Wayne Channon has resigned as chairman and chief executive of troubled networking distributor ilion. Serge van Gorkum, who was group product and marketing development director until June this year, has rejoined the company as group chief executive. As the founder of ilion's French subsidiary and a previous director of the company, van Gorkum has a "deep understanding of the group's business", a spokesman for the company said. Existing non-executive director Michael Sayers has taken over the role of non-executive chairman. Last month the company announced that its pre-tax profit would be "materially below expectations" for the current year, ending 31 December 1998. ®