Dell is staying tight-lipped on rumours that UK channel director Andy Dow is leaving the vendor as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Dow joined Dell from distributor Westcoast in November 2007 to spearhead the vendor’s formal entrance into the UK channel.

But according to Dell partners, Dow may be one of a number of European executives Dell is letting go as it trims its wage bill to fit current market conditions.

A Dell representative said: “Dell is not able to comment on staff issues at this moment in time.”

The speculation comes two weeks after Dell moved its vice president of EMEA channels, Josh Claman, to a public sector role.

As he departed, Claman stressed in his blog that Dell has registered 36,000 partners to its PartnerDirect since it was launched this time last year. He claimed the programme had been “critical to the success of our business”.

Dell partners expressed surprise that the vendor could be left without a UK channel head.

One partner, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "We had heard there may be changes afoot within Dell that would affect the channel, but we have had no specific details as yet."

Dow was unavailable for comment.