(10 April 2012 – New Zealand) Telecom communications boss Mark Watts will leave the company this month to become head of corporate affairs at the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).Watts joined Telecom five years ago – six weeks before former boss Theresa Gattung resigned – and one of his last duties at Telecom may be to communicate the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Paul Reynolds.
Telecom drew up a shortlist for the position in February and internal candidate Chris Quin is the front-runner, but an announcement that had been tipped after Telecom’s board meeting on Thursday last week has so far not eventuated.
Watts said he did not know whether the board had agreed on the new chief executive at the meeting. The board met monthly, ‘but I imagine on a subject such as this they can convene and converse as often as is necessary’, he said.