Fledgling BT rival Ionica is searching for a top-level head of external
affairs.
The Cambridge-based telecoms company is offering a salary of around
pounds 125,000 for the newly-created post, which will cover financial
and corporate public relations, internal communications, public
information and media relations.
The new recruit, whom Ionica wants to start in the post as soon as
possible, will report directly to chief executive Nigel Playford.
The external affairs search, for which Ionica is using head-hunters,
comes six months after publicity manager Mish Desmidt left the company.
Desmidt replaced the company’s most recent head of PR, Sean Gough, who
left Ionica 18 months ago amid company explanations that his role no
longer existed.
Ionica, which used Hill and Knowlton’s sister company Drum Venture
Communications for its launch PR, aims to have five per cent of the
crowded UK telecoms market within five years. It rolled out the first,
delayed stage of its telephone service, in eastern England, in May.
The service, which relies on wireless - rather than a conventional cable
network - was initially intended to launch two months earlier
The company, which is aiming for a stock exchange flotation but has not
yet confirmed when, is owned by a consortium including Yorkshire
Electricity, Northern Electric and Scottish Widows.
