Another Executive Shakeup at Phorm

Phorm announced yesterday that Hugo Drayton, its U.K. chief executive, is to stand down at the end of the year. Drayton is leaving “by mutual agreement,” but will retain an advisory role, the company said yesterday. The firm’s chief financial officer, Lynne Millar, has also handed in her resignation.

The news comes just two weeks after Phorm carried out its last restructuring, during which three board members and its COO left the company.

Nan Richards, a former president of Turner Broadcasting, has now been appointed deputy chief executive. Nick Barnett, Phorm’s current U.K. commercial director, has been promoted to the newly created role of U.K. Managing Director, and Andrew Croxson will take over as Global CFO on an interim basis, joining Ingenious Consulting. All three will be based in Phorm’s London offices.

Phorm’s chief executive, Kent Ertugrul, said the appointments were “central to the delivery of [the company’s] strategic objectives through the next important phase of [its] development.”

The company announced earlier this week that it had successfully completed live trials of its technology across BT’s ISP network, and that it now expects BT to “move towards” full deployment of its systems.

In yesterday’s statement, Ertugrul commented, “I am also pleased that we have completed the trial with BT and look forward to moving to the next stage of development. I believe that we are now uniquely placed to lead the introduction of privacy-assured behavioral advertising across the whole of the Internet.”

Earlier this month, Phorm replaced four board members and its COO after disagreements with Ertugrul over the direction of the business. Replacements included former Conservative Chancellor Norman Lamont and ex-Ofcom executive board member Kip Meek.

Despite announcing deals with three of the U.K.’s major ISPs — BT, Talk Talk and Virgin Media — actual progress with Phorm’s technology has been slow. BT’s trials were initially slated for April, but eventually began in late September. Additionally, Virgin Media has suggested it is unlikely to make use of the system any time soon, and Sky, Tiscali and Orange have all signaled they have no plans to implement it either. Talk Talk says it remains “committed” to using the technology, but does not know when this is likely to happen.

Privacy advocates also remain firmly opposed to Phorm’s practices, despite the fact that they appear to have been given the green light by British authorities. However, an electronic petition against ISP-level behavioral targeting on the U.K. Prime Minister’s Web site currently has over 19,000 signatures, and the subject has been a hot topic among ad industry execs and U.K. politicians recently.