Harriet Green, Premier Farnell

If there is a glass ceiling in electronics distribution management, nobody has told 
Harriet Green about it. The CEO of the industry’s largest electronic engineers 
distribution business, $1.5 billion Premier Farnell, hasn’t hit many speed bumps in 
her 22-year career in the worldwide component resales channel. 

Harriet is the first female CEO of a top-tier distributor having been named head of 
the global distribution house in April 2006 and 1 of 9 female CEO’s in the top 
FTSE 250. Her goal of distinguishing herself in the industry has been based not on 
gender but rather on “competitive differentiation."

Harriet has taken every opportunity her career has afforded her to both learn from 
the experience and increase her value to her employers. 

To describe Harriet as “energetic” is an understatement. From her start in the U.K. 
with the MACRO Group, in 1985, Green has lived and worked in Europe, the U.S. 
and Asia, and she has managed several global businesses for Arrow Electronics. 

Premier Farnell was an early leader in environmental-compliance efforts, including 
the EU’s Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS). Harriet continues to push 
the company’s efforts around the globe. She personally is heading environmental 
summits for suppliers and customers and emphasises that compliance is not just 
a European business concern.  Harriet has launched has launched a major 
international design competition called ‘Live Edge’ – Electronic Design for the 
Global Environment. The competition allows Electronics engineers, students and 
academics around the world to submit designs for an innovative product that 
utilises electronic components and has a positive impact on the environment. The 
winner will receive $50K and $50K towards engineering costs to create the product.

Harriet has made some bold moves in her industry—such as making an intense 
effort to stock compliant parts—that other distributors have not taken, and Premier 
Farnell has been able to measure the results of those efforts.  Over the last three 
quarters in the U.K. and Europe, the company’s growth has exceeded that of the 
rest of the market and she has enabled the company to gain a greater market 
share. 

Unravelling complexities such as RoHS compliance is a trademark of Green’s 
management style. She stresses simplicity. She believes in: a very simple 
strategy, flawless execution, a simple structure and engagement of employees.  
She tends to be a simplifier and cares deeply about her employees.

In the last year Harriet has been responsible for Premier Farnell’s highest ever 
global web sales increasing 30% on the prior year, reflecting the benefits of her 
new, state of the art web front end and major infrastructure investments. She has 
seen 20 significant franchise wins and territorial extensions with high technology 
suppliers in the second quarter of this year, including 5 niche 
technology ‘greenhouse’ suppliers, enhancing Premier Farnell’s proposition to the 
Electronic Design Engineer (EDE) segment. Fifty thousand new products have 
been added in the first half of the year and she has significantly strengthened the 
senior management team with the appointments of seven key industry experts.

http://www.ferret.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=48771
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http://www.designnews.com/blog/1100000110.html?starting=16 

Harriet Green, CEO of Premier Farnell, a $1.5 billion company, is the first female 
CEO of a top-tier distributor having been named head of the global distribution 
house in April 2006 and is 1 of 9 female CEOs in the top FTSE 250. Her goal of 
distinguishing herself in the industry has been based not on gender but on 
competitive differentiation.  Harriet has a 22-year career in the worldwide 
component resales channel and is continually looking to expand current programs 
and introduce green initiatives.  Most recently she was responsible for an overall 
growth in the company’s Website sales by 30%.