Jon Ottar Birgisson will now lead the UK business. Ottar Birgisson will be supported in the UK by group international director Barry Colman and vice president of sales and marketing Phil Drake.
Strax MD for Europe the Middle East and Asia Birgir rn Birgisson who co-founded the company in 1996 is now based at the company s new offices near Cologne Germany.
Drake said that US-based Strax will retain the more& brand alongside the Strax name in its trading activity.

Orange said last month that its offering backed by commission payments for dealers would be made available by the end of the year through selected distributors.
Contrary to reports one source said: Broadband installation CDs have been available since August but most distributors aren t interested because it isn t compelling for the dealer or the customer& There s no margin in it.
Midland and Mainline have been able to offer the service since early July.

Orange faces the possibility of strikes by staff in its retail stores during the run-up to Christmas following the imposition of a new commission structure.
Under the new regime shopfloor staff have seen commission earnings slashed by up to 60 per cent while some store managers bonus payments have risen threefold.
With the commission structure reportedly now starting at minus four per cent staff are concerned that Orange will claw-back bonus payments from them if their month-on-month performances are significantly below target. Individuals could also be penalised regardless of their own performances if the overall performance of their stores is down.
Stores must score more than 59 per cent in Orange s monthly Mystery Shopper programme and reach 89 per cent of their sales target before a penny is paid out in commission.
The new scheme has already
led to an exodus of top salespeople with more planning to leave in the New Year.
A five-year veteran from a top 100 store in the North West said: In the past I ve been fiercely loyal to Orange but I ve had enough. I ll be leaving in January and three other members of staff in the store are planning to quit too.
My commission earnings have come down by at least 300 a month while my store manager s bonus has gone up threefold. He s taking home between 1500 and 2000 a month in bonuses. I m earning less than 200 but I m selling just as much.
She added: The first time we heard about the changes to the commission was when we read about it on the notice board. We no longer get anything for selling insurance text bundles or any other value adds. We have to jump all sorts of hurdles before we can earn a penny.
Morale can t get any lower. The company s given us so much per head for a Christmas party but we can t spend it until January. That way they don t have to pay for any temporary staff.
Another member of staff working at an Orange store in Kent said: The new structure is basically unfair. I know of a lot of staff that are actively looking for a new job.
A recent defector to Carphone Warehouse claims that senior management at Orange has sent a letter to all branches warning of the consequences of a strike.
Said the mole: Orange has become a greedy company. I accept that it has to make a profit but surely not at the expense of losing its best staff to the competition?
An Orange spokesperson told Mobile News We are not aware of any rumours relating to strike action and have not sent any internal memos. We encourage a culture of total engagement with our staff and have recently conducted an Employee Listening survey.

The European Commission backed the proposal by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in June. However EU member states Germany France and Austria warned EU ministers earlier this month that a reverse charge in the UK could create other types of fraud.
Alias Dass of Dass Solicitors said: It will just have a starburst effect. The fraud will pass into the retail sector. Retailers will collect the VAT from the customer put in dud returns for a year and then shut up shop. And they ll drive footfall by offering better prices because there s no VAT.
The other thing is that VAT fraud will appear elsewhere. It has started to appear in the trade of other high value goods and just go to other EU member states. It s an Elastoplast not a solution.
HMRC claims VAT fraud cost around 1.9billion in 2005.

The 20:20 Mobile Group has re-appointed James Browning as managing director of Dextra Solutions.
Browning s appointment comes as 20:20 Mobile reshuffles its pack following the departure of Rod Millar former 20:20 Logistics managing director and looks to expand its UK and overseas airtime and SIM-free operations.
Millar who left last month is on 12 months gardening leave and is not permitted to work for a competitor company for 18 months. (See news analysis page 14.)
20:20 Mobile CEO Mark Ryan will announce Millar s successor before Christmas.
Ryan said: Rod s departure from the business was a planned exit and we wish him every success in whatever role he decides to pursue in the future.
The new managing director for 20:20 Logistics comes from a blue-chip background and is ideally suited to the rigours of the fast and dynamic private equity environment.
Browning rejoins the group after three years as chief executive of Total Home Entertainment the wholesale division of private equity firm 3i sold to Woolworth s in September. Browning worked for Dextra Solutions prior to his role with 3i.
Ryan added: The group has grown to a point where we need people on the senior management team who can bring different skills and experience to the table. James will do this. His is the first of a number of appointments over the next few months to strengthen the business at home and abroad.

Only 16 per cent of staff have responded to the work satisfaction survey issued to a total of 1500 store staff by The Sunday Times. Thirty per cent need to respond for Carphone to qualify the closing date is December 16. Morale is low and staff are disillusioned with its TalkTalk broadband offer and unrealistic targets .
Carphone chief executive Andrew Harrison has urged them to respond. In an e-mail to staff Harrison said: Only 16 per cent of 1500 employees have replied. I hope you agree that inclusion in the list is beneficial for the company and your support is greatly appreciated.
One Carphone staffer told Mobile News that Carphone is unlikely to get the number of responses needed back in time because company morale is low.
The directors have been e-mailing constantly pushing those who received an invitation to fill out their survey he said.
It does look like we will miss out this year and this is due to the low morale in the company due to the failures of TalkTalk Broadband services the appointment of [Carphone managing director] Anthony Catterson and the unrealistic targets being set.
Carphone s London area and South region are seeing the lowest new connection rates in some time according to Carphone sources.
However a Carphone Warehouse spokeswoman insisted that staff morale is fine.

Alcatel which was acquired by Hong Kong-based TCL Communications last year following a short-lived joint venture aims to establish its brand in the pre-pay market starting with the sub- 50 E801 music phone.
An Alcatel spokesman said: There is a gap in the market for low-end pre-pay music handsets. Teenagers use pre-pay by and large and are more predisposed to having music on their phones. Yet when you look at the pre-pay market there are hardly any music devices at reasonable prices.
The Alcatel E801 will be available from Woolworths in black on T-Mobile and in white from Argos as well as from T-Mobile and Orange retail outlets. It is priced at 39.99 without a memory card and 49.99 with a 128MB Micro SD card.

It is believed HMRC is keeping around 1 billion of input tax claims from approximately 300 traders while extended verification is carried out. A trader represented by solicitor Hassan Khan has now challenged HMRC over its failure to make a decision about his March input tax credit pending verification.
The trader was seeking a judicial review of the HMRC policy not to repay VAT while carrying out extended verification. In a landmark case the trader has won the right to challenge HMRC at judicial review.
A hearing took place at the Royal Courts of Justice on November 16. After hearing both parties submission Justice Sullivan granted permission for the trader to challenge HMRC s actions as unlawful.
This is the first time such permission has been given by the Court in this way. Justice Sullivan ordered a full hearing to take place as soon as possible in the New Year.
Khan said: As far as we are aware this is a legal first and has not been done before. This is an important decision for traders who may be questioning whether judicial review of HMRC s failure to make a decision is the most appropriate action to take.
It is anticipated that as more Permission Applications come before the court permission will be granted in an increasing number of cases .
One trader added: It looks like a good result. The Judge has supported our view that HMRC can t have it both ways. Either they give us our refunds or they disallow them. They can t just hang on to our money just because they decide their verification processes are going to take the best part of a year.
Judicial review is a two-stage process. Only after obtaining permission can a claimant move to a full substansive hearing during which all the facts of the case are heard.

O2 store across the country are turning away customers because O2 is slower at testing and stocking handsets. They feel they are losing business to The Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U as a result.
One O2 store assistant manager said: We get people coming in all the time and we have to tell them they will have to go to Carphone or Phones 4U for that handset.
An O2 sales advisor in the Midlands said: There have been plenty of times when we have had to turn our customers away because we simply haven t got what they are looking for.
One sales advisor based in the Northwest said last week: Already today I have had to turn away three customers because we didn t stock the handsets they wanted I think we would have more customers if we had all the handsets all of the time.

Kemp is responsible for all Data Select s marketing activity including advertising promotions and incentives with its suppliers.
George McPherson MD of Data Select s parent company Phones International said: Jason is responsible for the interface with the networks and manufacturers.
Kemp spent nine months at insurance and home services company Homeserve after leaving 20:20 Logistics at the start of 2006.
Kemp replaces Rachael Corb who has left to set up her own marketing business Lollipop.