Kough walks out on Info'Products

The staff exodus is continuing to plague Info'Products after sales director Norman Kough quit last week because the reseller failed to match a rival job offer.

Industry sources claimed that Kough left the reseller on 31 July after being approached by ICL Multivendor Computing. They added Kough contacted Info'Products' Dutch parent Buhrmann, but was turned down when he asked for his job title to be upped to joint managing director the reseller.

One industry source claimed: 'This will upset the situation at Info'Products because Norman was supposed to be there for at least 18 months from the start of the year - the time it was supposed to take to turn it around.'

Huib Winkel, Info'Products UK managing director, confirmed Kough had resigned, but refused to comment on the circumstances. However, he did not deny the allegations, saying: 'This is a debate between Norman and his employer - whether the rumours are true or untrue doesn't belong in the press.'

As a result, Winkel will take on Kough's responsibilities until a replacement is found. He said he expected to cover Kough's post until Carl Thomas, European head of Info'Products, is appointed in September or a UK managing director is taken on.

A source at ICL admitted the distributor had been searching for a sales and marketing manager for a number months, but said: 'Whether it is Norman or not, hasn't been officially announced yet.'

Kough was with IBM before taking on a sales director's job with Info'Products - formerly Corporate Computers - a decade ago. He worked for the reseller's European business development for three years, before returning to the UK in January.

Kough's exit follows the departures of Howard Dickel, former business development manager, and a string of top-level employees, including Grant Widlake, sales manager for the northern region, who joined Dixons' corporate arm.