CWC.L Share News (CWC)

Phil Bentley has started as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), taking over from Tony Rice.Since being appointed, Bentley has bought 4.3m shares at a value equivalent to about three times his base salary. He has also been awarded 4.28m performance shares."I am delighted to be joining CWC as its CEO. I recently visited a number of our operations and met with government partners in our Caribbean and Latin American markets with Tony Rice and the team," Bentley said. "Our new office in Miami is taking shape, and I'm impressed with the quality of our people and the opportunities we have." He said his priorities will be to drive top line growth, continuing cost discipline, increasing returns on capital and improving customer service. Bentley served as the Managing Director of British Gas from 2007 to 2013 and has been on the board at Centrica since 2000. He was previously Finance Director for Diageo's spirits division, and Group Treasurer. He has also served in several senior international management roles at BP. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a Non-Executive Director of IMI plc, the engineering group, and was previously a non-executive Director of Kingfisher.RD