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Telecommunications Chariot sheds fat: nine office and 45 staff
Telecommunications Chariot sheds fat: nine office and 45 staff | Chariot sheds fat: nine office and 45 staff |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Monday, 07 August 2006 | |
  
Offices in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland will close leaving three regional centres located Adelaide, Ballarat and the Gold Coast. The 48 retrenched staff, some permanent and some casual, will have "opportunities...to become Chariot resellers in the areas effected." The cuts are expected to produce net pre-tax savings in excess of $1 million in the 2006-2007 financial year and $1.3 million annually thereafter. The company claims the move will also deliver management, administrative and reporting efficiencies. However it says that, far from customer service being downgraded as a result, "Further improvements in our customer service will become evident over the coming weeks." New CEO, Garry Hersey, claimed that "The company's ability to lead the market is being stifled by its overhead structure and the cost of debt used by the company to acquire businesses over the past few years. Our existing office network is primarily a consequence of that previous acquisition program and we are in effect completing the integration of those businesses into Chariot." Chariot also announced the appointment of Karen Kraws as financial controller effective immediately. She was previously an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Chariot is facing a $3.2 million legal challenge from the Transcom International with which it formed a partnership in late 2004 to offer VoIP services. Services were never launched and Chariot is now going it alone. Chariot announced to the ASX on 5 July that it was facing a claim from Transcom for alleged breach of contract and that two of its directors, Peter Buttery and Horlin-Smith were also facing claims for pecuniary damages. Since then there have been conflicting claims by Transcom and Chariot about the two year history of their relationship. Transcom has accused Chariot of not making full disclosure to the ASX and has called on the ASX to investigate. Chariot has denied all the allegations. Its former managing director, Robert Horlin-Smith - who is facing charges related to an earlier role in another company, resigned last week. |
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