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Tech Data names CE director after divisional shake-up

Company veteran Mark Glasspool bags dual role at distie gint

Distie goliath Tech Data (TD) UK has handed company veteran Mark Glasspool the directorship of its consumer electronics division following a summer shake-up.

Glasspool will retain his role as director of strategic opportunities at TD, which he has held since May '12, and oversee the ten-strong CE team.

In a canned statement, he described the CE market as "dynamic" and talked up TD's pallet shifting prowess.

The CE subsidiary, which traded as Triade until last week, made numerous changes to senior European personnel during the summer.

This included the redundancy of UK CE chief Joanne Foreman along with four of her counterparts in mainland Europe.

Foreman's departure - less than two years into the role - was preceded by that of Triade founder and former CEO Henk Makaske, who left in February.

TD acquired Euro CE wholesaling giant Triade in 2010, a business that had turned over $1.2bn in the fiscal twelve months to 31 January that year.

The reason for the redundancies say sources was related to cost cutting, though the TD has refused to comment on this.

"The market is much tougher than was anticipated when TD first entered CE, the declines are much steeper than they were three years ago so it is more difficult to make a profit," said a source.

The CE unit determines the price at which kit is bought and sold, and any marketing activities, but sales are transacted by the core broad line sales team at TD. Brands include Philips, Sony, Toshiba and Canon.

Foreman refused to comment. ®

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