Anglia said this growth is in stark contrast with the overall performance of UK distribution that, according to the Association of Franchised Distributors of Electronic Components (AFDEC) in its recently released figures, achieved only 5.3% year-on-year expansion in 2006.

Anglia's performance was fuelled by both very high growth rates in its semiconductor business and expansion of its traditional passive and electromechanical components business. The distributor added four new semiconductor franchises to its ST Microelectronics, Lattice Semiconductor and Power Integrations lines in 2006: Diodes Inc., Microchip, Nemerix and Jennic. Multitech and Avago have been added in 2007 and more announcements are expected over the next few weeks.

Anglia's CEO, Steve Rawlins, comments, "We have now achieved a balanced offering for our customers that covers semiconductors, optoelectronics, interconnect, passives and electromechanical components. We see all of these product groups as equally important and that's reflected in the technical and commercial support we provide across our entire product range. Too many distributors focus on high-value items and leave customers to fend for themselves when it comes to low cost, but vitally important passives and interconnect parts. Our more balanced approach is attracting record numbers of new customers and enabling us to outstrip overall market growth by a very wide margin."