Hough joined Mainline in August from Orange where he was head of independent retail. He was tasked with restructuring its dealer manager team and bringing to market a Mainline-branded accessories range to bring it new revenues.
Mainline is in the process of making the final two appointments to its field sales team which should be confirmed by mid-February. Its accessories range which Hough sourced in Hong Kong towards the end of last year will be available to dealers at the start of February.
Mainline revamped its field sales team at the end of last year scrapping the old dealer manager roles for new dealer sales consultants tasked with building relations with around 1000 dealers across the country.
Hough said: We restructured the field sales force. The new team is talking to lots more dealers across the whole country. We compiled a database of all the dealers in the UK and our new dealer sales consultants have each been allocated ground to cover.
The new accessories range goes live in February. We wanted to reduce our total reliance on Orange month-to-month so we have established a new accessories range to bring in extra revenue. The products are all sourced in the Far East and will be Mainline-branded.
Hough is expected to remain within the industry and could rejoin Stuart Henry at Carphone Warehouse with whom he worked at Orange. Im keen to maintain the contacts and experience that Ive built up and to stay within the industry said Hough.
Mainline managing director Andrew Boden said that Houghs exit comes on the back of Mainlines most successful year to date.
Boden said: Chris came here with a clear insight of the industry and a unique perspective on the independent channel. He has helped me to review our current structure and has recommended and helped to implement changes that will enable us to build on the successes of recent years. Chris has helped us to create a platform from which to build.

Efforts to find a buyer for BenQ Mobile have failed after the last potential buyer ended negotiations. The announcement will affect around 3500 workers although most of them have found work at Siemens.

BenQ Mobile went bankrupt towards the end of last year after new owner BenQ decided it would cease funding the company because of the failure to compete on a level playing field with Nokia and Motorola. Siemens had sold its mobile phone manufacturing business to BenQ in June 2005 due to disappointing sales.

BenQ Mobile insolvency administrator Martin Prager said in an e-mailed statement: I now see no realistic chance to sell the company in one piece and enable a new start. We have to acknowledge that the market has decided against BenQ Mobile.

Prager had held talks since October 2006 with more than 100 potential buyers and entered into negotiations with 30 and according to Prager Sentex Sensing Technologies and SF Capital had failed to deliver acceptable offers.

Kent distributor MoCo has taken on two new B2B dealer managers Ryan Neal and Duncan Austen who were previously dealer managers at Mainline.
Lester Dougall has also joined as business sales manager from Cheshire telco Chess where he was business development manager.
MoCo director of marketing and direct sales Harvey Alexander said: It s part of our 2007 strategy to develop a loyal and committed B2B dealer base.
Anglia has appointed ex-Mainline dealer account manager Steve Cross to deal with existing customers and create new good quality business for the company .
Mainline said it had filled five out of seven vacancies and that the remaining two appointments would be made by mid-February.
Mainline managing director Andrew Boden said: We re restructuring so that we can have more contact with more customers more often.
Helen Carville has joined Avenir as a new business development manager from Fone Logistics. Avenir has also appointed Rosie Mateo as its new marketing manager reporting to head of marketing Valerie Haines.
Carlos Capitan has joined Fone Logistics as trade sales manager from 20:20 Logistics where he was on its international trade desk.
Fone Logistics has appointed ex-Carphone Warehouse corporate sales executive Ian Morris to channel manager for Fone Logistics O2 business partner programme while Tony Beard has joined from Dextra as credit risk manager.
Fone Logistics has lost dealer manager Darren Yorston to Yes Telecom as new business development manager while Vodafone and O2 service provider Timico has taken Teresa Warwick from Avenir as channel manager.

Adaptive Comms director James Brayshaw said: We have four times as many bookings as we did in December around 50 appointments between three people. Were busier than we were at our height last year. Business is brisker than it has ever been and its all new business for us.
Davison Communications director Kevin Davison said: Were up by around 30 per cent on last year. We hit targets long ago. All the staff are on appointments. Im pleased.
He added: A certain amount of business has come about because customers two-year contracts have expired. So theres easy retention there. But its busy anyway.
Connect B2B director Andrew Doe said: It has been a surprising month; business is up 100 per cent compared with this time last year.
At the same time sources said that the B2B space was being overpopulated by dealers and sales could suffer in the long term.
One source said: Everyone is retreating into the B2B sector. An awful lot of retailers started at the front of the shop and have moved to the office at the back to do B2B connections. We could face a year when we have to do a lot of work for not much money.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is set to squeeze mobile traders in March when Chancellor Gordon Brown announces the Budget.
The stakes are high. According to the latest estimate missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud cost the Treasury between £3.5 billion and £4.75 billion last year.
The UK is still waiting for EU member states to approve its reverse charge proposal which will remove the obligation from import/export traders to pay and collect VAT on goods and will switch it to the point of sale. Earlier this month France appeared to scupper UK hopes for a swift introduction by rejecting it.
We are working on this with other member states and the European Commission said an HMRC spokesman. Meanwhile the Government will not hesitate to bring forward further domestic measures in the Budget.
But innocent traders are getting caught up. Dipak Jotangia partner at Dass Solicitors said: It is attacking criminal elements from every conceivable angle. The problem is that innocent companies in the middle are still getting caught out.
Anthony Elliot-Square chairman of industry trade body the Federation of Technological Industries (FTI) said: Anything HMRC can do to tackle fraud is welcome as long as it safeguards the interests of innocent traders and does not suffocate UK trade.
The FTI has a joint action against HMRC under way on behalf of traders because of grossly unlawful actions of HMRC with its extended verification policy.
But HMRC argues there is no excuse for innocent companies to get caught up in a chain.
It is inconceivable these days that any business can be unaware of MTIC fraud yet some businesses trading in these markets seem prepared to continually ignore suspect trading patterns and practices said a spokesman.
HMRC also vigorously defends its tactics.
Our response has been proportionate targeted and risk-based he added. We are actively checking a greater number of suspect claims but as soon as we have satisfied ourselves that even part of the claim is valid we repay it immediately. The courts have found that our policy is reasonable and we are not taking too long to process claims.
HMRC is gearing up for battle. More than 600 extra compliance staff have been redeployed to tackle MTIC bringing the agencys total to more than 1400. HMRC said that 100 had been added this year.
In August HMRC employed 400 officers to search more than 160 premises across the UK in its biggest ever VAT fraud operation. To date 18 people have been arrested and charged. International investigations to recover the proceeds of these crimes continue. In December it carried out another nationwide investigation which resulted in simultaneous raids of premises across the country and saw the arrest of a further 17 people.
Just before Christmas the UK signed a cooperation treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Home secretary John Reid and UAE minister of justice Mohammed Nakhira Al Dhaheri signed bilateral treaties on extradition and on mutual legal assistance.
One emirate Dubai has a reputation as a centre for re-export of mobile phone and computer chips items most closely associated with carousel VAT fraud. Up to 90 per cent of money defrauded from the British government is thought to be laundered through banks based in Dubai according to reports.
Reid said: The treaties will make a real contribution to reducing the harm caused to both our countries by such individuals. Criminals and terrorists are going to find it harder to exploit the links between our countries for their own ends.
The treaties enable HMRC to extradite suspected fraudsters from the UAE to be tried in UK courts and to issue civil orders that restrict their travel and financial dealings. They will also see closer dealings between UK and UAE officials when tracking shipments between countries that are suspected to be part of carousel fraud.
HMRC will be able to convict those who assist or encourage crime under the new treaty terms.
A wider net and stronger legal case for the prosecution will sound alarm bells for innocent traders that are already stuck in the middle of ugly scenes. But while the trade is under pressure Jotangia argues it will not die.
There isnt a grey market in the world that can be just shut down like that and the demand for mobile phones is higher than ever now he said. A lot of companies will get closed down. But some legitimate traders will fight on.

O2 has promised a Fair Deal to existing customers.

Its new Fair Deal pledge will see existing customers that upgrade receive the same handset and tariff deals as new customers.

They will also be rewarded with O2 treats for their loyalty to the network.

O2 UK marketing director Sally Cowdry said: We want our customers to be the happiest and most loyal so we listen to what they want and crucially act on what they tell us. They asked why they shouldnt get the same deal as new customers to the network. And theyre absolutely right.

All O2 customers should always get the best O2 has to offer so thats what were giving them.

Customers that have been with the network for more than six months are eligible for O2 Treats. Contract customers will also be offered the same phone at the same price as new customers regardless of how they decide to purchase it.

Upgrading pre-pay customers will receive 10 per cent of their top-ups over the past two years or since their last upgrade and can use it as free call time or as a contribution to the cost of their new handset.

Chris Hough has left Mainline Digital Communications following a six-month interim directorship.

Hough joined Mainline in August from Orange where he was head of independent retail.

Mainline managing director Andrew Boden said: Chris came here with a clear insight of the industry and a unique perspective on the independent channel. He has helped me to review our current structure and has recommended and helped to implement changes that will enable us to build on the successes of recent years.

Boden said that Houghs exit comes on the back of Mainlines motys successful year to date.

Mainline is in the process of making the final two appointments to its team having restructured its field sales team at the end of last year.

That process is almost complete said Boden. We have recruited all but two of the new team and we expect everyone to be in position by the middle of February. We have been very pleased with the recruitment process the transition phase and with the reaction of our dealer customers to the improvements.

He added: Our aim is to ensure that dealers working with Mainline are in a prime position to satisfy the requirements of Orange strengthen their commercial relationship and thereby protect and enhance their own business at the same time. The significant contribution made by Chris has helped us to create the platform needed to build on what we have achieved so far.

Nokia unveiled a range of new slimline handsets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.
Sony Ericsson Motorola and Samsung have all seen their popularity jump thanks to the popularity of their slimline ranges. Nokia which lost its number one slot in the UK to Sony Ericsson last year seems to be playing catch-up with top handsets such as the RAZR.
Dealers for their part view Nokia s latest designs as a direct response to increased competition from rival manufacturers.
Matt Chambers owner of Edenbridge-based dealership The Phone Chamber said: Nokia s trying to fight off competition from Samsung in particular. Sony Ericsson prides itself on its Walkman handsets and Samsung has proven that its reliability is much better than Nokia s. Nokia seems to have a real problem at the moment because its market share has nosedived.
Faisal Sheikh owner of Fone Doctors in central London claimed Nokia is feeling pressure after a disastrous 2006. Nokia is pinning a lot of its hopes on the N95 he said. It is vital for Nokia that it does well. Sony Ericsson wiped the floor with Nokia last year and that s why there is so much riding on this.
Sheikh claimed Nokia struggled to match rivals in terms of design and functionality during 2006 .
In terms of style Sony Ericsson is the top dog he said. There was no killer handset for Nokia last year and the fact that its handsets run into software problems on a regular basis doesn t help its cause.
Nokia director of communications Mark Squires denied that the manufacturer s new releases are an attempt to fight off competition but conceded that Nokia is responding to consumer demand in terms of its new handset designs.
The Nokia N76 model ticks all of the Nseries boxes in terms of form factor flip fold and slide he said. Rather than fighting off competition from our rivals it just seems logical to have slimmer products in our range. We want to make sure that we re always offering the user plenty of choice.
But opinion is split on Nokia s new designs.
Chambers sees it as an intelligent move on the grounds that Nokia is at last responding to the market and listening to consumer demand.
It s a pleasant surprise that Nokia is releasing a slimline range. The slimmer phones that Samsung has released in the past couple of years have sold extremely well so they are just following a successful path he said.
Sheikh on the other hand claimed Nokia has already fallen behind rivals for innovation and design. According to him Nokia s research and development team needs to boost an ailing collection.
Nokia is definitely in need of something innovative and it has missed a trick with these new launches said Sheikh. Recently it seems to have released too many phones with too little real quality while other manufacturers are releasing handsets more selectively that are very high in quality. Nokia seems to have gone from a quality company to a quantity company.
Top of the new range is the Nokia N76 flip-phone which includes external keys to control its music features and can store up to 1500 tracks. The N76 is 13.7mm thick just 0.3mm slimmer than the original RAZR handset launched in 2005. It is expected to hit UK stores during Q1 with a SIM-free guide price of 262 before tax.
Also on show and slated for a Q1 release in the UK was Nokia s remodelled N93i handset which is 3mm slimmer than the original N93 and doubles up as a video camera.
Satu Ehrnrooth head of Nokia s Nseries cameras category says: Video can become a similar kind of mass-market phenomenon as mobile photography. The N93i is the ideal device for user-created video content because it is a connected digital camcorder. You can upload video to the web without altering the original size of the content.
The N73i includes high-quality video capture a 3.2 megapixel camera and a swivel screen. It is expected to ship to dealers during Q1 with a pre-tax SIM-free sales price of about 404.
Nokia also displayed its forthcoming Internet tablet the N800 at the show and its first fully integrated commercially available NFC (near field communications) handset the 6131 NFC (see Techwatch page 24).
The N800 is faster than its forerunner the 770 and includes a full touch-screen and a built-in camera. It is expected to sell at around 207.
The 6131 NFC enables information-sharing payment and ticketing capabilities. Other features include a built-in music player an FM stereo radio and a 1.3 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom. The 6131 NFC is expected to be available in Q1 to selected markets at 262 SIM-free.

The news that south-west dealership JAG is set to spend up to £50000 on retraining all its store staff reignites the debate over how aggressive staff should be when they sell and how to get good staff in the first place.
JAG carried out mystery shops on all its 81 stores and found that its staffs sales performances were well under par. Staff were failing when speaking to and selling to customers said MD John George.
JAG headquartered in Cornwall is implementing a sales training programme for its 240-strong workforce and is looking for a training company to implement it.
We will be investing between £20000 and £50000 to improve sales techniques and ability he said.
Aggressive sales
George appears to be looking to make employees more aggressive when selling in store in order to boost trade in an increasingly tough retail environment.
But high street chain Phones 4U which has traditionally had a reputation as the mobile phone retailer with the hardest sell in-store reckons that aggressive sales actually hinder performance. Instead the chain aims for better targeting.
There are two types of salesman: those who stand by and watch the customer and those who attract the customer said Phones 4U operations director Tom Shorten. We do a forensic analysis of the customers needs to make sure they get what they want. JAG is absolutely right to retrain its staff but to look for an aggressive sales approach is wrong.
According to Shorten good customer service is not something you can just drop into the store culture.
You have to go through the training process all the time every six or 12 months he says. Its expensive but it is a great investment with a great return. If staff are trained and knowledgeable and successful they will be motivated.
As if to prove his point Phones 4U has the lowest 14-day returns rate in the industry lower than network stores rival multiple retailers and the independent dealer community.
As well as training and retraining staff on a regular basis Phones 4U has set up a new recruitment team to make sure it attracts high-calibre employees in the first place.
But the chain has also come under fire along with all the network and multiple retailers for poaching staff from independent dealers in the past. Poaching is typically worst in January and February after the Christmas rush and especially now as networks roll out their own stores.
Greener grass
The lure is too great for some store staff claimed dealers. Intek managing director Manny Hussain is one who has felt the impact.
Small independents suffer to a larger degree he said. If a large retailer loses a few of its top guys it is not such a big deal but to an independent it can have a huge impact.
But some dealers said that poaching does not guarantee staff quality.
Poaching is not always a safe bet because the staff arent guaranteed to be up to scratch said Matt Chambers director of Edenbridge dealership The Phone Chamber.
Phil Rider managing director of The Digital Phone Company added: We rarely poach because our past experience has been a disaster.
One answer is to develop your own staff. Its always best to promote from within provided the person is up to the job noted Hussain.
But this is no panacea. We tend to promote our own staff but recently we have run out of opportunities said George. We are now forced to promote people who we originally wanted to let mature more at the company.
The problem mobile retailers face is that as the number of stores increases the talent pool is more diluted. Staff quality in general goes down with a resulting rise in poaching of higher calibre people.
Virgin Mobile director of retail Paul Williams said: Its not so much a matter of finding quality staff its about keeping them because of all the poaching. We try to do this with an accreditation programme with salary increases along the way.
It also means upward pressure on wage costs but with no guarantee of better performance. George admitted that sales staff expect more with less experience and expertise.
People expect to work six months and be considered for a store manager position he said. A while ago people expected it to take three or four years. There is a big gap between sales assistant and store manager.
It does no favours to staff either. Over-promoting a top sales guy can be the ruination of them which we have found out many times to our cost added Hussain. Many people get a rude awakening when they are promoted.

Dealers put through so few Orange connections that one leading distributor questioned whether any UK distributor was making the grade for the network.
He said: Volume is really bad. I would be surprised if any distributor is trading at the minimum distribution performance at the moment.
Another said: It has slowed down for everybody. Orange won t win any awards for volume.
Orange pulled money from its commission package at the start of December and has not reinstated it. Dealers also complained that they cannot match the offers available to customers on the high street.
One Blackburn-based dealer said: I can t offer a customer more than 400 minutes on a 12-month contract while Orange Retail can. I have to offer 18-month contracts and customers don t want them.
Orange s own retail stores matched last year s performance on pre-pay and trumped the figures for December 2005 on contract.
An Orange spokesman said: It was a really good Christmas for Orange Retail. Figures were up on contract because of the number of exclusive handsets we had.