Freeserve picks McCall for chief marketing role

Freeserve, the UK’s biggest Internet services provider (ISP), has appointed Khim McCall as group marketing director, following the company’s &£1.6bn take-over by Wanadoo.

McCall joined Freeserve earlier this year after working for a marketing consultancy business in South Africa. His promotion comes in the wake of the departure of Neil Sansom.

Sansom, who previously held the post of marketing director, has quit to take up a position within Shell’s Internet incubator division.

Freeserve says Sansom handed in his notice in September – contrary to reports that he quit following Wanadoo’s take-over.

Chief financial officer Nick Backhouse has also left the company. McCall will report to development director Sarah Carpenter.

A spokeswoman for Freeserve says it is too early to say if McCall will review marketing operations and the advertising roster.

M&C Saatchi handles the &£8m creative business, while Walker Media manages the media account.

The Freeserve brand is unlikely to be scrapped following the take-over.

Wanadoo, the Internet arm of France Telecom, snapped up Freeserve and its 2 million registered users on 6 December.

The deal was concluded following months of speculation that Dixons, the largest shareholder, was looking to sell. Freeserve has been struggling amid the rumours, with shares falling as low as 133p last week from a high of 920p in March.