CLK loses its managing director to IT company
Richard Zambuni, managing director of brand development consultancy CLK, is leaving to join beleaguered international information technology supplier Madge Networks as its vice-president corporate marketing.
Zambuni, who became managing director of CLK in January this year after three years as deputy managing director, takes up his new position on October 2. He will be in charge of a global marketing budget worth up to $25m (16m).
“I wasn’t looking for a job – but I got tracked down by Madge. It wants some serious strategic marketing to make it a much more brand-led company,” says Zambuni.
Madge is one of the few new technology companies which was founded in the UK, although it is now quoted on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US. It specialises in making and selling data communication and networking products, and has offices in the US and the UK.
However, it currently faces a major class action lawsuit in California over allegations that directors provided investors with false information in the run-up to its takeover of US firms Lannet Data Communications and Teleos Communications.
Earlier this year, Madge was forced to admit that it would make a loss for the second quarter of 1996, because of a number of factors, including delays in developing new products, a souring of its relationship with a major supplier and the slow integration of Lannet’s sales and marketing operation. Following the warning, its stock price plummeted 74 per cent to $12.75 (8) a share.
Michael Levy, a board director of CLK, is to replace Zambuni as managing director while Irene Inskipp, presently marketing director, will become deputy managing director.
