Orange has appointed Duncan Hay as sales director, after a 16-month search for a replacement for Stuart Henry.

Duncan Hay migrates from Britvic (drinks business), where he was director of the company’s channel sales.

42 year-old Duncan Hay previously worked for Mars in a series of roles including sales and marketing to finance and project management.

Vice President of sales at Orange (Mike Newnham) said: ‘Duncan has shown a drive and enthusiasm that will sit well within the Orange team. His tenacious approach has ensured the Britvic brand portfolio has been expertly represented across the UK while operating in one of the country’s most competitive industries. Duncan’s wealth of experience will help Orange drive forward as we deliver both our existing and future services, while continuing to deliver better value for us and our existing and future partners.’

Former sales director Stuart Henry resigned in September 2005, prompting the greatest ever search for an operator sales director.

Sources close to the issue imply that many candidates declined to take on the position of running Orange’s indirect sales, at a time when Orange is energetically seeking to shift its consumer acquisition to its own stores and streamline its third-party distribution.

One of Duncan Hay’s first jobs is widely expected to be to slim down the number of distributors used by the operator.

Duncan Hay is only Orange’s third sales director, following from founding director Gareth Jones and Stuart Henry. Gareth Jones went on to become 3’s COO and Stuart Henry now runs Car phone Warehouse’s distribution business.