11 June 2003

                       ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING STATEMENT                        


At the Annual General Meeting of Premier Farnell plc held today, Sir Malcolm
Bates, Chairman, said:

"As I reported in my outlook statement on 28 May 2003, world economic prospects
remain clouded. Within the Marketing and Distribution Division, Europe and Asia
Pacific has maintained its recent good progress, whilst in the Americas, the
market has continued to be weak and its variability makes it difficult to
discern underlying trends.

"We will continue to exercise tight management control and concentrate on
further improving services to customers.

"Last week the Group renewed its global supply agreement with Philips, now
adding Newark InOne and BuckHickman InOne to the contract with Farnell InOne.
This success is further evidence of the Group's wide geographical and service
capability for multinational customers."

For further information, contact

Premier Farnell plc + 44 (0) 20 7851 4100

John Hirst

Andrew Fisher

Nicholas Ross

Financial Dynamics ( UK) + 44 (0) 20 7269 7291

Richard Mountain

Taylor Rafferty (US) + 1 212 889 4350

Andrew Saunders



END