Yellow swaps one US import boss for another
Turnaround specialist Scott Pomeroy departs – but not before radically restructuring the company.
In September, Yellow Pages Group interim CEO Scott Pomeroy told NBR ONLINE he wanted to stay on as permanent boss.
Today, the privately held directory company announced his departure.
The turnaround specialist, who laid off 20% of staff in February and restructured the company around a reseller partnership with Google, will be replaced by another US import, Chris Armistead, who comes to Yellow from AT&T.
Mr Pomeoroy is the second high-profile departure in a month, following Kellie Nathan's exit.
New directions
Yellow's consortium of lenders – including BNZ, ANZ and Westpac – wrote off most of the $1.5 billion borrowed for its highly leveraged 2007 purchase from Telecom.
It says it is now trading profitably.
New CEO Scott Pomeroy – a US import – has swallowed the company's pride and entered a reseller agreement with Google for its search ad business.
Yellow is now understood to be New Zealand's largest purchaser of Google Ad words (on behalf of companies that have bought a Yellow listing, and to promote Yellow searches for generic categories).
The company has also focused on offering services to small businesses who want to promote themselves online.
In the Auckland market, Yellow has also been involved in a stoush with NZ Post's Localist, with both sides pushing print and online directories with suburb-specific listings.
The battle has included a barney over Yellow's use of Localist's signature crimson.
So far, with Yellow and Localist both cutting back, it is looking like a war with no winner.
Chris Keall
Thu, 12 Jul 2012
Thu, 12 Jul 2012
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Yellow swaps one US import boss for another
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