Thomson Multimedia Broadcast Solutions UK managing director David Phillips has been promoted to regional director for northern Europe in a management rejig, following the group's acquisition of Grass Valley Group (GVG), writes Barbara Marshall
Thomson Multimedia Broadcast Solutions UK managing director David Phillips has been promoted to regional director for northern Europe in a management rejig, following the group's acquisition of Grass Valley Group (GVG), writes Barbara Marshall.

GVG sales director Niels Thomas has also been promoted to regional sales director and Thomson technical operations manager Nigel Ward has been appointed technical director.

The rejig, which to date has mainly affected the sales and marketing functions, has resulted in the loss of three jobs in the UK where around 80 people are based. There are likely to be further changes in the operation, although Ward said this would not necessarily result in job losses.

Ward said: 'We are trying to integrate the companies across the world and are working from the top down... So far, it is working quite well.'

Under Thomas, the sales teams have been integrated across the combined product range of cameras, servers, vision mixers, routers, news production and telecine, although regional specialist product marketing roles have been kept. All marketing communications have been centralised in the US under GVG director of communications Laura Barber-Miller.

Thomson's $172m (£121m) purchase of GVG, which was given the go-ahead in

March (Broadcast, 8.3.02), is the latest in a long line of acquisitions that started with a £1.4bn deal with Carlton Communications for Technicolor 18 months ago ( Broadcast, 15.12.00).

Thomson has since bought most of the broadcast division of Dutch electronics giant Philips ( Broadcast, 1.6.01).