Cable & Wireless Plc announced late yesterday that both chairman Lord Young and chief executive James Ross would be leaving with immediate effect, and the terse language of the announcement left little doubt that the board had lost patience and fired them both. Lord Young’s position had been made untenable by the near universal perception that no new chief executive of standing could be found to serve for the 15 months that he proposed to remain as chairman; it is less clear why Ross had to go too, but the mere fact that such a high-profile row had blown up in such a substantial company left both men under a dark cloud. Dr Brian Smith, a former non-executive director of the company and now chairman of airports operator BAA Plc was appointed non-executive chairman, and a board committee has been formed with Smith in the chair to find a new chief executive as soon as possible.
