Telecoms group Cable & Wireless has enlisted a former founding director of mobile phone company Orange in the fight to revive its fortunes. Graham Howe, who was chief operating officer of Orange until earlier this year, is one of two new non-executive directors at London-based C&W. The other addition to the board is Kasper Rorsted, who is senior vice-president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region for Hewlett Packard.

People power: Redcar and Cleveland College has been recognised for investing in workforce development by being awarded Investors in People status for the third time. The college was given the accolade for its commitment to staff training following an assessment in February.

Money mover: Insurance group Britannic has confirmed it was in talks with Paragon about the sale of its Britannic Money specialised mortgage lending subsidiary. The two sides are thought to have been in discussions for several months about the sale, worth about £60m.

LOOKING OUTSIDE: Newly-listed Marconi Corporation, the debt-free reincarnation of the telecoms equipment firm, announced it was outsourcing its information technology functions in a ten-year deal worth £26m. The agreement will bring further cost savings to the firm which recently underwent a £4bn financial restructuring.

it's PROGRESS: Educa-tional software and IT supplier RM forecast good progress for the year despite the difficulty of predicting the impact of the Government's school budget settlement. Reporting results for the six months to March 31, RM said it had cut underlying pre-tax losses to £800,000, from £4.7m in 2002.