium Designer with DesignLink offers engineers the ability to check local
prices and delivery as well as vital product attribute information. It will be
available to customers globally. Users of Cadence`s OrCAD in the United States
can now see similar information via EMA`s Component Information Portal (CIP), a
bridge software to Cadence`s OrCAD tool.

The DesignLink Coupling Interface allows designers to take manufacturer`s data
and use it directly in their schematic without additional research; it
interfaces directly with Premier Farnell companies` websites product data giving
access to over 4,000,000 items from 3,500 leading manufacturers, all with data
and pricing in local language and currencies.

"As we increase our focus on the needs of the global electronic design
engineering segment, expand our online capability and continue to
internationalise our business, DesignLink adds another innovative solution from
Premier Farnell, which makes us a leading provider of product, information,
software and services to meet the needs of our global customers," said Harriet
Green, CEO of Premier Farnell. "We are excited about DesignLink, and the value
it will add for our engineering customers globally in the early product design
phase. Like element14, our new online community, DesignLink will give our
customers access to significant product data and information."

"We are very pleased that Altium has embedded DesignLink into Altium Designer,
allowing electronic design engineers to search instantly for information and
products," said Randall Restle, Director of Global Technical Marketing at
Premier Farnell. "This new innovation will also allow engineers to find product
availability, pricing and even new products for their designs without having to
leave their design environment."

Premier Farnell invites manufacturers of CAD tools to contact them to discuss
how they too can implement the DesignLink interface with their design
environment. Premier Farnell is rapidly increasing their global capability to
interface with a wide range of different CAD platforms as they expand their
support to meet the unique needs of their electronic design engineering
customers.

To learn more about this exciting new development, CAD tool manufacturer and
electronic design engineers are encouraged to e-mail
DesignLink@premierfarnell.com with questions.

Information on DesignLink and a range of CAD Tools for electronic design
engineers will soon be available on Premier Farnell company websites and
element14, a new technical portal and community for design engineers providing a
web-based platform to launch new design tools reaching millions of electronic
design engineers world-wide. To follow or comment on this latest innovation
visit www.element-14.com.

Editor`s Note

A high resolution image screen shot is available at:
http://www.pinnaclecrc.com/PR_PICTURES/Premier_Farnell/PF243/DesignLink_Altium.jpg

Image Caption: Example of Altium Designer getting product results from Newark, a
Premier Farnell company.

About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a leading high service, multi-channel
distributor of electronic, and industrial 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
450,000+ products, and access to 4,000,000 more items from 3,500 top
manufacturers. The company has group sales of £823.1m and over 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, India, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Newark in the US,
Canada and Mexico, and Premier Electronics in China and Hong Kong. In Singapore,
Malaysia, and Brazil the operation is known as Farnell Newark.

For more information visit the website at www.PremierFarnell.com.

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Hui-Yun Chen
Communications APAC
Premier Farnell plc
Asia Pacific
Tel: +65 6380 3239
E-mail: hychen@premierfarnell.com
or
Jenny Peters
Head of Corporate Communication
Premier Farnell plc
Tel: +44 (0) 207 851 4102
Email: jpeters@premierfarnell.com
Web: www.premierfarnell.com
or
Janice Fleisher
PR & Communications Manager
Newark
The Americas
Tel: +001 (1) 773 907 5941
Email: jfleisher@newark.com
Website: www.newark.com
or
Jonathan Roberts
Account Director
Pinnacle Marketing Communications Ltd,
Tel: +44 (0) 208 869 9339
Email: jonathan@pinnaclemarcom.com
Web: www.pinnaclemarcom.com
or
Philip Crampton
Marketing Manager
Farnell
Europe
Tel: +44 (0) 113 279 0101 ext 3433
Email: pcrampton@premierfarnell.com
Web : www.farnell.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009