ShoreTel EMEA shoots from the Hipkiss

Comms vendor poaches Vodafone sales director to replace recently departed EMEA boss John Howard

Comms vendor ShoreTel has named former Vodafone unified communications sales director Adrian Hipkiss as its new EMEA managing director.

Hipkiss, who has also worked at Avaya and Cable & Wireless, succeeds John Howard, who left the vendor last month after two years in the role to join Logitech.

For its fiscal 2011, Canada-based ShoreTel grew sales by 35 per cent to $200m (£127m), although net losses stood at $11.5m.

Hipkiss characterised his new firm as "an aggressive challenger" in the unified communications market and a company with "potential and scale for significant growth".

"ShoreTel continues to enjoy strong growth in EMEA and I am excited to be joining at the helm of this region to help the company expand further in the EMEA region," Hipkiss said.

Peter Blackmore, chief executive of ShoreTel, added: "Over the past two decades, Adrian has shown great business leadership in the communications market. It is a testament to our commitment to the region that Adrian joins us to help shape our strategy and deliver growth throughout EMEA."