Gent well cheesed off by Voda row - report

It appears Sir Christopher Gent still has a few things he wants to get off his chest following his decision to cut all ties with Vodafone by resigning his honorary role as life president.

According to The Times, Sir Christopher has drafted a private letter to execs at Vodafone in which he details his displeasure at the way the cellco's "dirty laundry has been aired in public" recently.

Part of that "dirty laundry" are rumours that some of Vodafone's old guard including Sir Christopher had tried to unseat Voda boss Arun Sarin.

The paper reports that this private letter is even spicier than the public statement issued at the weekend when Sir Christopher denied he was involved in any "conspiracy" before turning his back on the company he helped build.

He denied allegations that he tried to "interfere with the company and obstruct current management" insisting that the allegations were "without foundation".

"If there is a 'whispering campaign' or 'conspiracy', which I very much doubt, then I am not party to it," he said.

And in what is being seen as a dig at the Vodafone exec, he said: "When I was an executive at Vodafone, relationships within the company and at board level were characterised by openness and trust. We were mercifully free of company politics and blame culture."

Curiously enough, the last couple of weeks have seen some pretty plain talking from execs. An internal memo from Cable & Wireless UK boss John Pluthero leaked to the Sunday Times he told staff: "Congratulations, we work for an underperforming business in a crappy industry and it's going to be hell for the next 12 months." Which is reassuringly to the point. No? ®