C&W picks top marketer after restructure

Struggling telecoms operator Cable & Wireless has appointed Rance Hesketh as its head marketer following the departures of Mark Quartermaine and Laurence Huntley.

Hesketh, who comes from a South American telecoms background, has taken on the role of director of retail marketing, pre-sales and professional services and reports to head of retail Jose Miguel Garcia.

Quartermaine, who was managing director for marketing services, and Huntley, who was group marketing director, left earlier this year as part of a major restructure overseen by chief executive Francesco Caio, who has taken a tighter grip on UK operations in recent months.

The company announced at the end of last week that it is to cut a further ten per cent of its UK workforce in an effort to reverse its fortunes.

It has already made 300 job cuts in the UK since November and the new round of redundancies will be made in the sales and marketing departments over the next 12 months, affecting 480 staff.

Cable & Wireless, which is still BT’s main rival in the fiercely competitive fixed-line telecoms arena, is under pressure because of overcapacity in the market for supplying telecoms services to businesses.

It launched a corporate advertising campaign in October last year, repositioning itself as a supplier of integrated telephony and Web-related computer services for businesses rather just a telecoms company (MW October 28, 2004).

Bulldog, the broadband company owned by Cable & Wireless, recently appointed Personal to handle its &£7m direct marketing account.