Bell to rejig Europe after Lawford exit

Distributor may separate commercial product and sales functions following departure of European commercial director Jan Lawford

Bell Micro may use the departure of European commercial director Jan Lawford as an opportunity to reshuffle its European management pack

Lawford joined the distributor from RSA Security in July 2007 following the departure of Alex Tatham, but is leaving just 18 months later to take up a role at Avaya.

When Lawford replaced Tatham, she was given the responsibility of overseeing European sales, adding to the role’s existing focus on commercial products.

Talking to CRN, John Toal, European president of Bell Micro, said he was sorry to see Lawford go, but emphasised her departure would allow him to look again at Bell’s management structure.

“Alex [Tatham] only looked after commercial products, and sales operations were previously run by country. I may split out the two functions again and want to have more involvement in the European businesses.”

Toal also hinted that Bell is poised to unveil some aggressive growth plans after the distributor recently completed its financial restatement process.

“Clearly the restatement process is behind us and we can aggressively look forward again. It has been a big distraction for management over the past couple of years,” he said.

Toal indicated that Lawford’s departure was driven by her desire to be nearer to her family, and is unrelated to Bell’s restructuring drive. She will leave at the end of the month.