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Avaya poaches Huawei veep Culmer to run UK ops

Exec fires parting shot at bureaucratic Chinese giant

Avaya UK has poached Huawei Enterprise veep Simon Culmer to replace managing director Andrew Shepperd less than 10 months into his tenure, The Register can reveal.

Culmer, who also had a nine-month spell as UK veep at the enterprise wing of Huawei starting last summer, built a UK management team including the recruitment of channel vet Dave Poskett to run distie and reseller relations.

"I turned up at Huawei in late July as UK vice president and formed the initial sales pitch, helped build a channel team, a high-touch sales team and marketing," he told El Reg.

Culmer said he was looking forward to working for a firm with a culture that empowered local management to make more strategic decisions.

"In an Eastern company there is a lot of responsibility and accountability but I didn't have as much authority, and needed to work through a set of filters which meant things don't get done as quickly," he said.

He did not expand on the points but added that at Avaya UK he will have "full authority" in terms of the P&L and "more control over destiny".

He said working with former EMEA veep Mario DiMascio, a former 3Com UK director and his new boss, was also a lure.

David Poskett, Huawei Enterprise channel director for the UK and Ireland, will take charge of the entire operation on an interim basis until a permanent successor is found.

A spokesman at Huawei said in a statement: "Simon is moving to a more senior role, and the opportunities a more senior role offers him. Huawei is a global business and the UK is just one of the 140 markets we operate in". ®

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