Angus Fraser has resigned from Hagemeyer UK, the group behind electrical wholesaling firms Newey & Eyre and WF Electrical, by mutual agreement.

Rod Stoyel took over Fraser’s role of chief executive officer on 17 January. He joins from Rexel Senate.

Fraser’s departure follows troubled times at Hagemeyer. While the latest trading update showed 2004 fourth-quarter sales to be the highest quarterly sales growth since 2000, the report called the UK “its biggest turnaround challenge.”

Newey & Eyre has been forced to abandon its national distribution centre model after the performance at the Runcorn base “did not meet expectations”. Customer service levels suffered and the company was hit by increased freight costs as it tried to rectify problems.

Regional centres are now being introduced.