SMEs Get Hotline Help From Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell is following through on its promise to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.

It has launched a new service, the SME Business Information Hotline, that provides a direct link to Farnell’s technical experts to provide support and information on a wide range of electronics topics plus support on legislation and training.

The initiative has been taken to help SMEs that find the regulatory burdens complex and time-consuming including legislative issues like RoHS, WEEE and REACH. Other challenging issues are access to funding difficulties around breaking into overseas markets, especially the emerging markets, the need for more transparency in public sector procurement and the skills gaps.

The hotline is available five days a week and linked to Farnell’s element14 online technology portal. It offers a variety of ways for SMEs can contact Farnell including phone, live online Chat and email. In addition to providing technical information, the service will support users in their work in securing government and public procurement contracts and create key relationships with relevant partner organisations like Business Link, Train to Gain etc.

“The research conducted jointly by Farnell, the Electronics Leadership Council (ELC) and the UK Electronics Alliance (UKEA) earlier this year highlighted an unfulfilled requirement amongst SMEs for fast access to expert help, support and information to enable them to understand technology and further develop their business and train employees,” said Alan Paterson (pictured), Commercial Director, Farnell Northern Europe. “With our in-house technical experts possessing detailed knowledge across the broadest range of electronics technologies and related matters such as legislation, Farnell is perfectly equipped to provide such a service to its customers.”

As a result of a comprehensive survey of 1000 UK small businesses, Farnell launched the Small Enterprise Resource Centre on element14 earlier this year, which has been a host for active discussions around the biggest headaches for UK electronic SMEs.