John Joslin to replace Mike Jones following the distributor’s poor recent financial results

The chief executive of Computacenter Distribution (CCD) is to take over the managing directorship with immediate effect.

John Joslin will temporarily replace Mike Jones, former managing director of CCD, who left the company last week (CRN, 3 April).

Mike Norris, chief executive of Computacenter, remained tight-lipped as to whether the firm would be naming a permanent replacement for Jones in the near future.

“Mike Jones has been with us for 18 years and has done a great job,” he said. “We all leave workplaces. It is nothing unusual.

“The future of CCD remains exactly as it was. It is an important part of our overall business, and it continues to be a big part of our revenue.”

Last month, Computacenter posted its results for the year ended 31 December 2005, which revealed that CCD experienced a “disappointing year” (CRN, 20 March).

Rachel Power, analyst at Canalys, said that many other distributors had gone through a similarly tough time.

“Most distributors have to look at how to evolve business. There is a lot of consolidation in the channel, and the fact that CCD’s profits have declined hasn’t helped. Distributors need to look at opportunities such as telephony, security and mobility, which will help increase margins,” she said.

However, resellers seemed unaffected by the management change.

Dan Hitchen, Hewlett-Packard business manager at VAR Basilica, said: “We haven’t noticed any difference in the way we work with CCD. It’s still early days, but if a change does occur, we hope that we’ll benefit.”

One VAR, which requested anony-mity, said: “We don’t know why he [Jones] left the company, but it certainly hasn’t affected the way we do business with CCD.”