TalkTalk Group today announces a series of leadership changes as it moves to demerge its main operating businesses in order to create three standalone companies to drive their own strategic direction, growth and investmentThe separation will lead to the creation of three independent companies: the B2B Wholesale Platform, the leading and fastest growing provider of wholesale telecom services in the UK; TalkTalk Consumer – home to 2.4 million residential broadband customers and the only scale value player in the residential broadband market; and TalkTalk Business Direct, which serves the connectivity needs of approximately 90,000 small businesses.

The leadership of each will be overseen by Tristia Harrison, TalkTalk Group CEO (since 2017), who will chair a newly established Oversight Board through to the point of legal separation on March 1, 2024. From March, Tristia will move to be a non-executive director of the B2B Wholesale Platform.

Tom O’Hagan, founder of Virtual1 and current MD of TalkTalk Business Wholesale, will be CEO of the Wholesale Platform, while Adam Dunlop, the former Managing Director of iD Mobile and current MD of TalkTalk Consumer and Supply & Partnerships, will be CEO of TalkTalk Consumer. Ruth Kennedy continues as Managing Director of TalkTalk Business Direct.

The demerger will allow each company to focus on meeting the needs of their distinctive customer bases, eliminate operational complexity, and support balance sheet refinancing and investment on a standalone basis.

The new companies will become operationally separate from November 1, and legally separate from March 1, 2024.

All three businesses will be headquartered in Salford, UK, and will continue to be supported by existing TalkTalk Group shareholders.

The changes will lead to a limited number of redundancies, primarily from central corporate functions.