Vodafone executive directors resign simultaneously?

Forums › Vodafone New Zealand › Vodafone executive directors resign simultaneously? - what IS going on?

on2it

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Topic # 13529 15-May-2007 14:35

Rumour on the street: two Vodafone heavy hitters have resigned simultaneously.

Mark Giles, Sales Director, ex MD at Alcatel and Neil Porteous, HR Director

What on earth is going on down there on Fanshawe Street?

Bit tricky to spin that one

Over to you Mr Brislen...

paradoxsm

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Reply # 70812 15-May-2007 17:55

A LOT of people at a LOT of companies are currently on the move! it just seems to be that time of year and year of times.

Sad to see Neil go however.

freitasm

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Reply # 70849 16-May-2007 10:31

Paul is on leave for personal reasons. I contacted Vodafone and haven't received a reply yet (just a confirmation that it was received).

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on2it

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Reply # 70858 16-May-2007 13:19

Fair enough, the post above indicates there's nothing in it anyway. Seems to be a lot of activity at present.

freitasm

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Reply # 70869 16-May-2007 14:20

Ok folks, here is the official reply from Vodafone New Zealand on this:

Vodafone can confirm the upcoming departure of two senior managers, each for a different reason.

Mark Giles, Director of Sales, started at Vodafone in 2004 as head of the Consumer team. Giles, who has been working within the telecommunications sector for 7 years (formerly he was CEO at Alcatel), is off to pursue his own commercial interests. “I feel I’ve done what I came here to do. I’m most proud of a strong, functioning, single sales organisation all working together for the customer. It’s all going very successfully now, and it’s time to hand it on.”

Neil Porteous, Director of Human Resources, has been with Vodafone for eight years, and before that he worked with Bellsouth (bought by Vodafone in 1998) for 3 years from 1994.

Neil has been Chairman of the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation since 2003 and has held roles in managing the rollout of the network infrastructure, as Director of customer care and latterly leading human resources.

“When I started at BellSouth there were 100 employees, 10,000 customers and 80 cell sites. I'm leaving an organisation with over 2m customers, 1200 cell sites, 1500 employees and a well deserved reputation as being one of the best employers in the country ” Neil Porteous said. “I have achieved everything I wanted to in the areas of the business where I’ve worked. Now its time to leave the best HR job in New Zealand and take some time out to decide what I do next.”

Vodafone CEO Russell Stanners says that both Neil and Mark will be closely involved in the recruitment of their successors and will remain in their roles until replacements are found.

“Neil and Mark have made amazing contributions to the success of Vodafone over the last 8 and 3 years respectively. I know this has been a difficult decision for both of them and we will miss their commitment and passion for the business.“

So it may not be the result of some conspiracy after all. Or so it seems. These things happen.

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zincj

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Reply # 70885 16-May-2007 16:05

There's a small article on The Herald website
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10439933

You have to wonder what is happening at Voda. Since coming back from the UK I've been less than impressed
with the service I've received from Voda and I'm sure their grade of service would be below target. I wonder if the
Director of Cust Care is the next one to walk the plank??

Anyone know if any of the big wigs from Vodafone UK or Asia Pacific are in town? That would explain alot of things...

Cheers,
Vince

HeySeus

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Reply # 71118 18-May-2007 10:24

Maybe becuase Voda is preparing for a sale ..... http://www.stuff.co.nz/4064213a13.html

zincj

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Reply # 71120 18-May-2007 10:42

The plot thickens...!

johnr

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Reply # 71122 18-May-2007 10:53

HeySeus: Maybe becuase Voda is preparing for a sale ..... http://www.stuff.co.nz/4064213a13.html

This comes up once every 6 months and I would say is rubbish once again

sbiddle

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Reply # 71123 18-May-2007 11:17

It would be highly unlikely that the ACCC would let Telstra buy Vodafone (remember they wouldn't let Vodafone buy Optus) which kinda makes the whole deal meaningless.

NZ is a huge cash cow for the group and both Australia and Fiji make positive contributions to the group. There just isn't a reason to pull out of the marketplace unlike some other investments such as Japan which were simply a mistake from day 1.

on2it

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Reply # 71132 18-May-2007 13:14

>NZ is a huge cash cow

A point not missed by contributors to this forum