Farnell Trade Counter closed?

[telstar]

Hi. On a visit to Farnell Trade Counter at the Maybrook Industrial Estate, Leeds today I found that there was a notice saying that it had been closed from 31/08, and that it was not "goodbye for ever" as you could visit it on line. Personally speaking this counter has been a very useful service especially with it being local to me, and when I wanted some components fairly quickly. Not everyone wants to register for an account with a company or to go on line if they can help it. At least the Trade Counter also welcomed the general public when they wanted components that they could not possibly obtain from Maplin.
Cheers
Mike

[MrBungle]

Costs too much to run I understand. Farnell next day delivery is a joke anyway so they're just shooting themselves more now. Hello RS!

[Nuvistor]

Recently been bought out. Don't know if it's a coincidence?
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pr...-bid-gbvfn6r0b

[MrBungle]

Probably not a coincidence. First thing you do in a buyout is chop off the things with bad Return On Investment (ROI) so your first return doesn't annoy investors.

[chriswood1900]

I usually buy on line but now buy more from RS than CPC/Farnell, RS next day is more reliable and if I want it the Bristol trade counter is still available.
I suspect the closure was planned before the buyout as they were losing money anyway.
Chris

[MrBungle]

I forgot about CPC. I hope they don't go down the swanny. They're a goldmine of cheap components.

[AC/HL]

Is anyone surprised? As well as the general commercial atmosphere, the current Farnell is a world away from the local company of yore. It just reinforces the need to patronise the remaining purveyors of electronic delicacies while you can.

[arjoll]

I still find element14 (Farnell's name over here) great to deal with. Some really good deals (last year I bought 50 Fairchild BC549s for $0.25 - half a cent each, that's something like a third of 1p), and although it's not overnight from Sydney (they advertise it as overnight to NZ, but that's only to Auckland - it takes another day to get down here) it is still quicker than having to get something Jaycar or Gracetek doesn't have ordered in. There's also a lot more info on the origin of what they stock than Jaycar - I find that particularly reassuring for caps!

[emeritus]

I don't buy from Farnell regularly, but delivery has never been a problem.

[dominicbeesley]

What a shame, I've not been for a while as I don't often get to Leeds any longer but the ladies behind the counter were always a good laugh and the bargain bins usually turned out to actually contain something worth dragging home!

I still think Farnell Element/14 are a good company but they are changing with the times - much of this, unlike other suppliers, is positive. I buy quite a lot of non-vintage development stuff and they usually have a good range and some nice surprises.

[telstar]

I did not visit Farnell T.C on a regular basis, but only when I was not able to find what I wanted from Maplin. The ladies there said that they had occasional visits from customers that repaired old fashioned radios and also required components for the job. They were interested to hear that I also repaired such appliances.
It looks like that Farnell may go the same way as R.S (on-line sales). When I worked at Comet After Sales (Gelderd Road, Leeds 12) I often used to visit R.S Trade Counter nearby for my required components (usually yellow capacitors and metal film resistors) as a cash sale customer during my lunch hour. Comet was also a handy source of spares in their warehouse (as an employee for 21 years until 2011). I believe that the internet undermined their business. Also I like to shop locally to actually physically "see" what I am buying. The internet is useful for other items, but if only you could work both of these sources together to gain your required products it would be far more helpful (e.g this site helping people access to vintage technology and spares).

[Andrew2]

Originally Posted by MrBungle

I forgot about CPC. I hope they don't go down the swanny. They're a goldmine of cheap components.

I use CPC quite often and their service has worsened over the last year or so. I've had incorrect components and many back-orders. Needless to say, the b/o component was the one I really needed!
Incorrect components have included some huge relays instead of some tiny reed relays and a BNC spanner instead of a trimming tool.

[McMurdo]

I think as of today, Farnell is now part of Avnet of America. The swiss deal fell through and the board of management have voted to recommend the avnet deal.

Farnell have had profit warning and several changes of management in recent months.

[MrBungle]

Well that explains the awful service then.

Originally Posted by Andrew2

I use CPC quite often and their service has worsened over the last year or so. I've had incorrect components and many back-orders. Needless to say, the b/o component was the one I really needed!
Incorrect components have included some huge relays instead of some tiny reed relays and a BNC spanner instead of a trimming tool.

I always get stuff back ordered but it turns up reliably. I had one pack of resistors arrive every day for the best part of a week once! Never had anything wrong. I occasionally get extra parts. The only really annoying thing is when you order 50x 1n4001 or something because that's the minimum order quantity and you get 50 bags turn up with one diode in each, all on neatly cut tape!

I think the only supplier that I haven't had any problems at all with to be honest is bitsbox.co.uk. Plus sometimes I wan't just one or two resistors, not a whole reel of them as I've got about 7kg of the damn things now.

[Red to black]

I stopped using CPC, I used to spend a small fortune with them when I was still trading and because after I stopped trading in the repair side and never ordered for maybe six months they withdrew my credit facility which was built up over many years as a good customer of theirs.

The last order I sent them was when they told me my account was now cash only and no credit account.

This was silly as it wasn't costing them anything at all, all of my details were still on the system, I asked if they would reconsider, they flatly refused, so I told accounts I would pay cash for this order but that would be their last, and it was.

I am not surprised they are losing money if that is how they treat loyal customers, most firms pay dearly for advertising and try to keep existing customers as well as attract new ones, CPC just came across as arrogant, their loss not mine.

[Jeremy M0RVB]

I remember several occasions queuing at the trade counter back in the '80's, purchase order in hand, until we realised you could phone the order through and have it waiting!

[MrBungle]

Originally Posted by Red to black

I stopped using CPC, I used to spend a small fortune with them when I was still trading and because after I stopped trading in the repair side and never ordered for maybe six months they withdrew my credit facility which was built up over many years as a good customer of theirs.

The last order I sent them was when they told me my account was now cash only and no credit account.

I wouldn't blame that on CPC. That's completely normal practice for all distributors. When I was running a company a few years back, we had to put a minimum sales volume through in a 3 month cycle to retain our credit facility with distributors (Micro-P).

I don't like running credit though as I managed to fluff an entire Limited company after being screwed on a contract to the tune of £80k. Fortunately, Limited liability. Fortunately just me who suffered. Phew

[Red to black]

CPC and CHS both have that stance, yet RS and Rapid plus a number of other suppliers don't or at least didn't.

I wasn't that bothered about actually having the credit facility, it was mainly for convenience as it was just easier to order, it was the way it was handled, no notice and then a snotty your account has been suspended please phone accounts message when the order was placed.

CPC had just become a glorified maplins by then anyway and were nothing special, they were not really that much cheaper than a lot of places and were in fact dearer a lot of the time by the time you added the VAT, their range of goods reduced and selling a lot of tat, I only still ordered from them because of convenience, remove that convenience and there was nothing I could not source elsewhere.

Edit: to add insult to injury for a supposedly trade only outlet, their pricing was almost if not actually retail and then they ran their Christmas TV advert to supply joe public for the same prices as us.

[evingar]

I deal quite actively with both RS and Farnell / CPC, both in the "day job" and for a part time PSU repair facility. I use trade accounts for all activities.

There was never a trade counter nearby, so it's always been via mail. Of various irritations, the postage charges on small orders was annoying. Over the course of a year the total value of parts purchased from both organisation was certainly high enough to cover the occasional small order. Fortunately, both organisations have now backed away from this.

While I find both organisation still offer generally a good service, I've noticed that RS is starting to have more and more items on back order. With both, the parts range is good but a seemingly increasing number of lines appear to be US stock / "extended range"- and incur a surcharge and extra cost / order.

Standard order delivery from RS is brilliant - invariably arrives early the next day, so you can get on with the task during the next working day. Farnell not so good, although delivery is usually "next day" it often doesn't arrive until mid to late afternoon, so commercially speaking not much use as a next day delivery.

To be fair though, the latter is likley to be down to the vagaries of the delivery company, and experiences may vary depending on where you are in the various delivery routes.

[Red to black]

More likely the "JIT syndrome" (just in time syndrome) last time I ordered from Rapid I noticed nearly everything had a "lead time".

RS were always good but expensive, but even they went through a rocky patch where stuff was still higher priced but ended up on backorder thus negating their only advantage.