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Chief operating officer Gareth Jones will become the brand's top marketer, responsible for all marketing and brand activity.

Oxby will report to Jones, who will maintain 3's relationship with WCRS. The agency scooped the £38m account from TBWA\London earlier this month.

Sources suggest that the decision to shake up the team follows accusations that 3's advertising has become lacklustre and that since its pre-pay launch earlier this year, it has lost its brand-building impetus. 3 has effectively disbanded its marketing team, creating two business arms to boost subscriber revenue.

A 3 spokesman insisted that Oxby was not being given a more junior role, adding that product development and propositions would be "crucial to the development of the business".

Head of marketing strategy Sarah Haythornthwaite has been handed the new position of head of customer development and will report to customer service chief Eric Dinsey.

The network has nearly 400,000 UK customers. Market leaders Orange and Vodafone both have more than 13m UK customers.

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