Cable & Wireless shakes up board
Telecoms group Cable & Wireless is shaking up its board after pressure from beleaguered shareholders, it emerged today.
Following a meeting with investors, C&W said non-executive director and chairman designate David Nash would retire from the board next month.
He had been due to take over the role of chairman, which has an annual salary of around £250,000 (€394,350), in January.
But a spokesman said: “It is clear that the shareholders are looking for a fresh approach to the board.
“The board has listened to shareholders and decided that it is right to look for an externally-recruited chairman.”
Current incumbent Ralph Robins, due to retire December 31, will now stay with the group while a new chairman is found.
But the spokesman insisted under-pressure chief executive Graham Wallace’s role was safe – for the time being.
“The position is that Graham remains chief executive,” he said. “The board believes he is the best person to lead the implementation of the restructuring.”
But he conceded that the new chairman, once appointed, would review all the executive and non-executive elements of the board “as new chairman do”.
C&W stunned traders in London earlier this month with details of an overhaul of its Global division.
The move will see 3,500 jobs cut as C&W abandons its domestic business markets in the US and mainland Europe to focus on multinational customers.
