Jim Rose, the professional manager recruited to run QXL Ricardo, is handing over day-to-day duties to chief operating officer Mark Zaleski.

The move accompanies the publication of the online auction site's Q2 results. For the three months to September 30, the company made a pre-tax loss of £7.88m (Q2 2000: £67.67m loss) on sales of £1.155m (Q2: 2000 £5.9m). Falling revenues reflect the company's decision to stop selling goods on its own account, acting instead as a pureplay commission-only auctioneer.

Rose keeps a hand in the online auction business, as non-executive deputy chairman, a newly created position.

The move reflects the company's "current focus on the
operations of the business". New CEO Zaleski joined QXL last year from the Webvan Group, where he was president of the now defunct e-grocer's operations.

Zaleski will have his work cut out: QXL Ricardo is Europe's biggest indigenous auction business, but eBay is bigger - certainly in the UK - and it's profitable.

In the final move of the boardroom shuffle, executive director Stan Laurent is leaving the company and resigning from the board, as of the end of the year. ®