Nokia appoints new UK MD

Nokia has appointed Conor Pierce as its new managing director (MD) for the UK. Pierce will replace Sami Lehtinen, who is expected to take a yet-to-be unveiled senior role within the UK business.

This is the third time Nokia UK has changed MD in six months, after Mark Loughran left the mobile phone manufacturer last September to join Pace as president.

Conor Pierce had previously held the MD position for both Nokia Ireland and Nokia Turkey. Having graduated from University College Dublin with a masters in international marketing, Pierce started out his career at the Irish company Waterfood Foods, before moving into the telecoms industry.

Pierce's appointment, which coincides with James Kitto's as a head of retail sales for Nokia UK, comes at a time when Nokia is fighting for market share due to the drop in the popularity of both its handsets and its previous leading operating system, Symbian.

Although the Finnish company has recently signed a deal with Microsoft to use Windows Phone 7 as its primary OS, the poor numbers Nokia has been turning in show the new UK MD has a lot of work in front of him.

There has yet to be a confirmed date for when the first Nokia/Windows Phone 7 handset will be released.