Cook lands top Westcoast slot

Paul Cook, former sales director at Computer 2000, will join rival distributor Westcoast as group managing director.

According to one Westcoast insider, Cook will commence on 1 July to head the distributor, which is undergoing a radical restructure. Westcoast will be split into four separate business units, giving it an identity beyond its chairman Joe Hemani and shedding its Hewlett Packard-only image.

The units will consist of HP, Compaq, miscellaneous hardware and finance, and back-office operations. These will be respectively headed by Adnan Al-Falah, strategic projects director; the recently appointed Paul Simkin; HP server sales manager John Gunston; and Duncan Forsyth, managing director.

'Westcoast has perhaps been personalised by Hemani for too long. The separate divisions should open up the company a bit,' the source added.

Hemani had previously stated Westcoast's intentions of making acquisitions and eventually floating. Observers are seeing the restructure as preparation for the company.

Cook is believed to be on holiday and Hemani was unavailable for comment.