Premier Farnell plc (LSE: PFL) is a leading British distributor of electronic components supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals globally. Premier Farnell markets and distributes a comprehensive range of products and services throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific with operations in 24 countries and trading in over 100. Premier Farnell is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

The group are part of the FTSE4Good Index of Corporate and Social Responsibility and are also a Gold status member participating in the Business in The Community (BiTC) Corporate Responsibility Index - a group of over 800 UK companies who are committed to having a positive impact on the environment and society.

The company was founded by Alan Farnell and Arthur Woffenden in 1939 in Leeds under the name of A.C. Farnell Limited. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1966. The company was located next to the Wetherby railway station: as it grew it moved into larger offices on the town's Sandbeck Industrial Estate, and then in 1995, into offices in Armley.

Steve Tappin (born Harrogate 5 September 1966) is a CEO confidant for the leaders of some of the world's leading companies, the CEO of Xinfu and author of The Secrets of CEOs.

Tappin began his career with the chemical giant ICI. After he left, Tappin was mentored by Sir John Harvey-Jones. He has spent his career either as a CEO hmself or as a managing partner in a number of global professional service firms. Once such business he founded was edengene, a growth and corporate venturing consulting firm. Under Tappin's leadership, edengene won "Best Small Firm" and the "Gold Medal award for client work" from the Management Consultancies Association.

Tappin is a CEO coach and a personal confidant for many of the CEOs from the world's top companies. He is actively involved in many of the top performing global businesses such as Virgin, Deloitte, RSA and Bain Capital. He is also working with CEOs from some of the leading Chinese and Indian businsses applying The Secrets of CEOs. He regularly visits China and is writing a new book about Chinese CEOs, Dream Corporations, Dream Leaders, Dream life, which will be published by Beijing University Press.^{[citation needed]}