Miles says adios to HP after 21 years

Hewlett Packard veteran Ian Miles has surprised the channel by announcing his resignation as general manager after 21 years at the vendor.

Miles announced his departure on 9 February and, according to a statement issued by Hewlett Packard, Miles had decided to leave the manufacturer 'in order to spend more time with his family and then take time to explore different work and life options'.

John Golding, chairman and managing director of Hewlett Packard, who will be taking over Miles' role as general manager for the foreseeable future, said: 'We are looking at putting the right organisational structure in place.'

He added that HP had no plans to abolish the role of general manager but said: 'Before we think about replacing Ian we have to look at the department.'

According to Golding, Miles had been talking about spending more time with his family for some time and his departure was entirely amicable.

Miles joined Hewlett Packard in 1976 as a sales engineer of the components group before climbing to distribution sales manager in 1979.

His roles included district sales manager for southern England and sales manager for PCs and printers. Miles then worked in Geneva as European sales manager before returning to the UK to take up his final role as general manager for commercial channels.