Struggling modem manufacturer Hayes Microcomputer Products has asked its main visionary, Bill Pechey, to leave the company. The move comes only ten days after the company's founder, Dennis Hayes, stepped down as chairman to be replaced by Ron Howard as CEO and chairman. Hayes was forced to file for protection against its creditors, under the US Chapter 11 laws, for the second time in its history only three weeks ago. According to Nigel Croisdale, director for Hayes in Europe, the parting is by mutual consent. He claimed that "what [Bill] has been working on for past two years is not an area we're focusing on in terms of going forward". He added: "Only Bill and a colleague are leaving, we decided running their R&D programme in Europe wasn't justified since it wasn't part of our core technology for the future. Bill was part of the original Hayes Europe team established back in 1986." Although based in Britain, Pechey was chief engineering officer for the entire Hayes organisation and has been a close associate of Denis Hayes for many years. He has sat in on numerous technical committees for Hayes and played a major role in formulating the ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union -- Telecommunications) standards for modems and ISDN adaptors. Although less widely known than Bob Jones (ex-Dowty and Sonix), Pechey is viewed by many as a key figure in the modem industry. Hayes has traditionally prided itself as leading rather than following the industry in technological terms. The last time Hayes lost key technical people, they founded Ascend. ® Click for more stories Click for story index