Vocus
CEO
Kevin
Russell
will
relinquish
the
top
job,
handing
over
the
reins
to
current
chief
operating
officer
Ellie
Sweeney
from
next
month.
In
a
statement,
Vocus
said
that
Russell,
who
spent
five
years
as
CEO
and
more
than
three
decades
in
the
telecommunications
sector,
had
decided
to
retire.
“Kevin’s
leadership
over
the
past
five
years
has
returned
Vocus
to
growth
and
established
the
company
as
a
formidable
challenger
in
the
market,”Sweeney
said.
“On
behalf
of
the
board
and
Vocus
team
I
would
like
to
congratulate
and
thank
him
for
his
significant
contribution
to
the
company.”
In
Australia,
Russell
is
a
former
group
executive
for
Telstra
Retail
and
a
former
chief
operating
officer
and
consumer
business
CEO
for
Optus.
However,
he
was
perhaps
best
known
as
the
long-time
CEO
of
Hutchison
Telecoms,
which
operated
under
the
‘Orange’
and
then
‘Three’
retail
brands.
Sweeney
will
take
over
as
Vocus
CEO
from
March
1.
“I
am
excited
to
be
leading
the
team
through
the
next
phase
of
our
growth
ambition,”
she
said.
“At
Vocus,
we
are
a
challenger
that
lives
by
its
purpose
of
‘building
critical
connections,
enabling
better
possibilities’.
“In
my
four
years
as
COO
I’ve
experienced
how
critical
those
connections
are
–
both
the
fibre
connections
we
construct,
and
the
connections
forged
by
our
incredibly
talented
people
with
our
customers.”
Vocus
chair
Penny
Bingham-Hall
said
that
having
an
internal
successor
as
CEO
“speaks
volumes
about
Vocus’
shared
sense
of
purpose
and
unity
of
culture.”
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