Premier Farnell Joins Initiative to Aid SMEs

Premier Farnell has joined forces with the Electronics Leadership Council (ELC) and the UK's Electronics Alliance (UKEA) to survey of all UK-based small and medium enterprise (SME) technology companies.

The survey has been developed to garner appropriate support from the UK Government and trade associations to ensure the necessary future economic growth for these SMEs.  The web based survey (http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229X74PB4DL) will be available to complete from 25th November through to 9th December 2009 and high participation levels are actively encouraged.

 

The intent of the survey is to gain support to influence regulation and legislation that will encourage success for SMEs, ensuring their views are well understood by government as decisions are made. The findings will also be used to attract funding for business in the UK and develop targeted programmes that make a positive contribution. The ELC and UKEA have excellent lines of communication already established with government that will  ensure the issues raised by the survey get directly to those most able to influence change.

 

 

A second stage of focus group consultation is planned in early 2010 involving interested survey participants. It is hoped that as many SME’s as possible will complete the initial survey to ensure it will be truly representative of opinion and make a powerful contribution towards shaping the decision making processes of government.

 

All participants in the survey will have the opportunity to receive a copy of the results once the survey is concluded. All trade associations that participate in the survey will also receive a final copy of the survey findings to distribute to their members.

 

“In recent months we have met with a number of key government leaders and industry bodies, all of whom want to stimulate growth, innovation and enterprise in the UK . Our industry is critical to leading the market out of the downturn and affecting change on a global scale as the pervasion of technology continues in every aspect of our lives,” commented Harriet Green (pictured), chief executive officer  of Premier Farnell. “At Premier Farnell we believe that listening to the voice of our customers continues to help us develop our business, and services and this approach will also help us evolve to meet the needs of  technology-based SMEs in the UK , in addition to informing the wider agenda. We are excited to have this opportunity to represent the views of this important community.”

 

Harry Tee CBE, chairman of the Electronics Leadership Council said, “High technology design and manufacturing are strategically vital to the economic health of the United Kingdom and will become increasingly more so with time. The industry is dominated by SMEs which makes it of paramount importance that we feel the temperature of the sector to find out what companies think and determine what they consider important. This survey is a key part of doing that.”

 

 “SMEs account for about 80% of the membership of the UKEA member associations," added Roger Rogowski, managing executive of the UK Electronics Alliance. "Their views and the issues affecting their ability to develop and be competitive are therefore of significant importance to us. UKEA members will be encouraging their SME members to participate in this survey and we look forward to reviewing and acting on the results as required.’’