Virgin Media’s head of strategy is set to become the latest executive to leave the group amid a wider restructuring after the appointment of its new chief executive.

The cable company announced internally yesterday that Ernie Cormier, its managing director of strategy, would leave in the new year. Steve Stewart, the group’s head of customer care, will leave at about the same time.

The future of Jacques Kerrest, the group’s finance head, also looks uncertain. His contract expired one year ago and industry insiders indicated that his tenure might end soon. The group said that contract negotiations for Mr Kerrest were continuing.

The company insisted that Mr Cormier’s move had been at his own instigation. Neil Berkett, the group’s acting head, told staff yesterday that Mr Cormier had taken the decision “some time ago” and that he and his wife had decided to return to the United States. The group declined to detail his remuneration arrangements.

The departures come as Mr Berkett, a 51-year-old New Zealander with a background in financial services, seeks to stamp his mark on the business and prove that he can ensure that the cable giant fufills its potential. He has said already that he is treating his trial period in the role as if he was the permanent head.

The pay-television and broadband group, which has endured a turbulent history, had hoped that a rebranding last year under the Virgin name would mark a turnaround in its fortunes. However, continuing poor performance has triggered a public mauling from investors, while the company found itself embroiled in a messy legal spat with BSkyB, its rival, in which News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has a 39.1 per cent stake. Steve Burch, Virgin Media’s former chief executive, resigned this summer.

A planned $23 billion (£11.1 billion) private equity sale — triggered by an approach from Carlyle, the American buyout firm — collapsed amid the global credit crunch. Yesterday, Virgin’s shares were worth only $18.34, up 3.5 per cent on the day.

Mr Berkett insisted that despite the myriad troubles facing the group, its recent third-quarter results, which were better than expected, marked a “turning point”.

Some investors who had welcomed the proposed sale offer from Carlyle of $33-to-$34 a share have complained that the cable group was too tardy in formally assessing the approach. A deal could have been completed if the group had acted more quickly, some have said. However, Mr Berkett insisted that the board had taken the correct approach in instigating an auction instead of entering exclusive talks with Carlyle. “Why should we just dance with one partner?” he said.

“If the board had elected to accept the first offer from the first private equity organisation, the timing [of the credit crunch] was such that it still would not have got the deal away.”

In a recent interview Mr Berkett indicated his determination to cool its fractious relations with Sky. “There are several players here — I’m not obsessed with Sky . . . and I think customers are getting a little tired of the tit-for-tat,” he said.

He conceded that the group’s status — with its listing and key investors in the United States but its operations in Britain — was “a bit odd”.

Until recently Mr Cormier had played a key role as the group’s chief commerical officer. He was shifted into his new post in June, where he was involved with content negotiations with Sky.

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