Change of directors at Phorm
Tuesday 02 December 2008 09:49:21 by Andrew Ferguson
TheRegister is reporting that four directors of Phorm have left in what appears to be a difference of opinion between them and CEO Mr Ertugrul.
The board will gain Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, Investment bankers Stefan Allesch-Taylor and Stephen Partridge-Hicks and Kip Meek who is also the chairman of the telecoms industry lobby group Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG). For those not aware of the BSG and its role the analysis by The Register covers this.
PC Advisor also reports that the Crown Prosecution Service is collecting evidence to establish whether earlier BT trials of the technology where consent was not sought from participants was legal or otherwise. There is no real news on the progress of the current BT trial and how far away any use of Phorm in its Webwise form is, but given the rate Phorm is burning investment capital it seems safe to assume they would like it to launch before they run out of money.
Some will question if Phorm is trying to buy credibility by surrounding its name with respected people in a battle to change the perceptions its brand has developed; In that light, maybe Phorm wasn't the best of names as it does sound a lot like Phishing (stealing bank login details through a fake website usually by users being confused) and Pharming (redirecting a legitimate site's traffic to fake site).
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Also isn't the company known to have "Form" wrt illegitimate business practices.
(add a) ?
So a failed chancellor and investment bankers bring credibility ?? i think its more like the others have jumped ship to avoid prosecution,a nd new directors wont be held responsible for former dealings..
Government are just stringing this out until they force through legislation because in my eyes this is exactly what they hope to do themselves in the near future.
"trying to buy credibility by surrounding its name with respected people"
Norman Lamont?
Dunno about the other bods but I think the hole is just getting deeper.
There may have been some changes on the board, but Stratis Scleparis, the man who was Chief Technical Officer at BT Retail when the secret trials were being denied, is still CTO at Phorm.
When Norman Lamont's the best you can get, things must be getting pretty desperate.
As El Reg point out, Phorm have £24M in the bank but lost £14M in the first half of 2008. They'll need a viable revenue stream soon, otherwise they'll presumably just be added to the list of "credit crunch victims".
@c_j_:" otherwise they'll presumably just be added to the list of "credit crunch victims". Lousy business model, distrusted and villified by the public. They might get a public bailout. It worked for the banks :-/
Kip Meek appointment says it all corruption corruption corruption.
Anyone wanting to keep in touch with all the news about Phorm/Webwise/BT should head over to https://nodpi.org/ and read the blog and forums.
if you read the phrm statement and you will see why each has been brought onboard,
" welcome Lord Lamont, Kip, Stefan and Stephen to the Board. They bring extensive experience on government, business, regulatory matters and financial markets"
lord lamont = ex gov + house of lords
kip meek = ex ofcom + poss money via ingenious consulting (investment company)
Stefan Allesch-Taylor = investment bank and considerable AIM market experience where phorm are listed
Stephen Partridge-Hicks = finance background but research to see what appear to be some big failures
peter
consider the above
all of new directors are non executive and so can't challenge kent ertugrul on decissions or direction of the company
add to that if i remember correct it was reported earlier in the year kent had taken out a loan for finance for phorm guarenteed by shares in phorm , with the share price at only 225 i think the shares fall short of the loan value by just a tad so kent can't afford to fail, hence what appears to be his desparation to make phorm work
hiding to nothing i think, oh isn't the credit crunch a wonderful thing to blame when things go belly up kent
peter
I wish i worked for phorm, they must be laughing thereself sensless at all the moaners on the net that continue to stay with a provider that uses phorm. I bet its a happy workplace and a damn good giggle.
@CARPETBURN
With a more than possible shortfall in Funds & the CPS concerned enough to investigate the Legality of the Phorm/ISP process, I very much doubt that it is a happy workplace.
Lots of uncertainty if you like it though with a Leader who is likely to dismiss you if you disagree with anything irrespective of whether you are right or wrong!
^^^ Not much difference to much of British industry that remains then.
Must be all those CEO Company Lunches, Lobbying & Media PR Chasing!
All things BT and Virgin with their celeb packed printed ads and TV ads know all too much about
Hiring a bloke whose claims to fame are championing the cause of a mass murderer and losing UK PLC 6 billion on a wet wednesday morning suggests their credibility gap may be about to widen.