An HMRC spokesperson said: Stephen Jones is leaving for career development reasons. He is respected as a highly competent director of finance and a valued colleague on the executive committee. He has helped HMRC strive for the rigour and performance improvements crucial to our future strategy.

Jones joins the Local Government Association as head of finance.

The departures come at a time when Customs is under the spotlight for withholding huge sums in VAT repayments from mobile phone traders under the extended verification process.

Speakers at the event include Dr Mike Cheetham of Bond House Systems Simon Airey (DLA Piper) Will Southcott (Dass Solicitors) Vincent Curley (The Due Diligence Exchange) and Chris Chipperton (Halliwells).

The conference will be held at the Kingsway Hall Hotel on December 5. It follows a similar sell-out event held last November which attracted around 140 delegates.

The one-day conference costs GBP295 (including lunch). Places are limited. Book online at mobilenewsconferences.co.uk or by completing the booking form on page 39.

Mainline managing director Andrew Boden told Mobile News: Mainlines job is to make sure that dealers comply with Oranges ground rules on distance selling. There have been three dealers that have not been compliant. It is important to get the message out there that if dealers dont comply with network guidelines then they dont have too long left.

Oranges guidelines for distance sellers include the use of an approved script voice recording of all calls and the ready availability of a customer service number.

Mainline has set up a compliance programme to help distance sellers complete with Orange-approved telesales scripts and call analysis. The programme is designed to protect distance sellers and increase the level and quality of their business.

The hugely profitable UK ringtone boom looks set for a decline thanks to consumer dissatisfaction over subscription charges and technological change in handsets.

According to research by mobile music consultancy MusicAlly the UK market is set to shrink almost 20 per cent this year – ending a run of growth that saw it rise 500 per cent to GBP177 million between 2000 and 2005. MusicAlly predicts the market will fall to just GBP78 million within the next four years.

People have got fed up with being conned said MusicAlly mobile specialist Steve Mayall about the controversial practice of imposing costly subscriptions on consumers when they text to order one ringtone.

But this is only one side of the story. As more handsets are capable of storing and playing MP3 tracks fewer ringtones will be purchased. MP3s are cheaper too at just GBP1 compared with up to GBP3.50.

The findings have been backed up by comments from Universal music which admitted it had seen its first decline in revenue from ringtones over the past six months.

The service will get revenue through voice calls line rental and business broadband.

Simon Howitt sales and marketing director for Yes Telecom said: This is a product we have been considering for nearly two years as a response to requests from our business partners.

The product is designed with services and tariffs that are beneficial to our customers and our business partners.

There will be discounts for those customers who use both Yes mobile and Yes fixed-line services and escalated commission for the business partners who sell those products. The tariff is constructed to reflect a converged service.

There is reduced cost and cost savings to the customer as well as receiving just one bill.

Howitt said he expected initially there to be a major uptake from existing customers with Yes mobile and it will be marketed to our existing customer base through our business partners.

Yes are using the existing infrastructure of customer service to support the launch and to develop the project. We have taken on 25 extra staff over the past four months in preparation for the launch.

Newly recruited general manager of fixed line Keith Horsted is formally senior operations manager converged services at Vodafone.

He said: By giving customers the choice Yes can combine cost-saving offers to the customer and customer service for a winning combination.

3 UK has appointed David Dyson in the role of chief financial officer replacing Andrew Moffat. Moffat plans to return home to Newcastle at the end of the year to spend more time with his family.

Dyson joins from the Australian arm of Hutchison Telecommunications where he has been CFO for the past four years. He will report to 3 UK CEO Bob Fuller on his arrival in mid-November.

Fuller said: Having been with Hutchison Telecommunications in Australia for four years Dyson knows 3 well and will be a strong addition to the UK team.

Of Moffat he added: His work has been critical in helping us gain a strong foothold in the competitive UK marketplace. I wish him and his family every success in the future.

Dyson said: 3 is at an exciting stage in its development and I am very pleased to have the opportunity to join the UK team.

A Virgin spokeswoman confirmed that it will open near the end of October. The store will follow a similar format to the first in Lakeside shopping centre Thurrock.

Virgin has attempted to break away from the established format by creating a destination site that customers will want to spend time in. In addition to phones and accessories the stores also range clothes and artwork.

Haines spent almost 10 years at Orange in a variety of marketing and communications roles around both the direct and indirect B2B sectors.

Haines worked at Hutchison Telecom prior to Orange and spent a year as communications development manager in charge of call-centre communications at T-Mobile prior to her appointment at Avenir.

She joins Avenir just as it is gearing up for a flurry of activity this Autumn. Her recruitment completes Avenir managing director Tanny Prices new operational board. Price said: I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Valerie in the past. Her skills – both in marketing and on the management side – will add tremendous value to the team.

The handset manufactured by NewGen will be in stores by November 1 according to Unique chairman John MacFarnon who refused to give any details about which chains would range the product. The SIM-free handset is branded with the Ministry of Sound logo and is pre-loaded with GBP20 worth of content including videos tracks and wallpapers. Far from an entry-level phone the handset sports a touch-sensitive screen with no keypad a 1.3-megapixel camera and a 1GB capacity memory. The handset is available in black and white.

The launch is part of Uniques push into new areas of business. Alongside is a push into the SatNav arena with a deal to supply ActivePilot personal SatNav units. The units which connect to a wide range of handset brands through Bluetooth charge on a pre-pay basis and are network independent. The unit will be available by Christmas.

Bob Sweetlove Hugh Symons business manager said: Orange was doing really well because of their dealer commission. However T-Mobile and 3 are catching up. There is a growing appetite for T-Mobile. This is because of the Flext and Relax tariffs.

Harvey Alexander Moco Cell Link director said: T-Mobile previously had slowed down. However more cash has been put in and there has been a notable increase in T-Mobile sales this week. The top performer at the moment is 3. The sales have increased by 25% mainly because of the strength of the new handsets.

Bruce Welland Marketing Manager for European Telecom said: T-Mobile is stronger this month simply because it has put money back into the packages and it has a good tariff. Flext 35 is one of the best offers for the consumers and that is why T-Mobile is doing better. However it is a little too early to say what is going to happen to T-Mobile in the coming months.