Ian Todd, head of information at P&O European Ferries is to leave the
company ahead of its merger with the cross-Channel business of rival
Stena Line.
Todd - who, only last week, was said by boss Peter Smith, corporate
affairs director of parent company P&O to be staying - has decided to
take voluntary redundancy and will leave the company at the end of the
year.
He revealed his decision a week after Chris Laming, director of
communications for Stena Line, was named as head of communications for
the merged operation - to be called P&O Stena.
Todd was offered the job of deputy but said he had decided to ‘leave
altogether and seek pastures new’.
Todd joined P&O European Ferries in 1991 as media relations manager. He
was promoted to head of information six months later.
At P&O he manages a team of three based in Dover - Helen Leversedge,
Nick Stevens, Nicola McShane. Also reporting to him are PR managers in
Portsmouth, Larne (Northern Ireland) and Dusseldorf.
There is no immediate threat to their jobs. Todd said: ‘As things stand
the only people affected by this apart from myself, are the marketing
director, finance director and personnel director’.
Both the finance and personnel directors will move elsewhere within the
P&O Group, while marketing director Peter Stratton is to take the
deputy’s job at P&O Stena.
As well as in-house staff, Todd also runs a number of consultancies -
Peter Associes in Paris, Ellips in Brussels and PR International in
Amsterdam. All now face review as a result of the merger with Stena
Line. P&O also has a consultancy in Bilbao called Image Media, although
this is unaffected by the merger with Stena.
Under the merger agreement, both P&O and Stena will retain separate
control of those routes outside what are known as the ‘short-sea’ cross-
Channel routes - and separate PR departments to deal with them.
However, these too could face rationalisation. Talks are currently
underway between P&O and Brittany Ferries about a joint venture on
routes to western France and northern Spain in the form of a joint
venture or pooling arrangement.
