UPDATED - EXCLUSIVE: WhiteGold Solutions and Leigh Howard part company

Leigh Howard

Unified value distribution leader, WhiteGold Solutions, has parted company with its commercial director, Leigh Howard.

In a very brief statement, WhiteGold Solutions said: "We advise that Leigh Howard no longer holds his position with WhiteGold Solutions as at 1st November 2014 - we wish him all the best in his future endeavours."

WhiteGold co-founder and managing director, Dominic Whitehand, said he couldn't reveal any more details.

Howard told ARN that he also couldn't go on record as to why he and WhiteGold had gone their separate ways.

In the short-term he is off to the UK for a family holiday throughout December but said he was open to expressions of interest and offers.

Howard was initially hired in August 2011 by WhiteGold on a permanent, part-time basis. He then had a five point remit:

• To assist in strengthening the existing business with strategic reviews on sales and marketing, administration, operations and logistics and general go-to-market and business execution within the ANZ channel.
• To assist in developing new relationships with channel partners, vendors and professional bodies.
• To assist with additional thought leadership around the key concept of unified value distribution in key areas such as IT Security, networking, VoIP and storage.
• To assist in the further development of WhiteGold’s partner enablement strategies, including systems and business unit review and appropriate change.
• To assist with additional media, channel and industry engagement to further strengthen the WhiteGold brand and position the key values of the organisation.

He was appointed to the full-time role of commercial director in July 2013. At the time he told ARN, “I have not been so excited about coming to work full-time. And rather than thinking ‘oh I’m giving up my three-day a week part time role and losing all my other consultancy gigs to focus full-time on WhiteGold’, I woke up with a spring in my step this morning thinking I’m going to work on a Monday for the first time in two years.”

Howard was previously with Westcon, firstly in the UK then Australia, from April 1997 to March 2009.

French-based value-added distributor, Exclusive Networks Group, bought a majority stake in WhiteGold Solutions, in July 2014.

The deal came nearly 12 years after WhiteGold was formed by husband and wife team, Dominic and Sharon Whitehand, and Jonathan Odria. While the two companies are not disclosing the value of the deal, Exclusive Networks Group (ENG) took a 70 per cent stake in WhiteGold Solutions while the three founders will continue to be shareholders - 10 per cent each - of the business in Australia.

WhiteGold Solutions will disappear as a company name in early 2015 when it takes on the Exclusive Networks name.

More to follow.