Northamber boss Hammett takes time off to save on costs

Chairman David Phillips says he expects chief executive Peter Hammett to return in the autumn

Northamber chief executive Peter Hammett has left the distributor - at least temporarily - after just six months in the job.

Channel veteran Hammett was among several executives to join Northamber around the turn of the year as chairman David Phillips took a step back from the firm.

Sources tell us Hammett has left Northamber - and the UK - to return to his adopted home of France.

Talking to CRN, Phillips confirmed that Hammett is currently not with Northamber "to save on costs", but said he expected him back in the autumn.

Despite his lofty job title, Hammett - who headed up distributor ISI between 2002 and 2005 - did not sit on Northamber's PLC board.

Phillips characterised his absence as a "holiday".

"He was employed as a consultant - he wasn't ever permanently with the company" he said.

Hammett headed up distributor ISI between 2002 and 2005 and has also sat on Computerlinks' board. Before beginning his assignment at Northamber, Hammett worked for French VAD Sintel.

Three months into his short stint at the Chessington-based firm, Hammett (pictured) spoke of his desire to roll out a "number of new initiatives, vendors and services" over the coming months in a bid to react to changing market dynamics.

Northamber sank to a pre-tax loss of £310,000 in its fiscal first half of 2013, as sales fell 22 per cent to £41.5m.

The distributor, which will tomorrow seek shareholder approval to move down to the AIM sub-segment of the London stock exchange, made another small round of redundancies on Friday, according to sources.