Previously, the three main companies within the Arrow components group - Arrow-Jermyn, Electronic Services (ES) and MMd - operated as separate businesses, with customers and suppliers having multiple points of contact. Now there will be one single point of contact with access to the complete Arrow line card - the broadest in the industry. The new single points of contact are expected to be welcomed in the industry and for suppliers it will also result in enhanced demand creation. Additional benefits for customers include superior logistics and management information systems and more focused customer service.

The realignment is the result of changing customer and supplier needs, and the ambition to maintain Arrow's industry leadership. Arrow has already piloted this special focus on different customer needs through its Electronic Services and Arrow-Jermyn businesses, and the results of the programmes addressing the catalogue and global sectors proved both the need for, and the success of, the future changes.

Customers and suppliers are being individually contacted about the changes and where possible the same Arrow contacts will be maintained. The changes will come into effect from 4 January 1999. For more information on how the new changes will benefit them, the Arrow team can be contacted on 01234 791449 or e-mailed on: northerneurope@arrowuk.com.

Against a background of a changing market and the general economic climate - combined with the new customer focus - some activities and responsibilities of the previous business units will be streamlined in order to save duplication of activities and costs and secure long term growth and success for Arrow and its employees.

New job roles and departments will be created at the company's sites in Bedford and Harlow but it is expected that the re-organisation will result in 200 redundancies across the group of companies, in addition to some staff relocations. Arrow has taken great care to ensure that the changes will be as fair as possible to employees. A series of meetings is now being held with all staff to discuss individual roles and changes at each business. Depending on circumstances, employees will either be offered full relocation support and expenses or time and support to find alternative employment. All employees will have access to independent career guidance counselling if they so choose.

The company will also put significant investment into staff training, reflecting its commitment to employees and maintaining the company's focus on employee development.

Harriet Green, the Managing Director of Arrow Northern Europe, said: "We have worked hard to create an exciting future for Arrow, our customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. It is a major innovation in the way we do business in the UK and will ensure that we continue to lead the field in electronics distribution. We have a policy of always being as open and honest as we can with employees. Given the market environment, many had already recognised the need for radical changes and knew that these would lead us to make some very tough choices - but they were decisions that had to be taken.

"I'm confident that the re-aligned Arrow will be even stronger than before - maintaining our market leadership, delivering growth and securing employment in the longer term."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• ARROW was established in the UK in 1986 with the acquisition of Axiom Electronics. The group has steadily grown through a series of acquisitions of companies including Radio Resistor, MMd, and the main businesses of the Lex Group (Impulse, Invader and Mogul) making Arrow market leader in the UK
  
• Arrow's line card - the broadest in the industry - provides products from 600 suppliers including Intel, Texas Instruments, Motorola, Hitachi and Hewlett Packard
  
• Arrow Northern Europe serves customers in the UK, Ireland and the Nordic area (including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark), and South Africa
  
• Arrow Electronics was named as European Distributor of the Year by Dataquest in July 1998, an award based on an extensive survey among European purchasers of semiconductors. Survey respondents rated vendors on delivery, quality, responsiveness, technical support, price, supplier flexibility and overall performance
  
• Arrow Electronics in the UK forms part of the global company Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW). Arrow Electronics is the world's largest distributor of electronic components and a major distributor of computer products, with 1997 sales of $7.8 billion. Headquartered in Melville, New York, Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 600 suppliers and 160,000 original equipment manufacturers and commercial customers through more than 200 sales facilities and 26 distribution centres in 32 countries. Detailed information about Arrow's operations may be found at www.arrow.com