One of the major changes in the UK mobile phone industry over the last year has been the emergence of Vodafone as a challenger brand.

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Mobile’s research among the industry’s senior figures revealed that Vodafone CEO Guy Laurence is widely seen as one of the most dynamic figures in the business at the moment. He is admired for his no nonsense attitude and his ability to get things done.

The once staid ‘businessman’s network’ is being transformed into a dynamic and nimbler outfit with a wider customer appeal. Much of this transformation is down to Laurence’s leadership. After six CEOs in 10 years, Laurence took over the job of running Vodafone UK 18 months ago with a clear plan to ‘get back to basics’. In his first year he laid the groundwork by taking some tough decisions. He cleared out many of the senior managers, appointed a new executive team and laid off some 20% of the workforce.

A key task was to improve what he referred to as the company’s ‘sub-optimal’ customer facing processes, partly by investing in new IT and a major customer service centre in Stoke, and partly by improving the way customers were dealt with. He also worked hard to improve Vodafone’s direct and indirect distribution channels and began the long task of changing the poor perception people had of the brand through a vigorous advertising campaign, refreshed tariffs, more product exclusives and the new VIP customer loyalty and reward scheme.

Over the last six months his efforts have begun to bear fruit as the company moved back into the black and increased customer numbers. More recently, Laurence has overhauled the company’s pay-as-you-go offerings, providing more attractive tariffs and the ‘Freebees’ reward scheme.

Vodafone may still have a way to go to improve all its offerings, but it does boast an excellent network infrastructure. Laurence has continued the high investment here, including the construction of a new network operations centre at the Newbury HQ.

The company is also leading the way in the b2b sector with its One, One Net and One Net Express unified communications offerings. The company is number one in the corporate and government sectors and is one of the main players in the SME sector.

There can be little doubt that under Laurence’s leadership Vodafone has reinvigorated its brand, put itself on a more stable financial footing and is forcing its rivals to sharpen up and compete more aggressively.

Shortlist

• Jon French, VP of Sales and Operations, EMEA, HTC
• Guy Laurence, CEO, Vodafone
• Jacqueline Kelleher, Director of Retail Sales, Three
• Tim Sefton, Director of New Business Development, O2
• Tim Whiting, CEO, Phones 4u