Tony Rice named as group MD as telco continues drastic restructure

Corporate telecoms provider Cable & Wireless has fired its finance chief, Charles Herlinger. The move follows a boardroom shake-up to divide the group into two separate business units.

Herlinger's exit has long been mooted in the press, and C&W has now confirmed that he will step down as group chief financial officer at the end of May.

C&W non-executive director Tony Rice has been named as group managing director with immediate effect.

Rice, previously chief executive at Tunstall Holdings, was involved in the financing and flotation of mobile phone group Orange and has also been a senior executive at British Aerospace.

C&W group chief executive Francesco Caio is already due to step down on 1 April as the telecoms provider restructures into two self-contained UK and international arms with separate heads under group chairman Richard Lapthorne.

Each business will have its own balance sheet and capital structure to ensure the effective deployment of resources to operations, according to the firm.

C&W, which announced plans last month to cut up to 3,000 jobs over the next five years, said that several of its directors would step down over the coming months.