While Sandford was unavailable for comment as we went to press Yes managing director Keith Curran confirmed that Sandford was to leave and that his departure from the company will see marketing director Simon Howitt become sales and marketing director.

Matt Sandford will be stepping away from his role as sales director to pursue other business interests nearer his home which is in Shrewsbury and to spend more time with his family said Curran.

Wed like to thank Matt for his efforts in contributing to our performance during the past two years.

Simon Howitt will combine his role as marketing director with the sales function to take the title of sales and marketing director.

Simon has been responsible for Yes Telecoms marketing since our start and has played an active role on our board this year advising on key strategic issues added Curran.

Meanwhile Yes has launched a retention strategy aimed at reducing churn which has seen it raise commissions so they are comparable with what a dealer would get if they were signing a new connection.

The initiative is being led by commercial director Ed Hyde who assumed responsibility for retentions on October 1. Hyde recently went on a retention roadshow to gather feedback from a large number of Yes business partners.

There were a number of key messages relayed back which we have built in to current and future activity said Hyde. It was very clear that our business partners want a simple re-sign process that rewards them for re-signing existing business.

Historically the process has been convoluted and in many cases the commissions have been uncompetitive. Yes Telecom has always been about attracting and retaining high quality customers and this new retention scheme does exactly that.

Each customer is given a re-sign band reflecting how much they are valued by Yes and thus how much commission the service provider can afford to invest in each connection.

Our standard re-sign commissions go right up to 460 for a one-year contract and 700 for a two-year contract noted Hyde.

Hyde confirmed that Yes will also be introducing a re-sign volume bonus for each of its business partners. This is designed to generate increased volumes of re-signs and give an additional fund to allow them to cater for more expensive re-signs he said. The bonus will be payable on all re-signs excluding discounted tariffs or data connections.

Yess retention re-focus has also seen the appointment of Lynn Greener as retentions manager. Greener who previously worked for British Gas Communications and OneTel will be responsible for re-sign and retention activity for Yes.

The Virgin Group rejected NTLs offer of 323p a share on December 7 on the grounds that it did not represent the true value of the company.

However Sir Richard Branson who owns 72 per cent of Virgin Mobile has indicated he is willing to lower the price for his stock.

So far there has been no indication that either party is following up on the offer.

See Business Watch page 16

The annual list ranks Britains hundred fastest-growing unquoted companies by 2001-2004 sales growth which ranged from 54 per cent a year to 365 per cent with sales typically at between 10 million and 20million.

Microline came in at 18th place after seeing sales grow from 1.1 million in 2001 to 9.9 million in 2004. The company claims to sell more than 6000 contract connections each month and projected turnover for 2005 is just over 22 million.

Microline sells through three shops in Ealing Hounslow and Uxbridge an inbound call centre which reaches its target market by advertising on local radio and in newspapers an outbound call centre and a business-to-business team.

The company was founded with a small amount of savings by husband and wife team Jas Singh and Inderjit Dhother in 1995. They aimed to sell mobile-phone packages on behalf of networks such as Orange 3 and Vodafone.

Singh declared himself delighted to be ranked so highly.

We are just about the end our trading year and already our turnover is 22 million so our growth is continuing he added. I plan to capitalise on this by opening some more retail stores.

The society anticipates the service will lead the way in accessible technology working towards the goal of allowing hearing-impaired people the same level of access to mobile and landline telephones as hearing users.

The vast majority of deaf and hearing-impaired mobile phone users have to rely on text messaging to communicate but their hearing loss creates a barrier to using the voice services currently offered by mobile operators said society chairman John Hamilton.

There is simply not enough being done by organisations to embrace simple ideas like voice-to-text to improve the lives of hearing impaired people.

Hamilton added: One in seven people in Leeds is either deaf or hard of hearing – thats more than 150000 in total. We need to break down the barriers between them and the wider community.

The Korean manufacturer claims that more people turned up to see the unveiling of the Mourinho waxwork last week than to that of Prince William.

The interactive attraction called Joses Dream Team gives guests the chance to choose their ultimate football dream team.

When guests approach the attraction two actors carrying Samsung D600 mobile phones offer their assistance in choosing the dream team from a selection of international football star playing cards.  

Visitors have just one minute to choose their team before Premiership manager Jose Mourinho makes his comments on the selection via a 42-inch Samsung LCD screen.

They can then have their photo taken with the waxwork using the two megapixel D600 phone. The image is sent via Bluetooth to a Samsung 2040 printer where it is printed framed and given to the guest.

Samsung Mobile UK director Mark Mitchinson said: Samsung is the first technology company to partner with The Tussauds Group. This is a great opportunity for Samsung to showcase mobile technology and demonstrate new products directly to consumers.

Intec holds 14 manufacturer accreditations already which cover GSM stock on all other networks. Up to now 3 has used the TRS repair centre in Glasgow for repairs of its 3G devices.

Intec managing director Harry Ramis said: This allows dealers and distributors to handle service on behalf of their customers and send faulty 3 handsets to us for repair. 3 is expanding rapidly and it needs an alternative service route.

An independent repair centre such as Intec needs to be capable of repairing a full range of manufacturer products and with this accreditation we are able to do that. It will give us a lot more business and allow us to be a one-stop-shop for our customers across the board instead of just on GSM products.

Intec was sold to Fonebak in August following the loss of a 4 million Vodafone contract in March.

Virgin Mobile sales and marketing director Graeme Hutchinson said: The big networks will continue to open more of their own channels pushing independents to compete with them on services. More retailers providing more mobile and other telecoms services are likely.

Samsung UK director Mark Mitchinson commented: Its going to be an extremely tough year for independent dealers. They will have to be at their best to stay afloat. It seems like there is tremendous growth in terms of the operators and the multiples retail presence.

He added: They have reached a stage in their existence now where they can go it alone and it looks like many have moved away from independent retail. They have wider retail coverage now and are moving into the independents heartlands.

Most recently T-Mobile has looked to expand its retail footprint with the opening of 170 stores in the next 18 months. But former T-Mobile UK managing director Brian McBride told Mobile News on the eve of his departure that dealers would also benefit from T-Mobiles acquisition push.

T-Mobile will have much more focus on acquisition in 2006 and those that will do well from a networks acquisition push are the dealers he said.

For those within the independent channel successful dealers will continue to thrive in the SME sector.

Elite Mobile sales and marketing director Barry Nash said: Independent dealers are true specialists. They are well positioned and have the opportunity to take advantage of the lucrative SME arena which continues to expand.

Dextra Solutions CEO Mark Ormerod said: The network focus on improving their return on investment in the dealer channel is good news for independents. Strong dealers will focus more and more on adding value in local markets particularly in the business SME arena which needs local support.

Anglia Telecom CEO Andrew Smith was even more bullish. Independents wont suffer at the hands of the high street multiples he said. Dealers tend to specialise in the SME area. They have incredible market reach which the networks own channels could not possibly replicate. For that reason the dealer community will go from strength to strength over the next few years.

Sprint Communications managing director Paul Leonard added: The independent channel will continue to survive. The b2b market still needs independents as networks dont have the manpower and major players lack the skill sets and local knowledge.

See Blue Christmas page 32

Bennett resigned from Mobile Phone Express because of a personality clash with Steve Fraser director of indirect distribution at The Carphone Warehouse.

Bennett said: I left because there was a difference of opinion with Steve Fraser. It was a clash of personalities and I didnt feel that he and I were working towards the same goal.

Sambrook joins Mobile Phone Express from Fone Logistics where he was head of wholesale handset trading and business development.

Fraser commented: Keith Bennett decided to resign in order to do something else. We have replaced him with Phil Sambrook who was under notice at Fone Logistics. He has been in the industry for quite a long time.

He added: We acted quickly. We are expanding the business. The volumes are great and the margins are great and Phil will take the business forward. Mobile Phone Express complements [new airtime distribution arm] Hugh Symons very well.

Bennett said he would wait for the European Court of Justice ruling on the Bond House Systems case on January 12 before he decided to re-enter the distribution channel.

If the legislation goes against Customs then I will get back into distribution alongside a lot of my colleagues he said.

Dealers expect the move to bolster Hugh Symons buying power and make better deals available to them faster.

Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove echoed dealer sentiment.

We will build our proposition when we know more and can talk about it he said. I hope that it provides us with the backing to drive our existing business plan and I understand thats The Carphone Warehouses view too. It will want a return on its investment.

He added: We would expect to grow both in terms of sales and staff numbers. One will drive the other.

Lino Mastrobrono managing director of Smart Talk Communications Centre said: Its probably going to be a good thing for Hugh Symons dealers. We cant compete with The Carphone Warehouse at present. It has cracking packages. But if it means that we can get 50 per cent of those deals or that The Carphone Warehouse passes on some of its buying power to Hugh Symons then it can only be a good thing.

Faisal Sheikh co-founder of Fone Doctor said it was a good match: Hugh Symons is a fantastic distributor and has a good regard within the industry. The Carphone Warehouse is much more industry-friendly than Phones 4U which is perceived as a shark in a suit.

Hugh Symons dealer managers tell me that it can only be a good thing. The Carphone Warehouse is a marketing monster but it is also an encouraging retail environment and I think Hugh Symons will retain its independence and its personal touch.

It could also iron out a few issues Hugh Symons still has such as the difficulty in connecting Vodafone. And if it doesnt work out then Ill just go to Avenir or EBS.

Rebal Elayan managing director of Business Print Communications was more cautious.

Its buying power could be very positive he said. It might mean that we get kit earlier. But we have bought pre-pay kit from the Carphone Warehouse before and it hasnt meant we could compete. I am not going to hold my breath. I dont see this necessarily helping us.

The Carphone Warehouse takeover of Hugh Symons is expected to be finalised in the next fortnight.

The role will see Huggett lead a sales team of 500 selling into all sizes of business and assume responsibility for helping Vodafone UKs enterprise customers succeed through better use of mobile technology.

Huggett joins Vodafone from Cisco EMEA where he spent eight years in a number of senior sales and marketing roles most recently leading Cisco Germanys public sector sales team.

Prior to this he held senior positions with companies including ON Technology Castelle Inmac and BP.

Chris brings to Vodafone a wealth of experience in the development of sales programmes within the financial services manufacturing retail transport and media sectors said Kyle Whitehill director of Vodafone UKs enterprise business unit said.

This and his broad IT background makes him a natural fit for us he added.

One of the first tasks facing Huggett will be the roll-out of the networks new channel programme which launched last month and replaces Vodafone UKs former Business Connectivity Club.