Cable & Wireless Worldwide begins search for public affairs support

Cable & Wireless

Its search, which is in its early stages, comes as newly appointed director of corporate affairs Kai Boschmann and head of public affairs Ben Matthews settle into their new roles.
The company – which issued a profits warning last week citing a ‘very significant slowing of non-contracted spending in the UK public sector’ – came into being five months ago after the demerger of Cable & Wireless into two companies: ‘Worldwide’ and ‘Communications’.
The Worldwide arm is headquartered in Hammersmith and is a ‘business-to-business’ operator. Three-quarters of its revenue is generated in the UK and it employs about 6,300 staff.
Matthews, who joined the former C&W just over three years ago as internal comms manager and subsequently held various brand marketing-focused positions, told PAN that he was in the process of shortlisting PA
agencies and was planning to hold a competitive pitch. He said: “We’re looking to have the agency hired by mid-September – definitely before the party conferences”.
He said the agency’s remit would be “more campaign-focused” than many public affairs briefs and “won’t necessarily be on a retained basis”. He added: “We want bang for our buck and to make every penny count.”
Issues facing C&W include the rollout of ‘super-fast’ broadband. The company said last week that it believes its ‘unique product set’ provides it with ‘significant opportunity’ over the medium term, despite the recent slowdown in public-sector business.
Boschmann, who is in charge of a 30-strong team, moved to C&W from Circle Anglia, where she was executive director of communications and governance. She has also worked at electronics retailer DSG international and fast-food giant Burger King.

30th July 2010 by PAN staff