Fall change for HP's Euro business model

Hewlett Packard will change its European business model in November, but will not axe senior UK staff, contrary to rumours in the reseller channel.

A change in internal reporting procedures means that when HP's new financial year begins on 1 November its UK commercial business division will be controlled by the company's Geneva headquarters.

The heads of HP's two other business divisions, consumer products and supply, will now be reporting direct to the US.

Marketing manager John Yelland said the motivation for the changes came from the need to serve the needs of the user more effectively. 'We're trying to get away from the problem of having one business unit serving everyone from multi-nationals to home users.'

Bernd Bischoff, general manager of commercial computer products EMEA, will effectively be running HP's UK commercial business unit.

He denied that there would be any duplication of responsibilities between himself and his UK counterparts following the shake-up. 'Much of this has been in practice for some time, it's just a case of streamlining procedures.

There will be no change in personnel,' he said.

Bischoff said the reorganisation was part of HP's plan to focus on growing its server business. 'At HP there will be no struggle between Unix and NT. We have the right skills and people to excel in both areas.'

Within the channel, reaction has been muted. One HP Var, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'There has been a lot of reorganisation activity at HP recently. We're still waiting to see what this means to the channel.

If they're planning big changes for November, they need to let people know now.'

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