CU?s Elliott ?falls on his own sword?

Sales director Dave Elliott has left Computers Unlimited (CU) after falling out with managing director James Sanson over future direction.

Elliott cleared his desk last Friday after failing to persuade Sanson that the firm needed to evolve beyond its traditional roots as a distributor of high-margin exclusives, to reflect the new low-margin, multi-distribution world.

?James is an autocratic guy with strong opinions,? Elliott said. ?If the sales director disagrees with the managing director, who also happens to be the owner, then it is clear who has to go.

?I did the decent thing by falling on my sword.?

Elliott said he left by mutual consent and on good terms with Sanson.

?I have only good wishes for CU,? he said.

Elliott joined the specialist Mac products distributor in June 1994 from Apple, where he had worked for 14 years, latterly as national sales manager.

His is the second senior departure from CU in recent months ? he joins ex-business development director Nick Collingridge on the jobs market.

Computers Unlimited holds franchises for Macromedia and Quark Xpress, and handles Radius monitors through a dedicated subsidiary, Abacus.