BONN, Germany—Vodafone Group plc announced that the company’s chief marketing officer and board member Peter Bamford will leave the company as of April 1, the latest of several high-profile company members to leave or announce their upcoming departures.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bamford was ousted because he was considered a member of Vodafone’s “old guard” under former chief executive Chris Gent; Gent, who retired in July 2003 from the board, has reportedly clashed with his successor, chief executive officer Arun Sarin. However, a company spokesperson told Dow Jones Newswires that Bamford’s exit was linked to an ongoing overall review of the company’s group marketing function. Bamford had been a board member since 1998.
Board member and deputy chief executive Julian Hornsmith said in January that he was retiring from the company as of July 2006 after 22 years with Vodafone. Chairman Ian MacLaurin will be retiring at the same time, to be succeeded by John Hold, chairman of HSBC Holdings and a non-executive board member. Vodafone’s former chief financial officer, Ken Hydon, left the company last July after 20 years in that position.
Vodafone’s stock has slumped more than 20 percent in value since November 2005, and the company faces increasing pressure from shareholders to dump its struggling Japan unit and/or prop up share prices by selling its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless. Vodafone confirmed last week that it is in talks with high-speed Internet provider Softbank to sell Vodafone Japan.
