Chief quits as CWC future hangs in balance

Cable & Wireless Communications brand director John Aarons is leaving without a job to go to, as speculation mounts that the company is to be disbanded.

Aarons says he has decided to quit the cable TV and telecoms giant because its marketing operation has moved from London to Watford, and he does not wish to commute from his Wimbledon home.

His departure comes as UK parent company Cable & Wireless is considering disbanding CWC by merging its cable TV business with rival player Telewest, selling its 50 per cent stake in mobile phone network One 2 One and absorbing the remaining operations.

Aarons, credited with creating CWC’s yellow corporate branding, is one of the company’s top two marketers. The other is marketing director Janet Somerville.

Before Aarons leaves on June 14 he will finalise the company’s branding for the launch of its digital TV service, due next month, and help to find his successor.

Aarons says: “The best part of my job has been done, by creating a brand for the launch of the company. I can now hand it on for someone else to run with.”

He says the brand director’s role will not be axed, and he expects his deputy, brand manager Alex Butler, to apply for the job. It will also be advertised externally. Aarons was marketing communications director at Bell Cablemedia when it merged to form CWC in April 1997, along with Mercury Communications, Nynex Cable Comms and Videotron Holdings.