Cable & Wireless CEO leaving, board undergoes shakeup

Cable & Wireless PLC this week said that its CEO Graham Wallace will leave the company as soon as a replacement is found.

Wallace, 54, took the helm of the London company in 1999 with the aim of transforming it from a traditional telecom carrier to a provider of corporate business services. His goals dovetailed with the burst of the dot-com bubble, however, resulting in a steep decline of the company’s stock.

C&W said Tuesday that Wallace will continue to be responsible for operations until his post is filled, however, and that he will be in charge of delivering “cost-cutting programs.”

At the same time, C&W announced that two board members, executive director Don Reed and nonexecutive director Raymond Seitz will retire on Jan. 31. However, Tony Rice and Bernard Gray will join the board immediately as nonexecutive appointments, C&W said. Rice will replace Rob Rowley, who has just been appointed executive deputy chairman, as chairman of the audit committee.

Rice is the chief executive of Tunstall Holdings Ltd. and Gray heads CMP Information Ltd., a division of United Business Media PlC.

In a statement released Tuesday, C&W said that the appointments will be invaluable in guiding the company through its transition period.