Anton Herbst, MD of Advanced Channel Technologies (ACT) since March 2001, will leave the company on 1 February, to pursue philanthropy.
As a consequence of his resignation, Herbst will relinquish his position as a director on the MB Technologies (MBT) board, also effective from 1 February. ACT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MBT, SA's largest computer distributor.
“My time with ACT has been beyond my expectations and I will sorely miss the camaraderie of the team, the joy of creating strategies and then the involvement of all in their execution,” says Herbst.
“I am looking forward to the change of pace though and am going to spend a good deal of time focusing on philanthropy, which will come as no surprise to those that know me.”
New chief
Gary Pickford, who has held the position of sales director for the last decade, will take the vacant MD post from 15 January. Pickford is said to have an intimate knowledge of the IT consumables market.
Glenn Fullerton, CEO of MBT, says Pickford has been well groomed under the leadership of Herbst to lead ACT into the future and grow the business further. He says this will ensure a smooth transition for the company.
Fullerton says after Pickford replaces Herbst as MD, it will be business as usual. “ACT came into the MBT fold in December 2001. [Herbst] has positioned ACT to have a strong business management team in a company that's sustainable and agile, and changing leadership will not impact the business.”
Shirlinia Jacobs, who currently holds the position of enterprise sales executive and has been with ACT since inception, has assumed the role of sales director, adds Fullerton.
Helene Liebenberg, who has managed ACT's logistics over the last 10 years, will continue in her current role.
According to Fullerton, no further appointments will be made to the ACT board.
“The MB Technologies board would like to thank Anton for his invaluable contribution to both ACT and the MB Technologies group, and wish him everything of the best with his new endeavours,” notes Fullerton.
Fullerton says Herbst will continue to be associated with the MBT group by offering strategic consulting services.
Making a difference
Herbst plans to leave for uBuntu Technologies and one of his roles will be to create education and training projects to empower poor communities. “At a socio-economic level, there are a lot of skills that I can apply to this project.”
He aims to create a funding model to improve education in informal settlements, specifically at pre-school level, and build infrastructure to help pre-schooling environments.
In December, MBT closed its ChannelWare division and retrenched about half the unit's staff. ChannelWare was MBT's small and medium business-focused distribution arm. Fullerton explains that the ChannelWare consumables division and customer base have now been fully integrated into ACT.
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